Drain the swamp!

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Useful links to Trump's swamp

The truth is that Trump can’t meaningfully break from congressional Republicans on policy because he’s enmeshed in tons of financial conflicts of interest that Republicans in Congress are helping him cover up. The donor class, meanwhile, is now directly funneling huge amounts of cash into Trump’s pocket through his hotels (as is the government of Saudi Arabia). If conservatives are happy with this bargain that’s their business, but I think the basic common sense principle that people of all stripes should regard a dedicated liar as a betrayal risk makes a lot of sense.

Consider two signature episodes from Trump’s career. One is the story of how Trump recovered from the mismanagement of his Atlantic City casinos by launching a publicly traded company called Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts. Shareholders in this company wound up losing all of their money, but Trump engaged in a savvy series of moves that allowed THCR to assume his personal debts, pay him a lucrative salary, and buy tons of services from other Trump-owned businesses.

The Trump University scam was in some ways a more simple-minded fraud (it wasn’t a real university, and the courses didn’t really teach what they said), but it was likewise profitable and effectively executed. The key thing about these scams is that in both cases the snobby cultural elites who Trump professes to disdain didn’t lose anything. When you rip off your shareholders or run a fake university, you are ripping off your own fans. That’s not to say that Trump won’t inflict harm on other people, too, given the opportunity to secure personal gain by doing so. The point, however, is that Trump has no loyalty to anyone but himself. At this point he’s told so many lies that he’s not actually going to trick any of his political opponents with new BS..

Trump’s many broken promises - Vox

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Lana Marks has no diplomatic experience, a history of fabricating her past, and a skill-set devoted primarily to making six-figure designer handbags. But there’s one hobby that appears to qualify her to become the U.S.’s latest ambassador: a membership at the Mar-a-Lago Club. On Friday, the Palm Beach Daily News reported that U.S. President Donald Trump was poised to tap Marks to become the U.S.’s next ambassador to South Africa, amid weeks of rumors surrounding the anticipated appointment. The U.S. has not had an ambassador in Pretoria since 2016. Marks, who is originally from South Africa, has yet to comment. Her nomination would mean that Mar-a-Lago, one of Trump’s favorite destinations, has now produced at least four individuals Trump has selected as ambassadors. In addition to Marks, Robin Bernstein, one of Mar-a-Lago’s founding members, became the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic under Trump. Two other members — Patrick Park and Brian Burns — were nominated by the president to ambassadorial positions in Austria and Ireland, respectively, but eventually declined the nominations.

Trump’s next ambassador to South Africa happens to be a Mar-a-Lago member – ThinkProgress

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President Donald Trump and his children are accused of "deliberately" scamming Americans by encouraging them to invest in a multilevel-marketing company. The lawsuit also names Trump's children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric, of luring vulnerable investors to buy into three businesses with "a pattern of racketeering activity." Trump was reportedly paid millions of dollars in secret, in exchange for promoting one of the companies named in the lawsuit. The complaint alleges the Trumps "were aware that the vast majority of consumers would lose whatever money they invested." Trump Organization officials questioned the timing of the lawsuit, which was filed days before the November 6 midterm election.

Trump accused of 'secret payments' to endorse ACN marketing company - Business Insider

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More swamp:

Report: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta gave a great deal to a billionaire pedophile. The Miami Herald has  published an in-depth expose detailing how Acosta, as a prosecutor in Miami, allowed billionaire Jeffrey Epstein to go largely unpunished for sex crimes against minors. As the report notes, Epstein was “accused of assembling a large, cult-like network of underage girls—with the help of young female recruiters—to coerce into having sex acts behind the walls of his opulent waterfront mansion as often as three times a day, the Town of Palm Beach police found.” Epstein could have faced life in prison for these alleged crimes.

Instead, Acosta, the U.S. attorney handling the case, negotiated an “extraordinary plea agreement that would conceal the full extent of Epstein’s crimes and the number of people involved.” As The Miami Herald details, the non-prosecution agreement Acosta signed insured that Epstein would only serve 13 months in a county jail and “essentially shut down an ongoing FBI probe into whether there were more victims and other powerful people who took part in Epstein’s sex crimes.”

