Impeachable?

[homersapien 11,465]

On 1/5/2024 at 12:56 PM, Cardin Drake said:

What exactly did Trump do that was corrupt?  Allow government officials from 20 different countries to stay at his hotels?  You guys crack me up.

 

https://time.com/donald-trumps-suite-of-power/

.....The potential conflicts of interest are dizzying. In the soaring atrium, guests kibitz under a massive U.S. flag—a gift on loan from the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that helps shape Administration policy and that thanked top donors by bankrolling a December gala here keynoted by then incoming Vice President Mike Pence. For Trump’s Inauguration, guests willing to fork over the steep fees could mingle with top federal officials. One VIP package, which offered lodging in a 6,300-sq.-ft. townhouse suite—two floors overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, accessed through a discreet wooden door—was advertised for $500,000. The President invited members of Congress to lunch in the ballroom. “It’s an absolutely stunning hotel,” press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Jan. 19. “I encourage you to go there if you haven’t been by.”

Foreign governments seem particu­larly keen to patronize Trump’s property. Between Oct. 1 and March 31, lobbyists working on behalf of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia ran up a $270,000 tab on rooms, catering and parking, according to foreign lobbying disclosures filed at the end of May and first reported by the Daily Caller. That stretch coincided with a Saudi lobbying push against legislation that would allow victims of terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments. In May, Trump chose Riyadh as his first foreign stop as President, where he announced an arms deal, gave a major foreign policy speech and participated in a traditional ceremonial sword dance.

In December, diplomats from Bahrain shifted that country’s National Day festivities to Trump International’s gilded, 13,000-sq.-ft. presidential ballroom. As if on cue, Kuwait moved its own annual gala in February from the Four Seasons across town to Trump International—even though the former location had already been reserved. The embassy of Azerbaijan co-hosted a Hanukkah party in the hotel’s elegant Lincoln Library, with a roster of guests that included Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who has become notorious this spring for meeting with several Trump Administration officials. “You know, successful people own things,” Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov tells TIME. “That is a natural thing.”

One longtime Republican power broker summed up the role the hotel is playing in Trump’s Washington: “It is a magnet for unsophisticated foreign governments and companies to offer tribute. It does not work, but it is perceived as a path to influence.”

Yet domestic groups have found reasons to do business there as well. Last year, evangelist Franklin Graham planned a global conference on Christian persecution at the Mayflower Hotel for this May. Two months after Trump was inaugurated, Graham decided to add a closing banquet at Trump International, where he also reserved rooms for select guests, which meant ferrying them between hotels in a fleet of black SUVs. Among the guests was a delegation from Moscow headed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, a top cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, who met during the conference with Pence. A spokesperson for Graham said neither the Mayflower nor a nearby Hilton could accommodate the banquet, and up to 40 rooms came as part of the package.

Not everyone found the fancy digs necessary. “We didn’t have to stay there,” Ignatius Aphrem II, patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Damascus, told TIME. Speaking of Graham’s organization, he added, “Maybe they have special arrangements. Maybe they are friends of the President.”

In the past, Presidents have often gone to great lengths to assure the public that they aren’t mixing the nation’s business with their own. Many of Trump’s predecessors voluntarily divested their business assets or placed them in a blind trust administered by an independent third party, to avoid both conflicts of interest and the appearance of them. Trump has taken a different approach. He has stepped away from the operations of his business, but he has not relinquished ownership. Critics say the approach falls far short. “He is one great big example of exploiting public office for private gain,” says Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who trains governments around the world in ethics and anti­corruption practices. “Of course it’s a scandal.”

Which doesn’t mean it’s illegal. Trump does not seem bothered by the appearance of conflicts, often doing his public business in his private holdings. During the campaign, Trump visited his properties across the U.S. as well as his golf courses in Scotland. He used televised campaign events to promote Trump products, including bottled water and wine. As President, he decamps on many weekends for his golf courses in Virginia and New Jersey, trips that guarantee free publicity from the press corps. He took Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on separate trips to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where the club entry fee doubled after his election, to $200,000.

