DragonI

.@realDonaldTrump, New Yorkers are bringing our city back stronger than ever. It’s nothing short of heroic. The only “ghost town“ will be Mar-a-Lago after you’re forced into retirement on Election Day.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio @NYCMayor 

Trump holds chat with Alan Dershowitz during Mar-a-Lago Christmas eve dinner

In change of pace, US president and first lady attend services at Southern Baptist church rather than at Episcopal one where they married

www.timesofisrael.com

1. Blavatnik attended Dershowitz’s private 80th birthday party - present unknown
2. Blavatnik donated more than $100,000 to Trump’s defense fund
3. Blavatnik donated $1 Million to Trump’s inauguration

"There are at least nine Trump Organization-owned and Trump personally owned properties in South Florida that are in the path of Hurricane Dorian.”

  — CNN

• Trump Towers in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
• Trump National Doral
• Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida
• Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach
• Trump Hollywood Hollywood Beach, Florida
• Trump Grande in Sunny Isles Beach, Florida
• Mar-A-Lago
• Two private homes in West Palm Beach

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago is in the projected path of Hurricane Dorian

Could the storm hit Florida near the Winter White House? It’s possible.

www.tampabay.com

The storm is projected to make landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Monday, with Melbourne as the most likely landing spot. That’s about 115 miles north of Palm Beach, where Trump’s ocean-front hotel is situated. Mar-a-Lago remains in the “cone of uncertainty" — the range of potential paths the hurricane could take as it strengthens in the Caribbean.

The U.S. Secret Service declined to respond to questions about any security measures taken at Mar-a-Lago during an extreme weather event and directed questions to the resort. The Trump Organization and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The president’s restaurants, resorts, and golf clubs have all been cited for extensive health-code violations, including the presence of rodents.

Health inspectors have for years turned in stomach-churning reports of rats, mice, cockroaches, and other pests in the kitchens and food-preparation areas at Trump properties in New York, Florida, and Las Vegas. One infestation in the main kitchen of Trump’s Doral golf club in 2015 was so bad that health inspectors recommended that the place be temporarily shut down.

As late as last year [Feb. 2019], health inspectors in New York reported a likely rodent problem at the restaurant in the president’s flagship Trump Tower property. 

• The inspection turned up “evidence of mice or live mice present in facility's food and/or non-food areas” and “conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/or allowing vermin to exist.”
• In 2017, inspectors found “filth flies” buzzing around the food in the Trump Tower kitchen. Employees, sported “soiled” garments and were not wearing hair nets.
• IN 2016, inspectors found live roaches.

• Florida authorities reported 524 health-code violations from 2013 to 2018
• In 2015, they found “approximately 20-25 live roaches... on the walls, baseboards and floors in the kitchen food prep area and behind a utensil table inside a wall crack.” 
• They also reported between 20 and 30 “live, small flying insects... in the kitchen and dishwasher room.”
• ordered to shutdown  —  temporarily

• health inspectors also reported potential vermin problems. 
• The restaurant, they reported after a 2012 inspection, did not have “effective pest control measures.”
• Expired food, including yogurt and caviar, were also among the 51 health-code violations inspectors found during that visit.

Health inspectors have cited its

• main clubhouse kitchen for 51 health-code violations since 2013
• its “beach club” kitchen for another 30.
• employees who don’t wash their hands 
• poultry stored at dangerously high temperatures
• Rust, mold, parasites: Trump’s Mar-a-Lago cited for 78 health violations in the last three years
• World Leaders risked food poisoning at president’s Mar-a-Lago club,  The Times - April 14 2017   

• Heath Department Investigates Salmonella Outbreak at Trump Restaurant in  the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, AP July 23, 1991

Trump once hosted an exclusive party with Jeffrey Epstein at his Mar-a-Lago estate, a new report says. It was just the 2 of them and '28 girls.'

A former associate of Donald Trump's told The New York Times that 28 women were flown in for a "calendar girl" competition that Trump requested.

www.businessinsider.com|David Choi

• Were the girls flown in on Epstein’s private jet #LolitaExpress?
• Were any of the girls under age? 

In 1992, the women were flown in for a "calendar girl" competition that Trump had requested, the former Trump associate, George Houraney, told The Times.

"I said: 'Donald, this is supposed to be a party with VIPs. You're telling me it's you and Epstein?'" Houraney recalled.

Mr. Trump spoke enthusiastically about their relationship.

