Tag: conflicts of interest

Donald Trump Jr. lectured Joe Biden about conflicts of interest. It didn’t go well

AlterNet logoApparently, Donald Trump Jr. has the self-awareness of a sea pineapple’s sphincter. (Do sea pineapples have sphincters? I’ll just say they do, because it’s 2019, and you can say whatever you want now, apparently. Go ahead, fake news. Fact-check me. I dare you.)

So the walking, talking conflict of interest whose father has spent the past three years turning the presidency into a carnival ring-toss game is super concerned about Joe Biden’s ethics:

And, yeah, people noticed:

View the complete October 3 article by Aldous J. Pennyfarthing from the Daily Koss on the AlterNet website here.

Harvard professor lays out why the conflicts surrounding Jared Kushner ‘have only grown more distressing with time’

A real estate firm owned in part by Jared Kushner reportedly received $90 million in foreign funding from “an opaque offshore vehicle” after the son-in-law of President Donald Trump began working as a senior adviser at the White House.The company in question, Cadre, has received overseas investments while Kushner “through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands,” according to the Guardian. Although Kushner sold other assets after beginning his employment at the White House, financial disclosures indicate that he maintained his stake in Cadre, which is now worth as much as $50 million.Because much is unknown about the nature of who has been investing in Cadre, experts have raised concerns that Kushner’s interest in the company could interfere with his ability to impartially represent America’s best interests in geopolitical situations. During his time in the White House, Kushner has taken a lead on foreign policy initiatives, including a well-publicized attempt to broker peace in the Middle East.

“The conflicts that have swirled around Jared Kushner have only grown more distressing with time,” Harvard Law School professor Laurence Tribe told Salon by email.

“Besides being the president’s son-in-law, he is a scion of a family, whose wealth is intertwined with Jared’s many roles in the Trump administration, roles that have put him virtually in bed with, among other bloody despots, Saudi Crown Prince MBS, with whom Jared hobnobbed right after MBS sent a team of thugs to brutally torture, murder and dismember a Washington Post critic of the Saudi regime. It would take a long time to enumerate the conflicts we know about. Those we don’t yet know about are neatly hidden away in the Cadre company, in which Kushner apparently has holdings valued at as much as $50 million.”

View the complete June 11 article by Matthew Rozsa from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Despite his assurances, Wheeler met with former clients

The following article by Corbin Hiar was posted on the E&E News website July 26, 2018:

Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler in his office at agency headquarters earlier this month. Credit: Patrick G. Ryan

Since Andrew Wheeler was sworn as EPA’s second in command on April 20, the lobbying veteran has had at least three meetings with former clients that may have violated the Trump administration’s ethics pledge and other promises he made to steer clear of potential conflicts of interest.

Wheeler — who became acting administrator after Scott Pruitt’s July 6 resignation — has also attended other events that prominently included the head of a company he is currently prohibited from getting involved with, according to an E&E News review of public documents.

The string of ethically questionable encounters stand in stark contrast to the acting EPA chief’s claims that he is taking pains to avoid helping his former clients advance their interests.

View the complete article here.

Minnesota Senate candidate writes laws impacting her real estate business

The following article by Danielle McLean was posted on the ThinkProgress website May 16, 2018:

“We don’t know if she is acting in the interest of the State of Minnesota or something else.”

Credit: HousleyforSenate.com

Karin Housley, a Minnesota State Senator who is seeking to be the Republican nominee in Minnesota’s upcoming U.S. Senate special election, is a prominent realtor who does brisk trade selling million dollar homes in the suburbs outside Minneapolis. And since 2014, she has worked nearly as hard at creating numerous bills affecting her real estate business.

As a member of the Minnesota State Senate, Housley authored bills that literally crafted the definition of her very profession and established “designated agency” during real estate transactions. She authored an act that established a first-time home buyer savings account, which was touted by the state’s real estate political action committee as a major legislative success. And she wrote bills benefiting the real estate appraisers that set the prices of the homes she sells, including new protections against civil action lawsuits and shielding minor disciplinary action against them from the public record. Continue reading “Minnesota Senate candidate writes laws impacting her real estate business”

Trump picks another official with potential conflicts of interest for powerful regulatory role

The following article by Mark Hand was posted on the ThinkProgress website January 8, 2018:

Kevin McIntyre (Credit: FERC; Graphic: Diana Ofosu / ThinkProgress

Kevin McIntyre worked almost 30 years as an energy industry attorney.

By choosing a longtime corporate attorney to head the nation’s top energy regulatory agency, President Donald Trump stuck to his practice of nominating officials riddled with potential conflicts of interest to high-ranking roles in the U.S. government.