Trump denies any impropriety. “The law’s totally on my side,” he said in November. “The President can’t have a conflict of interest.” Or rather, as his lawyers point out, as President he is not subject to federal conflict-of-interest laws, which offer broad latitude for the Commander in Chief. And his sprawling business empire was front and center on the campaign trail, with aides highlighting a track rec­ord of delivering projects under budget and ahead of schedule.

To address concerns, Trump announced in January that he would hand control of his business empire to his two adult sons and a trustee, halt all new foreign deals, terminate some pending ones and wall himself off from company decisions. Because the emoluments clause of the Constitution bans most transactions between government officials and foreign governments, the Trump Organization pledged to donate its profits from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury. “President-­elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” said his lawyer Sheri Dillon. “This plan offers a suitable alternative to address the concerns of the American people.”

The firewall between the Trump presidency and the Trump Organization has turned out to be less than airtight. His sons have participated in political meetings and are sought-after speakers at ­Republican functions across the U.S. Eric Trump’s wife Lara is employed by the digital firm working for Trump’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the company, according to internal documents released in May by Democrats in Congress, has since determined that it is not practical to segregate all foreign sources of income, arguing that such an effort would not “even be possible without an inordinate amount of time, resources and specialists.” The donation will be made on an annual basis at the end of each calendar year, according to a Trump Organization spokesperson. It’s unclear who would ensure that the company complies with its pledge.

In response to the unusual arrangements, multiple groups have filed civil lawsuits against Trump, aiming to force the courts to step in. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a progressive watchdog group, filed suit alleging that he has violated the Constitution by accepting emoluments. Cork Wine Bar, a D.C. restaurant, filed another suit that claims Trump’s stake in the hotel’s restaurants gives it an unfair competitive advantage in the city’s fine-dining market. House and Senate Democrats are also planning to sue Trump to stop emoluments violations, according to Politico, arguing that he is breaking the law by continuing to profit from his businesses while serving as President.

 

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

1 hour ago, AU9377 said:

She didn't guide him off the stage.  That is just a bold faced LIE.  That is the entire freak show right wing of the Republican party's mode of operation.  Just make s*** up and build on it.

What was she doing on stage?  Was her presence necessary to solidify Biden’s *Trump is a dictator just like Hitler* campaign pitch?

She was holding his hand and didn’t let go until the path was determined just before going off stage.  Biden’s handlers have incrementally stepped up guidance so he would not fall or wander around the stage aimlessly and this is the latest iteration.

I amazes me you cant see it.

[AU9377 5,061]

4 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

What was she doing on stage?  Was her presence necessary to solidify Biden’s *Trump is a dictator just like Hitler* campaign pitch?

She was holding his hand and didn’t let go until the path was determined just before going off stage.  Biden’s handlers have incrementally stepped up guidance so he would not fall or wander around the stage aimlessly and this is the latest iteration.

I amazes me you cant see it.

It was a campaign speech.  She came on stage after it was finished to wave to the crowd.  Since when is that strange or abnormal?  I realize Melania doesn't do that, but Jill Biden is more of a traditional First Lady. She is educated and has worked both while raising children and after. 

You brought up Trump, so lets compare.  Melania.... the Eastern European immigrant and soft porn performer that brought her entire family here by way of chain migration after she married a man twice her age so that they would never have to work again versus Jill Biden. 

If you heard any of the actual speech, you would know that what you describe was not the pitch being made.  He used Trump's own comments to compare them with what should be expected of an American President.

[Leftfield 2,680]

11 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

 If you heard any of the actual speech...

In the words of Dave Barry, the chances of that happening are about the same as the next Pope being from Des Moines.

