Trump and Sean Spicer Lied, Trump Secretly Revised Business Trust

Drain the swamp?

>How might this work? Mr. Trump could pocket proceeds, for instance, from the seven condos sold at a Trump luxury high-rise in Las Vegas since his election. CBS News has confirmed the transactions at the building, which is operated by Trump Ruffin Tower LLC. According to CBS News correspondent Anna Werner and investigative producer Laura Strickler, the sales total for the seven units was $2.3 million.

>The revised trust agreement was released by the General Services Administration, or GSA, a federal agency that oversees the basic functioning of the government.

>The government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington labeled Mr. Trump’s amended trust agreement as demonstrating the “inadequacy” of the separation between him and his company. The trust set up “only the appearance of separation,” a spokesman for the watchdog organization said.

>Richard Painter, the White House ethics counsel under George W. Bush, condemned the latest move as “illustrating that Trump controls the business” and called it a “conflict of interest.” To Painter, now a professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, the only way to avoid conflicts is for the president to erect a blind trust, where his assets are completely segregated from his knowledge and control, with trustees having the power to sell them.

>If people know Mr. Trump is profiting from a specific transaction, they could seek something in return, warned real estate trust lawyer Fred Tansill, who practices in suburban Washington D.C. People dealing with the Trump administration, he said, “may feel that they have the abiility to buy favorable treatment from the president and that’s a terrible appearance for our democracy.”

>White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Monday he was uncertain if Mr. Trump had taken money from his trust and didn’t answer a question about whether the president would make a disclosure if he did so.

>Mr. Trump receives a $400,000 yearly salary as president, and on Monday donated his first three months pay to the National Park Service. By law, presidents are exempt from conflict of interest rules for government officials.

>Still, it’s a convention for presidents to adhere to the rules, and they often used blind trusts. U.S. senators also can take money from trusts they establish, but there’s a difference with the Trump situation because senators must house their assets in blind trusts.

>Questions about how deeply involved the president can be with his businesses have cropped up with the announcement of the trust in January. While control of the company passed from Mr. Trump to Donald Jr. and Weissenberg, along with his other adult son, Eric, there is no legal stricture preventing him from being involved in company operations.

>Mr. Trump has pledged to get reports only on the Trump Organization’s basic financial performance, although that has no force of law. Eric Trump told Forbes magazine that he intends to brief his father on company doings.

>Another controversy surrounding Mr. Trump’s purported conflicts involves the Trump International Hotel, which is located in the Old Post Office building near the White House. One ethics law a president must obey is a constitutional bar on receiving money from foreign governments. Known as the “emoluments clause” in the U.S. Constitution, this provision is meant to shield the president from foreign bribes.Critics say foreign powers might seek Mr. Trump’s favor by staying at his hotel.

>But a recent ruling by the GSA, which owns the hotel site, concluded the facility is not in violation of its lease by accepting rental income that benefits Mr. Trump. Their reasoning: The funds would be held by the hotel and not be funneled to the Trump Organization. But it is not clear what will happen to the money once he leaves office.

didn't he address this in the WH press conference?

>>130579
>White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said on Monday he was uncertain if Mr. Trump had taken money from his trust and didn't answer a question about whether the president would make a disclosure if he did so.
Read the article before posting.

More reading:
https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/homenews/media/327101-propublica-fact-checks-spicer-after-he-claims-trump-trust-docs-were-never%3Famp

>ProPublica fact-checked White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a flurry of tweets Monday after he accused the site of harboring a liberal bias.

>ProPublica, which describes itself as "an independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest," did not appreciate Spicer calling it a "left-wing blog" during the Monday press briefing and responded on Twitter

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>1/ So@seanspicerjust called us a “left-wing blog.” Since we’re actually in the biz of facts, we figured we’d respond w/ a few...

>The Pulitzer-prize-winning news site accused Spicer of trying to undermine its credibility after publishinga report earlier in the dayrevealing that Trump can draw money from his business-linked trust at any time with no requirement to disclose it.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer2/@seanspicerwas trying to knock our story that Trump’s trust doc was revised to say he can take $ frm biz anytimehttp://propub.li/2ouRDkC

>ProPublica's report said the withdrawal language was the biggest change in his trust policy, inserted about a month after the original documents were signed.

>"Trump can draw money from his more than 400 businesses, at any time, without disclosing it. The previously unreported changes to a trust document, signed on Feb. 10, stipulates that it 'shall distribute net income or principal to Donald J. Trump at his request' or whenever his son and longtime attorney 'deem appropriate,'" the report reads.

cont.

>Spicer denied any changes to the president's trust withdrawal policy and defended the use of the trust, reasoning that withdrawing money is the purpose of a trust. Then Spicer slammed the credibility of ProPublica.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer3/@seanspicersaid he’s “not aware of any change in the trust.” And he then said this:https://youtu.be/yCtqiyyy5JUpic.twitter.com/lrQpWkZjKh

>ProPublica tweeted contrasting photos of the documents in question.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer4/ The Trump trust doc was revised & signed Feb. 10. Here you go,@seanspicer:https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3525993-Contracting-Officer-Letter-March-23-2017.html#document/p161/a346553…pic.twitter.com/9odXRrFEjV

>The site asserts it had asked the White House and Trump Organization to explain the changes in the trust, but said it received no response.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer5/ We do no-surprises journalism. We told the Trump Org & WH what we knew and gave them time to explain.They didn’t.http://propub.li/2nxumcRpic.twitter.com/paZfZWr4W1

>ProPublica reiterated its mission to be a check on power and hold people accountable.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer6/ What we do is hold people in power accountable, no matter who they are, or what names they call us. We do it with facts. Like...

>ProPublica tweeted multiple previous reports as examples of its fact-checking the Trump.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer7/ The fact that Tom Price bought drug company stock same day he pushed policy that could help the company.http://propub.li/2ouugrw

>Its twelfth tweet said the organization had also served as a check on the Obama administration.

Tweet:ProPublica
@ProPublica
>.@seanspicer12/ So, we wrote about fact that Obama caved to big banks and didn’t deliver on his promises to help homeowners:http://propub.li/2ouKKQs

End.

Lol you libtards are still butthurt that Trump won

>>131789
More like you're butthurt you elected a polished turd.

>>131907
Obama is in Tahiti sweetie

>>130564
More like become the swamp.

>>132344
>>131789
>everyone that disagrees with me is some stereotype I made up that doesn't even exist on 4chan
YAWN
Nobody gave a fuck about the elections, fag. The same shit would be happening no matter who won. Find some new material

>>131789
But what you don't understand is that since Trump won we all lost, including you. Unless you are a CEO of a company with lobbyists.

withdrawing money out of a trust is not illegal, it's his fucking money
what is wrong with you people