Report: Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta gave a great deal to a billionaire pedophile. | The New Republic

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On Tuesday, attorneys general in Maryland and the District of Columbia issued subpoenas to more than a dozen Trump Organization entities seeking financial records. Those subpoenas were issued as part of a lawsuit alleging that Trump has profited off the presidency through his Washington, D.C. hotel, which has hosted foreign dignitaries and served as a home base for the president’s allies. The Associated Press: Attorneys general to subpoena Trump Organization, Treasury

The Hill's Morning Report — Presented by T-Mobile — What the Michael Flynn news means | TheHill

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The Trump administration hid a government report that revealed Wells Fargo charges unusually hire rates for college student bank accounts, according to multiple reports. The analysis, conducted by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), found that students paid an average of $46.99 in fees to Wells Fargo over 12 months, nearly double the student fees charged by TCF National Bank and U.S. Bank, the banks with the second- and third-highest rates. The CFPB released the report, which was produced at the end of 2017, publicly for the first time on Friday following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from Politico and pressure from multiple advocacy organizations. .

Trump admin hid report revealing unusually high charges for college students at Wells Fargo: report | TheHill

An investigation from The Associated Press published Tuesday found that President Trump's daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner could benefit from a program that gives tax breaks to property developers who invest in run-down areas. The couple, who serve as senior White House advisers, have pushed for the Opportunity Zone program and the AP notes that the couple has an ownership stake in a real estate development firm that is putting money toward taking advantage of the program. The Opportunity Zone program is a federal tax program that created more than 50 opportunity zones across the country. It is designed to offer tax breaks and incentives for developers who invest in low-income areas. The real estate company Ivanka and Jared own a stake in, Cadre, is planning to build projects in Miami and New York that could qualify for the tax breaks..

Ivanka and Jared Kushner could profit from developer tax break they advocated: report | TheHill

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The Trump administration’s decision to rollback auto emission standards this past summer was in part influenced by the country’s largest oil refiner, according to a New York Times report Thursday. A covert lobbying campaign launched by Marathon Petroleum sent dozens of letters to members of Congress promoting the need to weaken the Obama-era emissions standards, all based largely on the premise that energy conservation was no longer needed due to the country’s recent surge in oil production, the Times reports.

Oil company played major role in influencing car emissions rollback: report | TheHill

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As it turned out, a hidden scam lurked behind the mysterious increases. In October, a New York Times investigation into the origins of Mr. Trump’s wealth revealed, among its findings, that the future president and his siblings set up a phony business to pad the cost of nearly everything their father, the legendary builder Fred C. Trump, purchased for his buildings. The Trump children split that extra money.

[Read The Times’s investigation here.]

Padding the invoices had a secondary benefit for the Trumps, allowing them to inflate rent increases on their father’s rent-regulated apartments. “The higher the markup would be, the higher the rent that might be charged,” Robert Trump, the president’s brother, once admitted in a sworn deposition obtained by The Times..

As the Trumps Dodged Taxes, Their Tenants Paid a Price - The New York Times

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And another one

Ryan Zinke will end his tenure as Interior Secretary at the end of the year, Donald Trump tweeted on Saturday. The news comes amidst a whirlwind of scandal surrounding the secretary and as inquiries into his misconduct, including an investigation referred to the Justice Department in late October for potential criminal violations.

Zinke resigns as Interior Secretary amid slew of scandals – ThinkProgress

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At least in the short term, Deputy Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will serve as acting secretary. Shanahan is a former top executive with the defense contractor Boeing, which received $20 billion in contracts from the Pentagon since Shanahan became second in command at the Defense Department.
That alone might not be disqualifying. Boeing, after all, received billions from the Pentagon long before Trump took office. And the company is allowed to compete for contracts even if a former executive serves in a senior role within the Defense Department.

Shanahan’s obligation, like other officials facing conflicts of interest, is to recuse himself from decisions involving his former employer. Yet a report in the Daily Beast suggests that Shanahan did not recuse himself from a $1.2 billion Boeing contract involving outdated fighter planes

Trump’s new Pentagon head reportedly pushed military to buy outdated planes from his old company – ThinkProgress