[AU9377 5,061]

33 minutes ago, Leftfield said:

In the words of Dave Barry, the chances of that happening are about the same as the next Pope being from Des Moines.

Popes of the corn... lol

[Leftfield 2,680]

6 minutes ago, AU9377 said:

Popes of the corn... lol

Could happen, just need a slight wardrobe change...

 

 

[Cardin Drake 1,857]

20 hours ago, homersapien said:

 

https://time.com/donald-trumps-suite-of-power/

.....The potential conflicts of interest are dizzying. In the soaring atrium, guests kibitz under a massive U.S. flag—a gift on loan from the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that helps shape Administration policy and that thanked top donors by bankrolling a December gala here keynoted by then incoming Vice President Mike Pence. For Trump’s Inauguration, guests willing to fork over the steep fees could mingle with top federal officials. One VIP package, which offered lodging in a 6,300-sq.-ft. townhouse suite—two floors overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, accessed through a discreet wooden door—was advertised for $500,000. The President invited members of Congress to lunch in the ballroom. “It’s an absolutely stunning hotel,” press secretary Sean Spicer told reporters on Jan. 19. “I encourage you to go there if you haven’t been by.”

Foreign governments seem particu­larly keen to patronize Trump’s property. Between Oct. 1 and March 31, lobbyists working on behalf of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia ran up a $270,000 tab on rooms, catering and parking, according to foreign lobbying disclosures filed at the end of May and first reported by the Daily Caller. That stretch coincided with a Saudi lobbying push against legislation that would allow victims of terrorist attacks to sue foreign governments. In May, Trump chose Riyadh as his first foreign stop as President, where he announced an arms deal, gave a major foreign policy speech and participated in a traditional ceremonial sword dance.

In December, diplomats from Bahrain shifted that country’s National Day festivities to Trump International’s gilded, 13,000-sq.-ft. presidential ballroom. As if on cue, Kuwait moved its own annual gala in February from the Four Seasons across town to Trump International—even though the former location had already been reserved. The embassy of Azerbaijan co-hosted a Hanukkah party in the hotel’s elegant Lincoln Library, with a roster of guests that included Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, who has become notorious this spring for meeting with several Trump Administration officials. “You know, successful people own things,” Azerbaijani Ambassador Elin Suleymanov tells TIME. “That is a natural thing.”

One longtime Republican power broker summed up the role the hotel is playing in Trump’s Washington: “It is a magnet for unsophisticated foreign governments and companies to offer tribute. It does not work, but it is perceived as a path to influence.”

Yet domestic groups have found reasons to do business there as well. Last year, evangelist Franklin Graham planned a global conference on Christian persecution at the Mayflower Hotel for this May. Two months after Trump was inaugurated, Graham decided to add a closing banquet at Trump International, where he also reserved rooms for select guests, which meant ferrying them between hotels in a fleet of black SUVs. Among the guests was a delegation from Moscow headed by Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev, a top cleric of the Russian Orthodox Church and a close ally of Vladimir Putin, who met during the conference with Pence. A spokesperson for Graham said neither the Mayflower nor a nearby Hilton could accommodate the banquet, and up to 40 rooms came as part of the package.

Not everyone found the fancy digs necessary. “We didn’t have to stay there,” Ignatius Aphrem II, patriarch of the Syrian Orthodox Church in Damascus, told TIME. Speaking of Graham’s organization, he added, “Maybe they have special arrangements. Maybe they are friends of the President.”

In the past, Presidents have often gone to great lengths to assure the public that they aren’t mixing the nation’s business with their own. Many of Trump’s predecessors voluntarily divested their business assets or placed them in a blind trust administered by an independent third party, to avoid both conflicts of interest and the appearance of them. Trump has taken a different approach. He has stepped away from the operations of his business, but he has not relinquished ownership. Critics say the approach falls far short. “He is one great big example of exploiting public office for private gain,” says Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, who trains governments around the world in ethics and anti­corruption practices. “Of course it’s a scandal.”

