#Crooked Donald violating U.S. Constitution emoluments clause

[malenipshadows]

  *** T-rump stayed at the resort and played golf there last Saturday, between a meeting of the NATO military alliance and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.    It was not clear whether all of the payments were made to cover expenses for T-rump's visit. The State Department paid Turnberry $7,670 in April and another $70,000 in the days before T-rump's visit last week, federal records showed.    A State Department spokeswoman declined to comment about the charges, and White House officials did not respond to a request for comment.    Former government ethics officials and watchdog groups say T-rump has failed to put safeguards in place to ensure that he does not directly profit from his actions as president. ***

[opedguy]

Rep. Rashida Tlaib Calls Trump “Crooked CEO”

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), May 11, 2019.--Freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich..) slammed 72-year-old President Donald Trump, calling him a “crooked CEO.”  Trump’s been especially critical of Tlaib’s colleague Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), who, as the first woman Muslim member of the U.S. Congress, made hateful comments about Jews.  Ilhan, a native Somalian, said the Jewish lobbying group called the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee [AIPAC] is all about the money, not principles.  “It’s all about the Benjamins baby,” Ilhan said March 27, prompting Trump to ask that Omar be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  Tlaib, who’s of Palestinian ancestry, put Omar in her place.  “Rep. Omar stop your disgusting Jew hatred,” Tlaib said.  Tlaib expressed 17 reservations about Trump’s ongoing business dealings, believing he should have place all his financial interest in a blind trust before he took office Jan. 20, 2017.

Tlaib wanted to echo the Democrat party line against Trump, namely that he’s not fit for duty.  “So many people are focused on what happened before he took the oath of office,” said Tlaib.  “What I am more concerned [about]and what the American people and the public are concerned about is:  After he took office, what has he done,” Tlaib said, not realizing that Trump promised a four-point growth rate and to end the Islamic State of Iraq and Iraq.  On both counts, whether Tlaib accepts it or not, Trump has delivered.  Asking what Trump’s done since taking office, Tlaib opens herself to criticism.  Tlaib thinks Trump committed impeachable offenses the day he took office because he didn’t divest himself of his many businesses. Voters voted Trump in office knowing he ran real estate empire and didn’t care that he didn’t publish his tax returns. Since taking over the House Jan. 1, Democrats have tried to force Trump to release his returns.

Unlike Rep. Ilhan Omar or Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), Tlaib has gone relatively unscathed because she’s refrained from openly attacking the president.  Tlaib’s latest comments to Yaho News “Skullduggery” hosted by Michael Isikoff shows the anti-Trump press gets mileage getting elected officials, whether Democrat of Republican, to slam Trump.  Tlaib’s argument that Trump violates the Constitution’s Emolument Clause does little to advance her cause.  Voters knew that Trump was a respected businessman, something the New York Times have sought to discredit since taking office.  Recently publishing Trump’s  take returns from 1985 to 1994, the Times prove what many suspected that Trump paid no taxes, writiing off $1.2 billion in real estate losses.  Democrats have branded Trump the “biggest loser,” saying he took more losses than any U.S. taxpayers during that period.

With 18 months before the presidential election, Democrats have already thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Trump.  Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s March 22 Final Report cleared Trump of a two-year probe into criminal wrongdoing.  Keeping the investigation going in Congress, Democrats hope to throw enough mud at Trump to prevent him from a second term.  Calling Trump a corrupt CEO attempts to brand Trump like he did when he referred to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton as “crooked Hillary.”  Democrats want to return the favor with Trump now that they know about his staggering tax loses.  “We have a corporation running our government now,” Tlaib said, talking about Trump as a “crooked CEO.” Tlaib announced she has 10 million signatures from MoveOn.org to impeach Trump but can’t say what high-crimes-and-misdemeanors he committed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has resisted efforts from her party’s left wing to impeach Trump for a variety to reasons.  Trump’s recent assertion of executive privilege has prompted many Democrat to push for impeachment.  Pelosi knows that any impeachment attempt by the House would be rebuked in the Senate, where Republicans hold a 54-47 majority, Democrats don’t have the votes to remove Trump from office.  Yet with Atty. Gen. William Bar refusing to testify, Democrats in the House now have the impetus to initiate impeachment proceedings.  Calling Trump a “corrupt CEO,” Tlaib hoes to scare voters into voting Democratic in 2020.  Democrats tread on thin ice when it comes pursuing impeachment proceedings without any real grounds, especially since Mueller cleared him for wrongdoing in the Russian probe.

Tlaib’s barking up the wrong tree insisting that Trump’s violating the Constitution’s arcane Emolument’s Clause. Voters in 2016 knew all about Trump’s businesses and decided the country needed a change.  Tlaib askes rhetorically what has Trump done since taking office. Republicans can articulate many of his campaign promises delivered, despite being under the Special Counsel’s dark cloud.  Unless Democrats can point to real high-crimes-and-misdemeanors, starting impeachment proceedings could boomerang with voters in 2020.  There are plenty of U.S. attorneys and psychiatrists ready to denounce Trump for partisan reasons.  But the law requires Democrats to have real evidence that Trump committed high-crimes-and-misdemeanors, no simply partisan interpretations of criminal statures, the Constitution or mental health issues.  Trump’s proven resilient enough to make Democrats look bad.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

[malenipshadows]

 *** Virtually all justices wind up ruling on policy issues affecting the president who appointed them. But Trump is enmeshed in more than half a dozen significant court cases involving everything from his alleged sexual behavior before taking office to claims that his businesses are profiting from his presidency and allegations that he misused funds through his charitable foundation    In addition, the Supreme Court could be asked to rule on other legal questions critical to the president, such as whether Robert Mueller's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election was legally authorized or whether Trump has the authority to dismiss the special prosecutor.  ...    Trump is also facing three different groundbreaking suits accusing him of using his business to violate the Constitution's ban on accepting emoluments from foreign countries. An appeal of the dismissal of one of those cases is pending at the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. A ruling by that court could come by fall, teeing up the issue for the Supreme Court. ***

[malenipshadows]

   *** Because T-rump’s business empire is overseen by a trust of which he is the sole beneficiary, he profits from these hotel stays, banquet hall rentals and meals. ...    The use of taxpayer dollars at T-rump hotels is under scrutiny in a closely watched lawsuit in Maryland federal court. The District of Columbia and the state of Maryland sued -Trump, citing a venerable anti-corruption provision of the U.S. Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause.  It prohibits any financial gift, or emolument, from benefiting a sitting public official, including the president. ***

[malenipshadows]

   *** The carefully maintained secrecy around T-rump’s finances is under unprecedented assault a year into his presidency, with three different legal teams with different agendas trying to pry open the Trump Organization’s books.   (1.)  Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, who has subpoenaed T-rump Organization documents as part of his wide-ranging investigation into the 2016 campaign.   (2.) Stormy Daniels, the adult-film actress seeking internal correspondence as part of her effort to be freed from a nondisclosure agreement centering on an alleged affair with T-rump.    (3.) District of Columbia and Maryland have sued T-rump, alleging he is improperly accepting emoluments from foreign or state governments through his businesses, including his hotels.  A federal judge ruled Wednesday (3-28-2018) the case can proceed, opening the way for plaintiffs to seek at least a portion of T-rump’s tax returns. ***