As a partner with Jones Day, a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm, Kevin McIntyre’s ties to energy companies that fall under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) jurisdiction were so numerous and ran so deep that his swearing-in as chairman of the agency was delayed to give him more time to sever the relationships. Continue reading “Trump picks another official with potential conflicts of interest for powerful regulatory role”

Trump’s Pick for Top Environmental Job Has Said Some Really Nutty Things About Climate Change

The following article by Reynard Loki was posted on the AlterNet website October 20, 2017:

Kathleen Hartnett White’s comments are pretty extreme, even for a fossil fuel-loving climate denier.

From EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to Energy Secretary Rick Perry, President Trump has filled his administration with a rogue’s gallery of fossil fuel-loving climate deniers. Now he’s set to sign up another: Kathleen Hartnett White.

Last week, Trump nominated Hartnett White, a longtime critic of climate change policy, to head the White House Council on Environmental Quality, which advises the administration on environmental policy. If she is confirmed by the Senate, America will have yet another fox in charge of the henhouse, putting the global environment further at risk. Continue reading “Trump’s Pick for Top Environmental Job Has Said Some Really Nutty Things About Climate Change”

Congress gives Trump a pass on releasing his tax returns

The following editorial by the Washington Post’s Editorial Board was posted on their website September 9, 2017:

Credit: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo

IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE why Donald Trump has felt no compunction about refusing to release his tax returns. After all, he got elected president despite breaking his promise to release his IRS filings, thus thumbing his nose at a tradition that had been followed by every major-party candidate for four decades. Keeping the information under wraps also appears to be an effective way of stymieing questions about whether there are potential conflicts of interest posed by his private business empire. What doesn’t make sense is that Congress lets him get away with this, particularly since it soon will be debating an overhaul of tax policy. Shouldn’t elected representatives know how President Trump might benefit and what interests are really being served?

Unfortunately but predictably, an effort that would have forced release of Mr. Trump’s tax information was shut down last week by House Republicans. In a party-line vote Thursday, the House Ways and Means Committee rejected a resolution that would have directed the Treasury Department to turn over the tax returns of Mr. Trump and his many businesses. A law enacted in 1924 after the Teapot Dome scandal allows the Way and Means Committee, along with the Senate Committee on Finance and the Joint Committee on Taxation, to request tax information for review in a closed session with possible public disclosure. Continue reading “Congress gives Trump a pass on releasing his tax returns”

Secrecy and Suspicion Surround Trump’s Deregulation Teams

The following article by Robert Faturechi of ProPublica and Danielle Ivory of the New York Times was posted on the ProPublica website August 7, 2017:

This article was co-published with The New York Times.

President Donald Trump in Huntington, West Virginia, on Aug. 3 Credit: Justin Merriman/Getty Images

When President Trump ordered federal agencies to form teams to dismantle government regulations, the Transportation Department turned to people with deep industry ties.

One appointee had previously lobbied the department on behalf of American Airlines. Another held executive roles for several electric and hybrid car companies regulated by the department. A third was a lawyer who represented United Airlines in regulatory matters.

The three appointees have been identified by ProPublica and The New York Times in a continuing effort to track members of the deregulation teams. The appointments, previously unreported, follow a pattern identified by the two news organizations: By and large, the Trump administration has stacked the teams with political appointees, some of whom may be reviewing rules their former employers sought to weaken or kill.

A full vetting of industry connections has been difficult because some agencies have declined to provide information about the appointees — not even their names. Continue reading “Secrecy and Suspicion Surround Trump’s Deregulation Teams”

Prospect of Trump firing Mueller keeps becoming more untenable

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website June 16, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: If Donald Trump thought he could intimidate Bob Mueller, he thought wrong.

Robert S. Mueller III in 2012. Credit J. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press

A person who spoke with Trump on Tuesday told the New York Times that the president was pleased by the intentional ambiguity of his position on firing Robert S. Mueller as special counsel, “and thinks the possibility of being fired will focus the veteran prosecutor on delivering what the president desires most: a blanket public exoneration.”

If the president truly believes this, he fundamentally misunderstands what motivates the former FBI director – who has stood up to previous administrations and never swayed under political pressure. Continue reading “Prospect of Trump firing Mueller keeps becoming more untenable”

Kushner keeps most of his real estate but offers few clues about potential White House conflicts

The following article by Amy Brittain and Jonathan O’Connell was posted on the Washington Post website May 21, 1027:

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner listens as President Trump speaks during an executive order signing in early May. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

As chief executive of his family’s real estate empire, Jared Kushner planned two apartment projects across the street from each other in Jersey City.

Both would be luxury skyscrapers, complete with retail space and sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline. A new crosswalk would connect them, intended to link the two Kushner Cos. developments practically and visually. Continue reading “Kushner keeps most of his real estate but offers few clues about potential White House conflicts”