Which doesn’t mean it’s illegal. Trump does not seem bothered by the appearance of conflicts, often doing his public business in his private holdings. During the campaign, Trump visited his properties across the U.S. as well as his golf courses in Scotland. He used televised campaign events to promote Trump products, including bottled water and wine. As President, he decamps on many weekends for his golf courses in Virginia and New Jersey, trips that guarantee free publicity from the press corps. He took Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping on separate trips to his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, where the club entry fee doubled after his election, to $200,000.

Trump denies any impropriety. “The law’s totally on my side,” he said in November. “The President can’t have a conflict of interest.” Or rather, as his lawyers point out, as President he is not subject to federal conflict-of-interest laws, which offer broad latitude for the Commander in Chief. And his sprawling business empire was front and center on the campaign trail, with aides highlighting a track rec­ord of delivering projects under budget and ahead of schedule.

To address concerns, Trump announced in January that he would hand control of his business empire to his two adult sons and a trustee, halt all new foreign deals, terminate some pending ones and wall himself off from company decisions. Because the emoluments clause of the Constitution bans most transactions between government officials and foreign governments, the Trump Organization pledged to donate its profits from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury. “President-­elect Trump should not be expected to destroy the company he built,” said his lawyer Sheri Dillon. “This plan offers a suitable alternative to address the concerns of the American people.”

The firewall between the Trump presidency and the Trump Organization has turned out to be less than airtight. His sons have participated in political meetings and are sought-after speakers at ­Republican functions across the U.S. Eric Trump’s wife Lara is employed by the digital firm working for Trump’s re-election campaign. Meanwhile, the company, according to internal documents released in May by Democrats in Congress, has since determined that it is not practical to segregate all foreign sources of income, arguing that such an effort would not “even be possible without an inordinate amount of time, resources and specialists.” The donation will be made on an annual basis at the end of each calendar year, according to a Trump Organization spokesperson. It’s unclear who would ensure that the company complies with its pledge.

In response to the unusual arrangements, multiple groups have filed civil lawsuits against Trump, aiming to force the courts to step in. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a progressive watchdog group, filed suit alleging that he has violated the Constitution by accepting emoluments. Cork Wine Bar, a D.C. restaurant, filed another suit that claims Trump’s stake in the hotel’s restaurants gives it an unfair competitive advantage in the city’s fine-dining market. House and Senate Democrats are also planning to sue Trump to stop emoluments violations, according to Politico, arguing that he is breaking the law by continuing to profit from his businesses while serving as President.

 

In other words, he owned a hotel and people stayed there.  The majority of the money came from a bank that he had as a tenant in one of his properties since 2008.  What legitimate business purpose was served by the $3.5 million Hunter was paid by the wife of the mayor of Moscow?  She paid him, then a few days later she had a meeting with Joe. And then somehow she stayed off the sanctions list.  It's called bribery. 

[homersapien 11,465]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:22 AM, Cardin Drake said:

In other words, he owned a hotel and people stayed there.  The majority of the money came from a bank that he had as a tenant in one of his properties since 2008.  What legitimate business purpose was served by the $3.5 million Hunter was paid by the wife of the mayor of Moscow?  She paid him, then a few days later she had a meeting with Joe. And then somehow she stayed off anctions list.  It's called bribery. 

So, in other words,  people paid Hunter Biden because of his last name and they assumed they were buying influence or favor from the presidency.

How is this worse ("Biden crime family") than Trump - and family - accepting money from foreign interests - in the form of patronizing his businesses, or accepting 2 billion to fund an investment fund - in the assumption they were buying influence or favor?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/top-11-favors-trump-administration-has-done-saudi-arabia-n1026926

The top 11 favors the Trump administration has done for Saudi Arabia

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump vetoed three congressional bills Wednesday aimed at stopping more than $8 billion in arms sales to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the latest favor by a commander in chief who has made a point of lavishing praise on the Saudi kingdom while avoiding public criticism.

