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Tuesday, December 13, 2016
Every despot on the planet has his number
by digby
This new Eichenwald piece for Newsweek on Trump's foreign entanglements and conflicts of interest is a must-read. This excerpt about the Trump organization's ties to the odious president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte show just how absurd it is that Trump believes he can avoid conflicts of interest simply by "turning the business over" to his sons and telling them not to make any "new deals" while he's president. "New deals" are not the only issue at stake, by far.
Recall that Trump had a very friendly chat with Duterte reportedly telling him that he thought he was handling his "drug war" the "right way."
Duterte recently named Antonio the special government envoy to the United States. The conflicts here could not be more troubling or more blatant: President Trump will be discussing U.S. policy in Southeast Asia with one of his (or his childrens) business partners, a man who is the official representative of a foreign leader who likens himself to Hitler. Also note that the Trump family has an enormous financial interest in Dutertes deadly campaign: Rooting out crime in the Philippines is good for the real estate values.
The Trump familys dealings in the Philippines will set off a constitutional crisis on the first day of Trumps presidency, if anyone in the federal government decides to abide by the law. There is serious debate as to whether Trump will be violating the Constitutions Emoluments Clausewhich prohibits office holders from accepting gifts from foreign statessince the majority of his companys business is with other corporations and developers. That is not the case in the Philippines. The man writing millions of dollars worth of checks to the Trump family is the Duterte governments special representative to the United States. To argue that these payments will be constitutional if they are paid to the Trump children, and not to Trump personally, is absurd. This conflict demands congressional hearings, and could be an impeachable offense.
And that's nothing compared to what's going on with Turkey:
snip//
It isn't just Russia folks. It's every despot on the planet.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2016/12/every-despot-on-planet-has-his-number.html
WhiteTara
(29,729 posts)The Trump family has an enormous financial interest in keeping Duterte happy. Trump Tower at Century City in Makati, Philippines, is on the verge of completion, with potential buyers having placed deposits on at least 94 percent of the condominiums, according to Century Properties, the Trump Organizations business partner there.