DDT: Week 184 – More Destruction of U.S.

Dictator Donald Trump (DDT) had another hard week. His press briefings are failing, and his tweets, such as delaying the election, have turned off GOP legislative leadership. Back on the campaign trail in Tampa (FL), he can’t even put together a crowd. Only 80 miles from the biggest retirement community in the U.S., the highly conservative Villages, this photo shows the best he can do on the campaign trail.  

In his continued effort to destroy the U.S., DDT wants to block the US post office from delivering ballots. He appointed friend and megadonor donor Louis DeJoy as postmaster general to delay the ballots. Congress allotted the USPS $10 billion in its COVID-19 stimulus bill, but Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin holds the money hostage in return for proprietary information about USPS top ten lucrative private-sector contracts. DDT threatens to withhold the funding if the USPS doesn’t immediately hike its prices. Earlier Mnuchin tried to extort sweeping USPS operation control—approval of personal, contracts, and collective bargaining–in exchange for congressionally allotted monies.

The pandemic made vote-by-mail far more popular so DDT wants to block receiving ballots and sending them back in a timely fashion. In 34 states, completed ballots not received by Election day are not counted; in other states, ballots without postmarks aren’t counted. DDT’s press secretary Kayleigh McEnany calls the New York primary voting an “absolute catastrophe” because ballots are still being counted, and DDT calls it “RIGGED.” Yet the delay is partially DDT’s fault.  

At least one state postmaster, Maine’s James Thornton, told his workers to prioritize Amazon packages and delay first-class and priority mail, perhaps to curry DeJoy’s favor. Willfully delaying the mail is a criminal offense, but several 4’ X 5’ bins filled with first-class mail have been left overnight, undelivered, in the five Portland (ME) units multiple days per week. Delivery problems have been reported by voters and postal workers in key battleground states such as Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

The Senate also confirmed Bill Zollars for the U.S. Postal Service board despite the federal government suing him for defrauding the Pentagon while he was CEO of YRC Worldwide. Mnuchin used a $17 billion slush fund supporting businesses concerned vital to national security to loan $700 million to YRC, valued at $70 million. YRC owes another $825 million to multiple creditors. Zollars replaces Deputy Postmaster General Ron Stroman, forced out by DDT in his plan to privatize the USPS while trying to destroy mail-in ballots.

DDT contends “mail-in voting” and “absentee voting” are different, rejecting the first but “totally” supporting the latter. His personal lawyers disagreed in a lawsuit described on DDT’s website: “the terms ‘mail-in’ and ‘absentee’ are used interchangeably to discuss the use of the United States Postal Service to deliver ballots to and from electors.” As for claims of fraud, of over 250 million ballots cast by mail in the past 20 years, only 143 prosecutions have been connected to fraud—a rate of 0.00006 percent. DDT also accused states of sending out “hundreds of millions of universal mail-in ballots.” The U.S. has only 153 million registered voters, and only California plans to send absentee ballots to all their registered voters. No state sends ballots or applications for mail-in voting to any non-registered voters. Republicans, such as Oregon’s Secretary of State Bev Clarno, refuted baseless conspiracy theories from DDT and AG Bill Barr about forged ballots. As for complaints about delayed elections, Oregon, the first state to provide mail-in voting, announces almost all results by midnight of Election Day.

Although he won’t fight COVID-19, DDT declared war on the social platform TikTok and plans to ban the Chinese-owned app in the U.S. Concerns might be legitimate because Chinese may be using TikTok to spy on people in the U.S. or interfere in U.S. elections, but DDT is upset only because teens faked a huge audience at DDT’s Tulsa (OR) campaign rally by using the app to order tickets.

DDT’s conservative Supreme Court will allow him to defy Congress by continuing to spend over $6 billion diverted from military funds to pay for his border wall in parts of Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and California. Judges in California and Texas ruled against the unconstitutional transfer of these funds, and the 9^th Circuit Court concurred. Yet five justices ruled he could continue until possibly considering the litigation which wouldn’t be taken up until October at the earliest. SCOTUS’ minority recommended the court allow the government to finalize the construction contracts while stopping Pentagon fund expenditures and beginning construction. The conservative majority rejected the compromise, in effect providing a final judgment before hearing the case.

