DragonI

I’m so glad @RepAdamSchiff called trump out for witness intimidation based on his real time tweets about Yovanovitch WHILE she was testifying, and how visibly shaken the witness was in hearing those attacks. #witnessintimidation #ImpeachmentInquiry #TrumpBribery 

— Mueller, She Wrote Podcast @MuellerSheWrote

• 'Very intimidating': Yovanovitch responds to Trump's mid-testimony Twitter attacks, MSNBC
• 'Witness intimidation in real-time': Democrats see more evidence of Trump obstruction, Politico
• Democrats to consider Trump Twitter smear in articles of impeachment, The Guardian

Since Republicans want Hunter Biden to testify, Democrats should call Ivanka Trump

Dean Obeidallah writes that if Republicans are to call Hunter Biden as a witness in the impeachment hearings, Democrats should ask for Ivanka Trump to testify

www.cnn.com|Opinion by Dean Obeidallah

And in keeping with their "tin foil hat" defense to impeachment, Republicans want to call as a witness, Hunter Biden. Nunes explained in his letter

However, if the GOP was truly concerned with rooting out conflicts of interest involving children of the heads of our executive branch, they don't need to look back at events from years ago that occurred thousands of miles away in Ukraine. All they need to do is investigate Ivanka Trump's apparent conflicts of interest that are far more recent and happened right in front of their eyes.

The most recent example of such conduct was flagged in January by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonpartisan ethics watchdog, that has called for the Department of Justice to investigate Ivanka for her possible violation of federal conflict of interest laws.

CREW alleged in its complaint that Ivanka personally worked on "a new tax law authorizing the Opportunity Zones program while her husband, Jared Kushner, held financial interests worth millions of dollars in an entity benefitting from that program."

The ethics group alleges that Ivanka's conduct violated 18 U.S.C. Section 208, which prohibits federal employees from participating "personally and substantially" in "matters that have a direct and predictable effect on a financial interest of the employee or their spouse."

If the House Republicans are sincerely concerned with conflicts of interest involving the children of the leaders of US administrations, they should start with Ivanka Trump.

‘Absolute contempt for the American people’: Trump destroyed for shameless G7 golf club announcement

White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Thursday announced that next year’s G7 summit will be held at Trump National Doral Miami — and then smugly brushed aside questions about President Donald Trump using his office to personally enrich himself.

www.rawstory.com

Foreign powers' money and US taxpayer funds will go directly to benefit @realDonaldTrump and his family at the Doral resort. This is corruption in the open. https://twitter.com/Fahrenthold/status/1184874573956861952 …

— Ted Lieu @tedlieu  Oct 17, 2019

What gets me isn't so much the audaciousness of the corruption as its sheer pettiness

— Paul Krugman @paulkrugman Oct 17, 2019

Trump Doral in Miami in June sounds like a great place to hold G-7...during Hurricane Season. Average temp, 90 degrees. Total coincidence a hotel losing money, owned by Trump, is deemed the “perfect” venue. What conflict? What Emoluments clause violation? Nothing to see here.

— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas @ananavarro   Oct 17, 2019

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

Trump’s corruption is a national security issue.

— Citizens for Ethics‏  @CREWcrew -  Oct 13, 2018

Trump doesn’t care about Khashoggi

After Trump told reporters he didn’t want to lose the billions the Saudis spend on American goods, he suggested that perhaps because Khashoggi was murdered in Turkey, and because he is a permanent resident of the US but not a citizen, it’s all just no big deal. #NotWhite

“Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me,” Trump said at a 2015 rally in Alabama. ”They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

There’s nothing illegal about making money from rich Saudis. And as Max Fisher explained in his 2016 Vox feature on Saudi influence in American politics, there’s nothing all that unusual about political elites aligning their foreign policy views with Gulf money. 

But what’s unique about Trump is the extent to which he is able to personally profit from the Saudi government while in office. This August, for example, the general manager of the Trump International Hotel in Manhattan was pleased to announce that after two straight years of decline, revenue grew 13 percent in the first quarter of 2018.

Why? Well, according to a letter he wrote that was obtained by the Post, “a last-minute visit to New York by the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia” played a key role.

The $120 million Wilbur Ross allegedly swindled isn’t the first time his finances have come under scrutiny. He’s had multiple financial assets that were potential conflicts of interest.

— Citizens for Ethics‏  @CREWcrew -  Aug 8, 2018

Four of Ross’s six former lieutenants are suing the commerce secretary for robbing them back when they worked together. Alongside improper fees and regulatory penalties, the questionable financial moves add up to a total $123 million, almost a fifth of Ross’ estimated $700 million in wealth.

