Investigation: Trump businesses received millions from foreign governments during Presidency

Trump businesses received millions from foreign governments during Presidency. What else is needed to take Trump down? Seriously.  Instead, the Republican Party has been going after President Biden saying he's guilty of this, through his SON (read "not directly") and there's nothing there. A new investigation PROVES TRUMP took Millions from 20 Foreign Governments, and WHILE he was President. Trump did the very thing that Republicans have falsely accused Biden of doing. But, hey, the Republicans think that's okay. What deplorable people.

Investigation: Trump businesses received millions from foreign governments

Donald Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency.

Jan. 4, 2024, 12:05 PM EST MSNBC By Steve Benen

In the not-too-distant past, the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution was relatively obscure to the public. Donald Trump changed all of that.

As we’ve discussed many times, the clause prohibits U.S. officials from receiving payments from foreign governments. Traditionally, this hasn’t been much of a problem for sitting American presidents. During the Trump era, however, it became one of the Republican’s under-appreciated controversies.

While serving as president, Trump owned a hotel that sat roughly a half-mile from the White House, which hosted international officials with some regularity. As we’ve discussed, the result was a dynamic in which foreign governments spent quite a bit of money at a Trump-owned property, to the benefit of the then-American president and his private-sector enterprise. The Republican had some vague understanding that the Constitution prevented him from receiving payments from foreign governments — Trump referred to the legal provision as “phony“ for reasons he never explained — but he did it anyway.

The former president has sold the hotel, but the scope of his alleged wrongdoing continues to come into sharper focus. The New York Times reported:

Donald J. Trump’s businesses received at least $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency, according to new documents released by House Democrats on Thursday that show how much he received from overseas transactions while he was in the White House, most of it from China.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee unveiled the results of an investigation in a lengthy, 156-page report called “White House For Sale.” Relying on documents from Mazars USA, Trump’s former accounting firm, congressional researchers determined that the Republican’s businesses received “at least“ $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments.

What’s more, the scope of the examination was relatively narrow: Oversight Committee Democrats focused only on four Trump-owned properties — Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York, and Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York — and only covered two of the four years he was in the White House.

In other words, foreign governments might also have poured money into other businesses owned by the Republican — while he was in office — but those expenditures weren’t included in this investigation.

“[T]oday’s report makes clear that former President Trump put lining his pockets with cash from foreign governments seeking policy favors over the interests of the American people,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s ranking member, said in a statement. The Maryland Democrat added that the Republican “repeatedly and willfully violated the U.S. Constitution by failing to divest from his business empire and allowing his businesses to accept millions of dollars in payments from some of the most corrupt nations on earth.”

HOW TRUMP GOT AWAY WITH IT -  Enter the Corrupt Supreme Court! 

If you’re wondering how Trump got away with this, it’s worth noting that the emoluments controversy worked its way to the U.S. Supreme Court — which rejected the matter just days after the Republican left office, saying Trump’s departure rendered the matter moot.

Stepping back, there’s also a broader, ongoing question to keep in mind, which likely influenced those who wrote the “White House For Sale” report: As GOP lawmakers search in desperation for evidence that President Joe Biden took foreign money while in office, congressional investigators have now documented the fact that Trump’s business empire — which he owned and benefited from during his presidency — took in millions of dollars from foreign governments while in office.

Or put another way, Trump did the very thing that Republicans have falsely accused Biden of doing.

Idiots (and criminals) of the Week : Trump Group Glues Tiny Hats on Pigeons' heads

 P.U.T.I.N. group committed animal cruelty on pigeons in Trump's name

In Las Vegas in February, a group called P.U.T.I.N. ( "Pigeons United To Interfere Now,") that
supports Trump committed felonious acts of animal cruelty on pigeons. These IDIOTS of the week actually GLUED tiny red "Make America Great Again" hats on the heads of 25 pigeons and let them loose around the Democratic debate. This is ANIMAL CRUELTY (BTW, the big idiot even signed the bill that made it a Federal crime).   As an animal rescuer, I'm furious. Fed up. Disgusted. Anyone who supports HIM, supports this animal cruelty and that makes them idiots. Abusing animals must NOT be tolerated.
Here's the story from NBC News.

Pigeons with 'Make America Great Again' hats glued to their heads released in Las Vegas
A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N., "Pigeons United To Interfere Now," claimed responsibility for the stunt with the MAGA-hat-wearing birds.
Feb. 20, 2020, 4:50 PM EST
NBC NEWS By Anita Hassan and David K. Li

LAS VEGAS — Pigeons with tiny Make American Great Again hats glued to their heads were released in downtown Las Vegas this week in what appears to be a sarcastic statement of loyalty to President Donald Trump and a mock protest of Nevada's coming Democratic presidential caucuses.

A group calling itself P.U.T.I.N., Pigeons United To Interfere Now, claimed responsibility for the stunt. The pigeons were set loose Tuesday, according to the group.

NBC affiliate KSNV spotted at least one of the pigeons still in a hat on a downtown street Wednesday afternoon.

"P.U.T.I.N. have used their pigeons to launch a one of a kind aerial protest piece in response to the arrival of the 2020 Democratic Presidential hopefuls," according to a group statement. "The release date was also coordinated to serve as a gesture of support and loyalty to President Trump."

Twenty-five pigeons were released, 24 of them wearing hats and one donning a Trump-style wig, the group said Thursday in an email to NBC News.

"Most have returned. We expect to see the rest tonight or tomorrow," the group said.

While the stunt has drawn some laughs, Mariah Hillman, who runs Lofty Hopes, a Las Vegas pigeon rescue organization, called the MAGA stunt "animal cruelty."

In December, videos of three pigeons wearing miniature red cowboy hats went viral after they were seen on Las Vegas streets.

"It started here with the press making fun of it, the police didn't do anything about it, and now it's grown into this, so when is it going to stop, and who's going to do something about it?" Hillman said Thursday.


Hillman and her volunteers are setting traps in hope of removing the pigeons' hats before rehabilitating and releasing the birds.

The pigeons are wearing the hats with the help of eyelash glue.

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"It doesn't matter what kind of glue it is. It is still, in fact, cruelty, because you are impairing their vision," Hillman said, adding that her organization rescues many birds, such as wedding-release pigeons and racing pigeons, that are trained to return to their flocks.

"There's not always a guarantee that they'll return, because they can get injured or killed before that happens."

Anita Hassan reported from Las Vegas and David K. Li from New York.