I guess none of trump supporters on D&D donated enough to trump to get an appointment to the Kennedy Center board of trustees... see twitter thread for list and, ahem, qualifications...
Shocked! Shocked I tell you! LOL... a "technical difference"... Mnuchin failed to comply with ethics rules in financial disclosure, watchdog says https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/05/politics/treasury-mnuchin-ethics-financial-disclosure/index.html
Because, after all, we have to make sure trump is making money off all this... even when he is playing golf... Defense Department charged $300,000 at Trump properties since 2017 https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/10/politics/defense-department-300000-at-trump-properties/index.html
When the rules prevent you from making money... change the rules... Trump hotels exempted from ban on foreign payments under new stance A narrow justice department interpretation of the emoluments clause gives countries leeway to curry favor with the president via commercial deals https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...to-trump-blurs-lines-experts?CMP=share_btn_tw
The only interpretation of emoluments that matters is Congress'. And they're sitting on their hands. Our checks and balances don't work nearly as well as we tell ourselves they do.
Random aside: after the communist revolution in Russia, the Secretary General post was not a very desirable job. It consisted mostly of having to find people to fill a bunch of administrative jobs. Stalin was pretty clever in using the powers of that post in building his power base by appointing loyalists and using appointments to get amass chits to use later for support in political fights. He ultimately used it to make himself the dictator, and made the boring term 'Secretary General' analogous to leader. The Senate's power to confirm positions is similarly powerful as is their role as arbiter in an impeachment, but McConnell has been using it for the party and for Trump and not for himself (to his credit, I suppose). N.B., I'm not comparing anyone to Stalin. But, it is interesting to reflect on how powerful the Senate majority leader is because of power over personnel.
Remember one of trump's other big campaign promises... went by the cure theme of "drain the swamp"? Of course, another big trump lie... Trump Sets 5-Year and Lifetime Lobbying Ban for Officials https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-sets-5-year-lifetime-lobbying-ban-officials-n713631 https://www.opensecrets.org/trump/lobbyists Trump Owns the Swamp Now, and It’s Awash in Lobbyists http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/03/350-lobbyists-swimming-in-trumps-swamp.html
Remember when all his little sycophants were chanting along with him "DRAIN THE SWAMP..."? What a joke, sad that people were/are dumb enough to believe him.
John Kelly, thru his work as Trump's Homeland Security Secretary and then Chief of Staff, has shown to be an "empty barrel" 5 months after being fired byTrump, he has joined the board of Caliburn International, a company that operates the largest U.S. shelter for unaccompanied migrant children, according to a CBS News report. Kelly helped implement Trump’s restrictionist immigration policies, first as head of the Department of Homeland Security and then as White House chief of staff, before his departure at the start of this year. In May 2018, he told NPR that immigrants who come to the U.S. illegally are “not people that would easily assimilate into the United States, into our modern society.” A year prior to that, in a March 2017 interview with CNN, Kelly suggested separating families to deter illegal immigration. The Trump administration later implemented such a policy but had to abandon mass family separations after a court order and public outcry. The facilities Comprehensive Health Services operates primarily house minors who came to the U.S. without their parents, who are arriving at the border in large numbers. In March, Border Patrol apprehended 8,975 unaccompanied minors at the U.S.’s southwest border. Those children remain in government custody until they are released to sponsors. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/john-kelly-board-caliburn-international_n_5ccca21be4b0548b7359f75f
