This emoluments violation is an article of impeachment no- brainer:
President Trump has awarded the 2020 Group of Seven summit of world leaders to his private company, scheduling the summit for June at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort in Florida, the White House announced Thursday.As with all of Trump's behavior, the corrupt self- dealing in this case is jaw- dropping. Once again, to the extent Trump is sentient at all, he seems to be begging for impeachment, daring Democrats to call him on his brazen lawlessness. (Mark Joseph Stern has a good read about how this decision by itself is worthy of impeachment.) Democrats must call that bluff.
That decision is without precedent in modern American history: The president used his public office to direct a huge contract to himself.
Trump’s Doral resort — set among office parks near Miami International Airport — has been in sharp decline in recent years, according to the Trump Organization’s own records. Its net operating income fell 69 percent from 2015 to 2017; a Trump Organization representative testified last year that the reason was Trump’s damaged brand.
Now, the G-7 summit will draw hundreds of diplomats, journalists and security personnel to the resort during one of its slowest months of the year, when Miami is hot and the hotel is often less than 40 percent full. It will also provide a worldwide spotlight for the club. (our emphasis)
Of course, there's a reason this golf "resort" is in sharp decline, beyond the toxic Trump brand: it has a long history of health inspection violations, including roaches and dirty appliances in the main kitchen, improper food storage in the club's grill, and "food debris and a mold- like substance" in an ice machine and beer nozzle at the bar. Oh, and there's the lawsuit over... bedbugs:
In 2016, Doral was sued by a former guest, Eric Linder, who said he had been bitten multiple times by bed bugs while staying in the luxe Jack Nicklaus Villa at Trump’s property. His complaint alleged that he awoke to discover “welts, lumps and marks over much of his face, neck, arms and torso.”
Linder alleged that the villa had “a history of severe bed bug infestation.”
The Trump Organization denied the allegation, without going into detail. It settled the case in 2017, shortly after Trump’s inauguration.A resort that perfectly mirrors the seedy, crazy- as- a- bed- bug owner!
BONUS: From the former White House ethics chief --
In case it's not clear from my freaking out, this G-7 thing is an escalation. It may look from the outside like it's been corruption all along—because it has been—but participating in a contract award to yourself is different by orders of magnitude. This is a red line crossed.— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) October 17, 2019
