In what has change into so predictable it mainstreamed “projection,” a brand new investigation by Congressional Democrats revealed that in his presidency, Donald Trump’s companies acquired no less than $7.8 million from 20 overseas governments.
Democrats on the Home Oversight Committee launched their 156-page report on Thursday. The report was compiled utilizing paperwork from Mazars USA, Trump’s former accounting agency. The report is titled “White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump.”
Trump accepted greater than $7.8 million from overseas states and leaders, together with “some of the world’s most unsavory regimes” (emphasis mine):
“Drawing from actual receipts and records and using the most conservative possible
accounting methodologies, White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump documents how, as President, Donald Trump accepted more than $7.8 million in payments from foreign states and their leaders, including some of the world’s most unsavory regimes. By elevating his personal financial interests and the policy priorities of corrupt foreign powers over the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commands of the Constitution and the careful precedent set and observed by every previous Commander-in-Chief.”
The President is FORBIDDEN from accepting cash or presents of any type from overseas governments:
Article I, Part 9, Clause 8 of the Structure forbids the President to just accept cash funds or presents “of any kind whatever” from overseas governments and monarchs except he obtains “the Consent of the Congress” to take action. But Donald Trump, whereas holding the workplace of president, used his enterprise entities to pocket tens of millions of {dollars} from overseas states and royalty and by no means as soon as went to Congress to hunt its consent. This report units forth the data exhibiting overseas authorities cash—and all of the spoils from royals we will discover—pouring into accommodations and buildings that the President continued to personal throughout his presidency, all in direct violation of the
Constitutional prohibition.
That is solely SOME of the funds:
“To be sure, we know about only some of the payments that passed into former President
Trump’s hands during just two years of his presidency from just 20 of the more than 190 nations in the world through just four of his more than 500 businesses. Despite the Constitution’s requirement that a president disclose foreign emoluments and seek Congress’s consent to keep them, it took Oversight Committee Democrats years of aggressive litigation against the former President to obtain the subset of documents from Mazars, Donald Trump’s accounting firm, that form the factual basis of this report.”
Republican Oversight Chair James Comer “released” Trump’s former accounting agency from having to adjust to the Congressional subpoena and court-supervised settlement:
“And then, in January 2023, Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer made the abrupt and outrageous decision to release Mazars from having to continue complying with the Committee’s subpoena and court-supervised settlement agreement. Despite Chairman Comer’s decision to bury further evidence, however, even this small slice of a picture of unknown proportions allows America to glimpse the rampant illegality and corruption of the Trump presidency. It is true that $7.8 million is almost certainly only a fraction of Trump’s harvest of unlawful foreign state money, but this figure in itself is a scandal and a decisive spur to action.”
Democrats are accusing Comer of burying “further” proof, and saying that even regardless of his doing so, they have been capable of put collectively this “small slice of a picture” of Trump’s corruption as president.
But Republicans accuse President Biden of the identical, with no proof
“Donald Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign entities while he was president. Yet Republicans in Congress will say nothing, all while accusing President Biden of the same — without evidence,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) wrote. “Their brand: willful blindness and hypocrisy.”
It shouldn’t be missed that Donald Trump is working because the law-and-order candidate, at the same time as he faces 91 felony counts, together with efforts to overthrow the election he misplaced and careless dealing with of labeled data that has jeopardized the security of American troops, brokers, and right here at dwelling.
Steve Benen pointed out, “As we’ve discussed many times, the (Emoluments Clause) clause prohibits U.S. officials from receiving payments from foreign governments. Traditionally, this hasn’t been much of a problem for sitting American presidents. During the Trump era, however, it became one of the Republican’s under-appreciated controversies.”
Trump had so many scandals as president, and lit so many fires that required rapid consideration, that the monetary corruption took a again seat. A few of it’s coming to gentle now, at the same time as Home Republicans use their energy to bury it.
Professor of Constitutional Regulation Emeritus at Harvard College Laurence Tribe noted that he and his colleagues had tried to carry Trump accountable for violations of the International Emoluments Clause, “Working with @CREWcrew, my colleagues and I went far toward holding Trump accountable for these grotesque violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause — but he ran out the clock on all our efforts. That’s what he hopes to do again. Only the courts can stop him this time. Go courts.”
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