Trump's Big CON: He Won't Be Draining the Swamp, Quite the CONtrary (CONt., Part 2)

"Two new investigative reports out today vividly describe in fresh detail the scope and scale of President Trump’s business conflicts of interests, and the damage they are inflicting on our political system.

The reports, taken together, raise the question: Can our system handle the unprecedented conflicts and self-dealing that this president is engaged in?

The two investigative reports, one from USA Today and the other from the government watchdog group Public Citizen, together show how Trump’s refusal to divest himself from his global business holdings has created a new ecosystem, outside the view of the public and the oversight capabilities of other branches of government. In the new Trump ecosystem, the world’s wealthiest people and corporations can buy direct access to the president, simultaneously lining his pockets while achieving their own personal or policy goals. . .

The USA Today report shows how Trump, despite his claims that he would “drain the swamp” of lobbyists, has simply given wealthy people direct access to him. All they have to do is pay the hefty membership fees at one of his private golf clubs. Initiation fees can exceed $100,000, and members pay annual dues on top of that. . .

Meanwhile, the Public Citizen report, aptly titled 'President Trump, Inc.,' is even more shocking, if that’s possible. It details how Trump’s promise before assuming office to transfer control of his business empire to his sons 'merely amounted to reshuffling his businesses holdings, with himself remaining the ultimate beneficiary.' Under this 'meaningless shell game,' Public Citizen notes, 'each of the entities to which Trump transferred his assets ended up under the control of a revocable trust that operates for the benefit of Trump.' As a result, Trump is open to being paid, influenced, and, as the report warns, even 'leveraged' by an adversary — suggesting that some might try buying access to influence the president’s actions, while others might use information about his business liabilities against him, possibly making him vulnerable to a different sort of manipulation. . .

In the old days, meaning as recently as a year ago, rich people and corporations looking to influence government would donate to political campaigns and Super PACs. Trump has made all of that superfluous to influencing his presidency, with the added bonus (for him) that the payments increase his personal wealth. . .

But the GOP-controlled Congress is unlikely to act to rein in Trump’s ethical transgressions when it comes to his self-dealing. With no accountability, Trump will continue to rewrite the rules, opening the door for a future of of new abuses — perhaps some that, just as in the pre-Trump era, we cannot even imagine now."

Read the Washington Post, What if our system can’t handle Trump’s out-of-control self-dealing?

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Trump's Big CON: He Won't Be Draining the Swamp, Quite the CONtrary, and

Trump's Big CON: He Won't Be Draining the Swamp, Quite the CONtrary (CONt.).