Historically Illiterate DoJ Cites George Washington in Defense of Trump Taking Payments from Foreign Govs

June 12th, 2017

Awake Goy

Historically Illiterate DoJ Cites George Washington in Defense of Trump Taking Payments from Foreign Govs

Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Host of Hardline Radio Show

Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department is now claiming that thanks to George Washington, America’s first president, Donald Trump is not violating that Constitution by accepting payments from foreign governments without congressional approval.

Back in January of this year, the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit asserting that Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause of the US Constitution because he has refused to divest from his business which takes payments and investments from foreign governments.

The emoluments clause in the Constitution prohibits the president from receiving “gifts” from foreign governments without the approval of the Congress.

It states: “…no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

In Trump’s defense, the Justice Department is requesting this lawsuit be dismissed on the basis that “fair-market transactions” (such as hotel bills and golf-club fees) are not a violation of the emoluments clause. In their court motion, the DoJ wrote: “…neither the text nor the history of the clauses shows that they were intended to reach benefits arising from a president’s private business pursuits having nothing to do with his office or personal service to a foreign power.”

The DoJ’s retort is that “Were plaintiffs’ interpretation correct, presidents from the very beginning of the Republic, including George Washington, would have received prohibited ‘emoluments’.”

Coincidentally, the DoJ’s stance happens to come on the heels of the Trump Organization announcing that it is too difficult to track profits from foreign governments or dignitaries who stay at their various hotels, and therefore they will not be able to donate those proceeds to the US Treasury as previously promised.

In a pamphlet released by the Trump Organization , that promise Donald Trump made in early January to donate payments from foreign governments to the US Treasury was a dumb idea and they will not comply.

The argument made against transparency begins with their inability to “fully and completely identify al patronage of our properties by customer type.”

The Trump Organization complained this would be “impractical” because of the industry they service. In addition, the company states their compliance with Trump’s promise would require “a policy that… all guests… identify themselves [which] would impede upon personal privacy and diminish the guest experience of our brand.”

To the contrary, the Trump Organization will divulge obvious payments from foreign dignitaries when donating to the US Treasury. However any other profits incurred by Trump’s corporation (through state-owned means or otherwise) will remain as profit to the company, regardless of whether or not it could be construed as a bribe or influential financial transaction enacted by another country.

One reason the Trump Organization is refusing to track foreign guests and profits incurred therein is because Donald Trump is directly profiting from those influencers.

According to “recently released letters between the Trump Organization and the government”, Trump can draw money from those corporate profits at any time.

Buried on the 161 page of the Trump Organization Trust Certification Change is clause 9 which states: “The Trustees shall distribute net income or principal to Donald Trump at his request, as the Trustees deem necessary for his maintenance, support or uninsured medical expenses, or as the Trustees otherwise deem appropriate.”

In other words, monies incurred by the Trump Organization can be handed over to Trump at his request without having to declare those funds to the government or anyone else. Furthermore, those involved in this scheme, Eric Trump, Allen Wiesselberg, and Donald Jr., are not obliged to reveal when or how much Trump takes from the business.

In order to hide the money flow from the company to Trump, he created “multiple layers of approval for major actions and key business decisions”, according to Amanda Miller, spokesperson for the Trump Organization.

And as the “exclusive beneficiary” of the Trump Organization, Trump potentially taking profits from the company shows that divestment has not occurred; regardless of the efforts to convince the public of the contrary. In addition, when the monies are handed over to Trump is not specified.

Profits from the Trump Organization are gotten by relationships with other countries as is the case with Turkey, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE – all predominantly Muslim nations that were conveniently excluded from both “travel” bans Trump has tried to implement since taking office.