Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFORBES: How Donald Trump Shifted $1.1M Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Business
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2018/12/06/how-donald-trump-shifted-11m-of-campaign-donor-money-into-his-business/#65cad9024d34On the day Donald Trump became president of the United States, while inauguration festivities were still in full swing, he officially launched his 2020 reelection campaign. Donations poured in from more than 50,000 people across the country. But according to the latest federal filings, Trump still has not donated a penny of his own, while his businesses continued to charge the campaign for hotels, food, rent and legal consulting. That means the richest president in American history has turned $1.1 million from donors across the country into revenue for himself.
It wasnt always this way. From April 2015 to June 2016, Trump put $50 million of his own money into his campaign, while running a famously frugal operation. When outsiders started paying the vast majority of his expenses in July 2016, he loosened the purse strings a bit, funneling more money to his own companies and stemming his personal losses. Now that he is apparently not donating anything to the 2020 effort, Trump seems to be getting a small payback on his investment.
. . .
Then there are the payments flowing into Trump Plaza LLC, a Trump-owned entity that has taken in $42,000 of campaign money since November 2017. Although federal filings list the purpose of those payments as rent, it is difficult to tell what the campaign is actually renting. Trump Plaza LLC controls a retail space, garage and two brownstones near Third Avenue in New York City. The retail space at Trump Plaza shows no signs of campaign activity, and a non-Trump company seems to sub-lease the garage from Trump Plaza LLCleaving just the two brownstones. But they are not open to the public, making it difficult to see who the tenants are, and whether they include the presidents campaign.
So Forbes staked out the buildings, arriving at 7:15 a.m. one November morning and staying for the next 14 hours, with the exception of an 18-minute break around 3 p.m. By our count, seven people went in and out of the twin, four-story brownstones over the course of the day. One refused to talk, and six said they had not seen any sign of the campaign in the buildings. Nor had a man behind the front desk at Trump Plaza. Ive been here since the beginning, he said. If there was any kind of office rented out for campaigning or whatever, I would know about it.
Is the Trump campaign simply funneling money into the presidents business and getting nothing in return? That seems unlikely. One person who worked on the 2016 campaign said staffers sometimes crashed at Trump Plaza when they were in town. If thats the reason for the payments, it would be an unconventional arrangement. The campaign could, of course, pay for hotel roomsalthough that would not guarantee a steady stream of rent for the president.
From November 2017 to August 2018, the Trump campaign paid Trump Plaza LLC an average of $4,200 per month. The real estate website StreetEasy lists recent rentals in the building for $3,700 to $3,850 per month. Candidates are permitted to do business with their own companies only if they pay fair-market prices.
There are other campaign payments that raise suspicions. One month after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election, the campaign paid the Trump Corporation, another one of the presidents companies, $90,000 in legal consulting expenses, according to federal records. It is not clear what legal services Trumps company provided the campaign, or what rate it charged for the work. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.
Trumps 2020 campaign also spent about $120,000 at the presidents hotel in Washington, D.C. And the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas got $15,000 of campaign money in February 2017.
It wasnt always this way. From April 2015 to June 2016, Trump put $50 million of his own money into his campaign, while running a famously frugal operation. When outsiders started paying the vast majority of his expenses in July 2016, he loosened the purse strings a bit, funneling more money to his own companies and stemming his personal losses. Now that he is apparently not donating anything to the 2020 effort, Trump seems to be getting a small payback on his investment.
. . .
Then there are the payments flowing into Trump Plaza LLC, a Trump-owned entity that has taken in $42,000 of campaign money since November 2017. Although federal filings list the purpose of those payments as rent, it is difficult to tell what the campaign is actually renting. Trump Plaza LLC controls a retail space, garage and two brownstones near Third Avenue in New York City. The retail space at Trump Plaza shows no signs of campaign activity, and a non-Trump company seems to sub-lease the garage from Trump Plaza LLCleaving just the two brownstones. But they are not open to the public, making it difficult to see who the tenants are, and whether they include the presidents campaign.
So Forbes staked out the buildings, arriving at 7:15 a.m. one November morning and staying for the next 14 hours, with the exception of an 18-minute break around 3 p.m. By our count, seven people went in and out of the twin, four-story brownstones over the course of the day. One refused to talk, and six said they had not seen any sign of the campaign in the buildings. Nor had a man behind the front desk at Trump Plaza. Ive been here since the beginning, he said. If there was any kind of office rented out for campaigning or whatever, I would know about it.
Is the Trump campaign simply funneling money into the presidents business and getting nothing in return? That seems unlikely. One person who worked on the 2016 campaign said staffers sometimes crashed at Trump Plaza when they were in town. If thats the reason for the payments, it would be an unconventional arrangement. The campaign could, of course, pay for hotel roomsalthough that would not guarantee a steady stream of rent for the president.
From November 2017 to August 2018, the Trump campaign paid Trump Plaza LLC an average of $4,200 per month. The real estate website StreetEasy lists recent rentals in the building for $3,700 to $3,850 per month. Candidates are permitted to do business with their own companies only if they pay fair-market prices.
There are other campaign payments that raise suspicions. One month after Robert Mueller was appointed special counsel to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election, the campaign paid the Trump Corporation, another one of the presidents companies, $90,000 in legal consulting expenses, according to federal records. It is not clear what legal services Trumps company provided the campaign, or what rate it charged for the work. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.
Trumps 2020 campaign also spent about $120,000 at the presidents hotel in Washington, D.C. And the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas got $15,000 of campaign money in February 2017.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 469 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (8)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
FORBES: How Donald Trump Shifted $1.1M Of Campaign-Donor Money Into His Business (Original Post)
CousinIT
Dec 2018
OP
Vinca
(50,271 posts)1. Grifters gotta grift.
BSdetect
(8,998 posts)2. Will this never end?