“I’ve known Jeff for 15 years. Terrific guy,” Mr. Trump told New York magazine in 2002. “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

• Epstein’s house is a 1.3 miles from Mar-a-Lago 
• #TrumpEpsteinBFF since the 1980s

Analysis | Five Trump trips to Mar-a-Lago would cover Betsy Devos’s proposed Special Olympics cuts

The Education Department budgeted $17,583,000 for the Special Olympics this fiscal year; for 2020, it would be zero.

www.washingtonpost.com|https://www.facebook.com/philip.bump

• Betsy DeVos’ $40 MILLION yacht was set free by vandal(s) in 2018. 
• The DeVos family has TEN yachts ⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵⛵

1. DeVos cuts funding
2. Public backlash against DeVos and Trump
3. Major media outlets publish how many trips to Mar-a-Lago Trump would have to cut, in order, to save the Special Olympics
4. Trump: screw that
5. Trump funds the Special Olympics and blames DeVos
6. TRUMP GOES TO MAR-A-LOGO 

Last month, we reported on new data from the Government Accountability Office which determined that Trump’s trips to his private club in Florida cost taxpayers about $3.4 million apiece, largely as a function of transporting the president and support material to the state.

• Rudy Giuliani’s price to defend Trump? 
• golf bags 💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰  #SkinsGames

Watchdog: 4 Mar-a-Lago trips in 2017 cost taxpayers $14m

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump's four trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in early 2017 cost taxpayers nearly $14 million, a watchdog report Tuesday said.

www.apnews.com

The Government Accountability Office said travel and accommodations, Secret Service expenses, deployment of bomb-sniffing dogs and other costs for the trips between February 3 and March 5 in 2017 tallied to $13.6 million. About $60,000 of the tab went directly to Mar-a-Lago. 

The GAO report provides one of the clearest pictures yet of the costs of the president's travel, and how much of that money goes back to his own properties.

The GAO report was requested by Democratic members of Congress, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Maryland Rep. Elijah Cummings.

The nonpartisan research group for Congress also found that Secret Service costs for three trips abroad by Trump’s two adult sons and their spouses in early 2017 ran to $396,000. 

The GAO also didn’t include costs incurred by officials of the Executive Office of the President because the White House did not respond to a request for the data.

After Trump declared his candidacy for president, political spending at Trump businesses soared. https://www.citizensforethics.org/presidential-profiteering-trumps-conflicts-got-worse/ …

— Citizens for Ethics‏  @CREWcrew - Jan 17, 2019

1. Ivanka earned $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in 2017 according to her mandatory financial disclosure form.
2. Ivanka and Kushner raked in at least $83 million in outside income during their first year as unpaid Trump advisers  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

KEY FINDINGS

President Trump’s conflicts of interest are so numerous and so all-encompassing that they are difficult to summarize, but here are some key findings from CREW’s attempt to track them during his second year in office:

• CREW has identified 12 foreign governments that have made payments to Trump properties during his first two years in office, each of which is likely a violation of the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause. At least three foreign countries held events at Trump properties during his second year in office, and two of them did so after having held similar events elsewhere in previous years.
• Instead of pushing back on President Trump’s refusal to divest from his business, allies in Congress have embraced the arrangement. 53 U.S. senators and representatives made more than 90 visits to Trump properties during his second year in office, up from 47 visits by 36 members the prior year, and similarly, at least 33 state-level government officials visited Trump properties, likely resulting in taxpayer funds going into Trump’s coffers.
• More than 150 political committees, including campaigns and party committees, have spent nearly $5 million at Trump businesses since he became president. In Trump’s second year in office, CREW tracked 33 political events held at Trump properties—13 of which Trump himself attended, meeting and speaking with wealthy donors.
• Special interests held at least 20 events at Trump properties during the president’s second year in office. Since Trump took office, at least 13 special interest groups have lobbied the White House, some for the first time, around the same time they patronized a Trump property, suggesting that making large payments to Trump’s businesses is viewed as a way to stay in his administration’s good graces.
• Over the past year, President Trump made 118 visits to properties he still profits from in office, bringing his two-year total to 281 visits. CREW also identified 119 federal officials and employees who visited Trump properties over the past year, up from 70 the prior year.
• In addition to making frequent visits to his properties, President Trump and other White House staff have promoted Trump businesses on at least 87 occasions. Trump himself mentioned or referred to his company 68 times during his second year in office, more than double the 33 times he did so the prior year.
• Paying members at Trump’s resorts and clubs have received benefits beyond getting occasional face time with the President. Four Mar-a-Lago members have been considered for ambassadorships since his election, and three other members—with no federal government experience—acted as unelected, non-Senate-confirmed shadow officials in Trump’s Veterans Administration.

It Could Happen: Trump Golfing While His Secret Service Works Without Pay

Trump might have to put off his golf vacation if he forces a government shutdown over his border wall. But he loves his golf, so that might mean no shutdown.

www.huffingtonpost.com

Such is the nightmare public relations scenario facing the White House less than a week before the Department of Homeland Security and other key government agencies run out of money at midnight Friday while Trump is scheduled to fly that day to his Mar-a-Lago resort for a 16-day vacation.

“The only leverage in shutting down the government is who gets the blame for it. And he’s already taken the blame for it.” Rick Tyler, former aide to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas)

Trump is spending as much as 16 days at Mar-a-Lago this holiday season. The cost to taxpayers for his trips to Mar-a-Lago would pay for about 2 years of the Mueller investigation.

— Citizens for Ethics‏ @CREWcrew -  Dec 18, 2018