Nepotism and corruption: the handmaidens of Trump's presidency
Despite its fame, The Apprentice is not the reality television show that best explains Donald Trump’s presidency. To understand what’s going on in the White House, tune into a popular show that had its premiere at about the same time: American Greed.
We learned last week that Jared Kushner met with big-time financial executives in the White House and then hit them up for $500m in loans to his family’s troubled real estate empire, a business in which he maintains an active stake. This truly tops most of the financial chicanery featured on American Greed and I can almost hear Stacey Keach, the actor who narrates the show, setting up the dark contours of Jared’s latest episode of corrupt Washington deal-making.
While the loans would be a shocking scandal for any other administration, our senses have been dulled. Already, the president set the ethical compass for his presidency low by failing to cut his own ties to the Trump Organization and not, as every recent president has done, releasing his taxes.
The fact that Donald Trump is personally profiting off his presidency is an open secret in Washington as a stroll through the lobby of the new Trump Hotel in the grand Old Post Office proves. Just about anyone who wants a White House favor or a meeting is there, dropping at least $500 per night. Ka-ching for the Trump Organization.
Jared and the Kushner family have been even more brazen. Last year, his sister made news by promising US visas to rich Chinese in exchange for $500,000 investments in Kushner property. In an investigation published in January, the New Yorker revealed that Jared’s meetings with Chinese officials, which included talks about Kushner family business, made US intel officials so nervous that they worried the Chinese were using him as an asset. (And that’s part of why Kushner couldn’t get his security clearance).
Israel, too, has been an easy target for Jared’s greed. According to the New York Times the Kushners’ company received an investment nearing $30m from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel’s largest insurers, in the spring of 2017. This was shortly before the president and his son-in-law, who has been brokering Middle East peace, visited the country and before the announcement that the American embassy would be moving to Jerusalem.
We learned last week that Jared Kushner met with big-time financial executives in the White House and then hit them up for $500m in loans to his family’s troubled real estate empire, a business in which he maintains an active stake. This truly tops most of the financial chicanery featured on American Greed and I can almost hear Stacey Keach, the actor who narrates the show, setting up the dark contours of Jared’s latest episode of corrupt Washington deal-making.
While the loans would be a shocking scandal for any other administration, our senses have been dulled. Already, the president set the ethical compass for his presidency low by failing to cut his own ties to the Trump Organization and not, as every recent president has done, releasing his taxes.
The fact that Donald Trump is personally profiting off his presidency is an open secret in Washington as a stroll through the lobby of the new Trump Hotel in the grand Old Post Office proves. Just about anyone who wants a White House favor or a meeting is there, dropping at least $500 per night. Ka-ching for the Trump Organization.
Jared and the Kushner family have been even more brazen. Last year, his sister made news by promising US visas to rich Chinese in exchange for $500,000 investments in Kushner property. In an investigation published in January, the New Yorker revealed that Jared’s meetings with Chinese officials, which included talks about Kushner family business, made US intel officials so nervous that they worried the Chinese were using him as an asset. (And that’s part of why Kushner couldn’t get his security clearance).
Israel, too, has been an easy target for Jared’s greed. According to the New York Times the Kushners’ company received an investment nearing $30m from Menora Mivtachim, one of Israel’s largest insurers, in the spring of 2017. This was shortly before the president and his son-in-law, who has been brokering Middle East peace, visited the country and before the announcement that the American embassy would be moving to Jerusalem.
Source:
theguardian
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