From his earliest days in office, Trump has cultivated Saudi Arabia and placed it at the center of his foreign policy in the Middle East, lauding Riyadh's stance against Iran and its appetite for U.S.-made weapons......

 

Edited January 10 by homersapien

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

For those that do not understand the difference between Hunter Biden, son of our President, and Don Jr here is a stark reminder who has the guts to show up and answer questions.

 

This is where Hunter crashed the House Oversight Committee regarding Hunter’s contempt case.  The man is not putting his best foot forward here.

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

Deep questions about Hunter are being asked:

 

and

 

Nothing to see here, move along.

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

This puts it in perspective:

 

Dem privilege.

Edited January 10 by I_M4_AU

[CoffeeTiger 5,186]

ok? Impeach Hunter Biden then. Throw him out of office. I'm all for it. 

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

27 minutes ago, CoffeeTiger said:

ok? Impeach Hunter Biden then. Throw him out of office. I'm all for it. 

Of course you would misinterprete.  I said this is a stark reminder for thos who believe the Trump kids should be investigated like Hunter is.  Add to that, this isn’t about Hunter, just like investigating the Trump kids isn’t about the kids.  Try to keep up.

[auburnatl1 5,112]

3 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Of course you would misinterprete.  I said this is a stark reminder for thos who believe the Trump kids should be investigated like Hunter is.  Add to that, this isn’t about Hunter, just like investigating the Trump kids isn’t about the kids.  Try to keep up.

I find the whole kids thing secondary and off topic. I have no doubt Biden has skeletons in the closet, and Trump an entire warehouse. Biden is a 40 yr DC career politician and Trump a NY commercial real estate guy. You couldn’t find 2 more likely profiles for corruption. The thing I’ll get on the Dems about is that way down deep they know Biden’s an unfit candidate, they secretly all want to trade up, but they’re still letting it happen and settling - sheer laziness. The thing I’ll get on the GOP about is that they have other options right in front of them - now, way down deep most realize Trump is hopelessly dark and screwed up, but they’re still flocking to him - sheer creepiness. 

[CoffeeTiger 5,186]

34 minutes ago, I_M4_AU said:

Of course you would misinterprete.  I said this is a stark reminder for thos who believe the Trump kids should be investigated like Hunter is.  Add to that, this isn’t about Hunter, just like investigating the Trump kids isn’t about the kids.  Try to keep up.

ok? Arrest hunter for not complying with the subpoena then? 

 

Trump has done enough illegal and disqualifying acts himself that there is no need for anyone to investigate his family just to get to him. If Trumps family, in particular former government official Kushner, have committed crimes then that's likely completely separate from most of Trumps crimes. 

It's Republicans who have absolutely no case against joe Biden for anything unless they can find (or invent) some connection between the president and his private citizen sons crimes. 

 

 

[I_M4_AU 8,016]

1 hour ago, CoffeeTiger said:

ok? Arrest hunter for not complying with the subpoena then?

Looks like they are going to:

 

 

1 hour ago, CoffeeTiger said:

Trump has done enough illegal and disqualifying acts himself that there is no need for anyone to investigate his family just to get to him.

There are 4 cases going right now, two previous Impeachments that turned up nothing, so the Dems should turn up something, but for some reason the Dems are real nervous.

 

1 hour ago, CoffeeTiger said:

It's Republicans who have absolutely no case against joe Biden for anything unless they can find (or invent) some connection between the president and his private citizen sons crimes. 

No need to invent anything, Hunter will be testifying and will probably plead the 5th.  His business partners and bank records will tie him to Joe.

[CoffeeTiger 5,186]

1 hour ago, I_M4_AU said:

 

No need to invent anything, Hunter will be testifying and will probably plead the 5th.  His business partners and bank records will tie him to Joe.

In James Comers wet dreams maybe.