The story comes to us from Forbes, which has been investigating Ross since the magazine discovered he lied to them about $2 billion in phony assets in order to assure a place on their list of billionaires. Digging into his record as a private equity investor, reporter Dan Alexander documented a boatload of dodgy moves.

Over several months, in speaking with 21 people who know Ross, Forbes uncovered a pattern: Many of those who worked directly with him claim that Ross wrongly siphoned or outright stole a few million here and a few million there, huge amounts for most but not necessarily for the commerce secretary. 

1. Rick Gates stole from Paul Manafort
2. Trump and his family are being sued for stealing from their own charity, the Trump Foundation
3. Republicans stole taxpayers money and gave it to the rich #TaxCuts

Government spending at Trump properties BEFORE Trump became president: $10 Government spending at Trump properties AFTER Trump became president: $357,313.07

— Citizens for Ethics‏ @CREWcrew - July 8, 2018

Federal Judge Questions Constitutionality Of Trump Hotel's Profits

The judge compared efforts by foreign officials to stay at the Trump International Hotel to bribery.

www.huffingtonpost.com

A federal judge on Monday questioned whether foreign governments staying at President Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel amounts to bribery when its done to curry favor with the president.

The suggestion was raised by U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte while overseeing a lawsuit filed by Maryland and Washington, D.C., over the Trump International Hotel, which is just blocks from the White House, The New York Times reported.

Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate argued to the judge that Trump is not responsible for a foreign official’s “unilateral attempt to sow favor” by staying at one of his properties, CNN reported.

Messitte questioned how that was different from bribery.

Shumate responded by suggesting that for the act to be bribery, the president must have “some corrupt intent.”

U.S. presidents are barred under the constitution from receiving financial benefits, or emoluments, from a foreign state either at home or abroad. They are also not permitted to receive financial compensation, other than a salary, from federal or state governments.

The Wall Street Journal reported in late December that Trump spent nearly one-third of his first year in office at Trump-owned properties.

Ivanka Trump Was In Contact With A Russian Who Offered A Trump-Putin Meeting

Her contact, a Russian Olympic weightlifter, said a meeting between Trump and Putin could expedite a Trump tower in Moscow.

www.buzzfeed.com|Anthony Cormier, Jason Leopold, Emma Loop

The contacts reveal that even as her father was campaigning to become president of the United States, Ivanka Trump connected Michael Cohen with a Russian who offered to arrange a meeting with one of the US’s adversaries — in order to help close a business deal that could have made the Trump family millions.

These interactions also shed new light on Cohen, the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, who is under criminal investigation and who played a key role in many of Donald Trump’s biggest deals — including the audacious effort to build Europe’s tallest tower in the Russian capital.

In the fall of 2015, that effort was well underway. Cohen negotiated with Felix Sater, one of the president’s longtime business associates, and agreed upon a Russian developer to build the tower. Donald Trump personally signed a nonbinding letter of intent on Oct. 28, 2015, the day of the third Republican debate, to allow a Russian developer to brand the tower with Trump’s name.

The agreement stated that the Trump Organization would have the option to brand the hotel’s spa and fitness facilities as “The Spa by Ivanka Trump” and that Ivanka Trump would be granted “sole and absolute discretion” to have the final say on “all interior design elements of the spa or fitness facilities.”

In November 2015, Ivanka Trump told Cohen to speak with Klokov, according to the four sources. Cohen had at least one phone conversation with the weightlifter, they said. It is not known what the men discussed over the phone, but they exchanged a string of emails that are now being examined by congressional investigators and federal agents probing Russia’s election meddling.

In one of those emails, Klokov told Cohen that he could arrange a meeting between Donald Trump and Putin to help pave the way for the tower. Later, Cohen sent an email refusing that offer and saying that the Trump Organization already had an agreement in place. He said he was cutting off future communication with Klokov. Copying Ivanka Trump, the Russian responded in a final brusque message, in which he questioned Cohen’s authority to make decisions for the Trump Organization. Frustrated by the exchange, Ivanka Trump questioned Cohen’s refusal to continue communicating with Klokov, according to one of the sources.

“It’s a witch hunt. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA — NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!”

Ivanka Trump exits White House conference call after questions on Chinese trademarks

The White House did not respond to CBS News' request for comment

www.cbsnews.com

The approval came just days before President Donald Trump announced he was working on a controversial deal to drop U.S. prohibitions against China cellphone manufacturer ZTE.

Three trademarks were granted the same day she dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago.

More approvals are likely to come. Online records from China’s trademark office indicate that Ivanka Trump’s company last applied for trademarks — 17 of them — on March 28, 2017, the day before she took on a formal role at the White House. Those records on Monday showed at least 25 Ivanka Trump trademarks pending review, 36 active marks and eight with provisional approval.