Tuesday, June 12, 2018

The Grift Goes On


Financial disclosure statements from First Lady corrupt nepotist Ivanka "Complicit" Trump indicate that she pocketed $3.9 million from her share in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. At the same time, she earned $5 million from her personal branding business, all the while being a "senior advisor" to her father, con man and demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump. She and her husband, Jared "Mr. Ivanka Trump" Kushner have agreed to abide by Federal ethics laws, despite not divesting of their private business interests.

Both Kushners frequently travel to foreign nations ostensibly to represent the U.S., but secure business deals in their wake. For example, Kushner received a $30 million loan from Minora Mivtachin, an Israeli financial company, shortly before visiting Israel in May 2017. Kushner's business dealings are under investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, following reports that after Kushner's father had been denied a loan by Qatar, the Rump regime turned against Qatar in it's dispute with Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Kushner is also suspected of using his position in the White House to get favorable treatment for his family's troubled real estate business.

Most recently, "Complicit" was granted 13 trademarks by China in a three month time span, allowing her to market numerous branded products in China to hundreds of millions of consumers. The speed and breadth of the trademark approvals raised questions about improper influence due to her nepotistic government position. The attempt by Rump to save Chinese telecom giant and sanctions violator ZTE from bankruptcy (and therefore obtain a $500 million Chinese investment in an Indonesian project of Rump's organization) was likely part of the expedited trademarks. The Senate has rebuffed Rump's ZTE agreement as part of the National Defense Authorization bill,  but the Trumpist House has yet to act.

This is, far and away, the most corrupt administration in U.S. history, and if a small fraction of their corruption were on a Democratic President's watch, that President would have been impeached and removed long ago. Party over country.