Taxpayers are also building a multi-million dollar 13-foot “anti-climb” fence around the White House which blocks the view of the building.

After refusing to follow both the Supreme Court and a lower court ruling that he accept DACA applications, DHS announced it will “reject all” first time DACA applications and cut protections for current beneficiaries from two to one year while it takes action “to thoughtfully consider the future of the DACA policy.”

The Pentagon’s new mandatory training course for all personnel to prevent leaks calls protesters and journalists “adversaries.” A former Pentagon press secretary and CIA spokesman, George Little, compared the term to Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s use of “battlespace” when talking about city streets in the U.S. Since a backlash, the Pentagon has dropped the term “adversaries” for residents of the U.S.

The COVID-19 epidemic has reached such dire proportions in South Texas that Starr County apppointed an ethics committee and a triage committee to determine who will receive life-saving help or be sent home without help, possibly to die.

Furthering DDT’s quackery, VP Mike Pence met with two hydroxychloroquine-touting doctors whose video was removed from both Twitter and Facebook for false and dangerous information. Pence then met with Ohio’s GOP governor, Mike DeWine, who, two days later, told the state pharmacy board to stop a rule banning the drug for COVID-19 patients in Ohio. One of the “doctors” is a non-practicing ophthalmologist who co-founded an investment fund, and the other one frequently contributes to the Fox network and other right-wing media. FDA’s head, Steven Hahn, called it “a decision between a doctor and a patient,” something DDT and many other Republicans deny to women requesting an abortion. Hydroxychloroquine, an anti-parasitic medication, is prescribed for malaria; COVID-19 is a virus, not a parasite.

Issue One, a bipartisan political reform group, reported on money laundering schemes illegally funneling foreign money into super PACs through shell companies, thanks to the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United (2010) permitting dark money donations for super PACs. Their analysis shows how this is happening.

A complaint accuses DDT’s presidential campaign of laundering $170 million to avoid revealing what vendors are being paid for services by feeding money through companies controlled by campaign officials. In 2018, then-campaign manager Brad Parscale and other campaign officials created the company, American Made Media, which has been paid over $106 million. Spending reports don’t reveal payments to companies actually doing the work for the campaign. Parscale’s private company, Parscale Strategy, has funneled campaign money to pay $180,000 each to Eric Trump’s wife, Lara, and Donald Trump Jr’s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle.

In testimony before the House Natural Resources Committee, Adam D. DeMarco, an Iraq veteran who serves as a major in the D.C. Army National Guard officer, described protesters forcibly removed from Lafayette Square last month and refuting claims from DDT,  AG Bill Barr, and acting Park Police Chief Gregory Monahan. DeMarco stated “demonstrators were behaving peacefully” and deployment of tear gas was an “excessive use of force.” He also said fencing didn’t arrive until 9:00 that evening although Monahan said the area was cleared after it arrived. Although Monahan claimed protesters were warned, DeMarco said that they could not hear the announcement for a hand-held megaphone 50 yards away. Protesters were attacked 40 minutes before curfew, and a perimeter wasn’t set up until almost three hours later. Monahan also testified about the debacle, blaming peaceful protesters for “sustained” violent incidents and violent confrontations with law enforcement.

Norman Eisen’s new book, A Case for the American People: The United States v. Donald J. Trump about DDT’s impeachment, gives more information about the Roger Stone’s coverup to hide DDT’s wrongdoing. Barr protected Stone with a lesser sentence which DDT commuted. Eisen also gives more information about DDT’s illegally lying to special counsel Robert Mueller during the Russia investigation.

Some clueless media people have praised DDT for his change in “tone” about the seriousness of COVID-19 within the past couple of weeks. As usual, they twist themselves into knots in their attempt to find something positive to report on DDT. His only reason for briefly stating the problem of the virus comes after his aides gave him enough maps of the surging virus to convince him his GOP voters face a crisis. It was a political decision. Yet on the first press briefing of the week, he started his insistence on reopening states. Meanwhile, a new poll indicates 80 percent of people in the U.S. believe the nation is headed in the wrong direction. His dropping polls in the past few weeks have caused him to attack the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Fox network. 

