Trump is now inviting corruption - By Jennifer Rubin

[DonViejo]

Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective. Follow @JRubinBlogger

December 15 at 10:15 AM

President-elect Donald Trump is peddling the notion that he can let his sons run his businesses but make no “new” deals after he is inaugurated. On Wednesday, he held a meeting of tech giant chief executives in which three of his adult children and his son-in-law participated.

Ethics experts were flabbergasted. “Donald Trump’s children aren’t just family, they are tasked with running his business completely separate from his running the government. What we’ve seen so far is not an administration avoiding the appearance of conflicts of interest but one actively courting it,” said Jordan Libowitz of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. He continued, “The president-elect of the United States just brought in the heads of many of America’s largest companies to meet with him and the executives of his personal business. He is relying on the senior leadership of his business to help him pick Cabinet officials.” Libowitz added, “There is no explicable reason for his children to be so involved with the running of the government if their focus on the health of Trump’s business interests is what is supposed to allow him to avoid conflicts.” He reiterated what virtually every ethics expert has said: “If he is serious about a separation of government and personal business, he needs to sell the business outside of his family and place the assets in a blind trust.”

Trump seems to be intentionally and publicly blurring the line between his own finances and government business. “The first principle of avoiding corruption and illegality and wrongdoing is to maintain bright lines,” ethics expert Norman Eisen of the Brookings Institution told me in a phone interview. “His mixing of family business with the business of the U.S. is unprecedented.” He observed, “This is what we see in oligarchies, like with China’s princelings. We don’t expect princelings to be roaming the halls of the White House.”

The Trump transition ethics code expressly states, “I will disqualify myself from involvement in any particular transition matter which to my knowledge may directly conflict with a financial interest of mine, my spouse, minor child, partner, client or other individual or organization with which I have a business or close personal relationship. Where there is no such direct conflict, but there may be an appearance of a conflict, I will address this issue for resolution to the President Elect Transition Team General Counsel. I currently have no knowledge of any such conflicts.” We do not know if Trump’s adult children or son-in-law signed the document, but if they have it would seem Ivanka already violated it in sitting in the meeting with Japan’s prime minister. Reports have also surfaced that Trump’s sons are involved in vetting nominees. The separation between business and government seems to be, just as we imagined, nonexistent.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2016/12/15/trump-now-inviting-corruption/?utm_term=.616f7c619ad1&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1

[liberal N proud]

1. This is how fascism is done

Amerika will be a fascist state come January 20th comrade.

[Me.]

2. What On Earth Has Happened To Jennifer Rubin?

[DonViejo]

3. LOL! Same question I'm asking myself. She's been on an anti-Trump campaign since

he won the nomination.

[BlueMTexpat]

7. I wondered that too!

It's one of the few things lately that have made me chuckle.

[world wide wally]

4. Just to make sure he is not "tempted" to engage in any business practice while serving as POTUS,

his daughter, Ivanka will have an office in the White House to keep an eye on him.
I'm sure this sounds reasonable to his voters and the GOP

[BSdetect]

5. His enablers are the GOP - easy pushovers holding on to their seats.

Not a single one will take a stand when he rolls over the laws of the land and the Constitution.

He's already flaunted all manner of ethics.

Goodbye Democracy.

[spanone]

6. 'Ethics experts were flabbergasted'

flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergastedEthics experts were flabbergasted