August 1: U.S. COVID-19 infections in U.S. – 4,764,318; deaths – 157,898.

Trump Makes Money from Presidency

In a letter to Eugene’s Register-Guard, self-identified “deplorable” further proved that Donald Trump (DT) supporters live in a fantasy land when she concluded by stating that “we can all agree that President-elect Trump is not in it for the money.” And she was being serious. A run-down of DT’s conflicts of interest show how wrong she is.

DT’s extensive global business dealings brings the total to 150 companies in at least 25 countries. The true extent is not known because of DT’s refusal to release his tax information. Richard Painter, Chief Ethics Counsel for George W. Bush, said:

“If we’ve got to talk to a foreign government about their behavior, or negotiate a treaty, or some country asks us to send our troops in to defend someone else, we’ve got to make a decision. And the question becomes: Are we going in out of our national interest, or because there’s a Trump casino around?”

Philippines: President Rodrigo Duterte has named Jose E.B. Antonio, DT’s partner in a $150 million tower in Manila, a special envoy to the U.S. Antonio met with DT’s children for a private meeting after the election, and his son, Robbie Antonio, said that his father and the Trumps plan other Trump-branded resorts in the country. Duterte wants U.S. troops out of his country; he has killed thousands of suspected criminals without trial.

South Korea: As partner in a South Korean company involved in nuclear energy, DT wants the country to take care of its own military defense rather than counting on the U.S.—including the development of nuclear weapons.

Brazil: The beachfront Trump Hotel Rio de Janeiro—financially branded but not owned by DT—is part of an investigation regarding illicit commissions and bribes resulted in favoritism by two pension funds invested in the project.

Argentina: DT reportedly asked President Mauricio Macri to approve long-delayed permits for the Buenos Aires Trump high rise. Although DT denied doing this, permits were granted the next day.

India: Builders on DT’s real estate ventures are tied to the country’s most important political party. With more projects underway than in any other location outside the U.S., DT can obtain special government favors, including reductions in loans from state-owned banks, as low as 8 percent from the typical 15 percent. A week after he was elected, DT and his children met with their Indian business partners who said that they discussed the expansion of their Trump dealings because he is the president-elect. An official said that meeting with the U.S. president’s son can be the same as a meeting with the president. One DT project is under investigation for fraudulent permits. Black money—money on which taxes have not been paid—is commonly invested in real estate, and special political favors leads to windfall profits. Bribes are so common that bureaucrats have rate sheets showing how much to each official.

[DT as member of “Hindu Sena,” or Hindu Army, a local organization. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)]

Ireland: DT wants a flood-prevention sea wall on the coast that would endanger an endangered snail’s habitat and sand dunes near the course, both protected by European Union rules.

Britain: DT has spoken with British politicians in opposition to wind farms that he believes will mar the view from his golf course in Scotland.

Turkey: Officials including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a religiously conservative Muslim, had demanded that DT’s name be removed from Trump Towers in Istanbul after he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States. DT suggested that Erdogan can crack down harshly on dissidents after the recent, failed coup, and Erdogan’s calls for action against Trump Towers have stopped. In his offshore manufacturing, DT maintains his partnership in a company making luxury furniture and sold under the Trump Home Collection. DT has said that he has “a little conflict of interest [in Turkey].”

Saudi Arabia: During his campaign, DT started eight hotel projects in this oil-rich Arab kingdom that he said he “would want to protect.” Citing all the money that people from Saudi Arabia give him, DT said, “Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

Russia: DT made millions with the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. In 2008, DT, Jr., said that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” adding that “we see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

U.S.: DT is urging diplomats to stay at his new Washington, D.C. hotel when they are in town for official business. He owns a government lease for the hotel although the lease states that it cannot be held by a government official. His on-going labor disputes in Nevada may be solved by his appointments of all five members of the National Labor Relations Board. DT also owns stock in the company building the pipeline where protesters are trying to protect water and Native American sacred land in the Dakotas.

Other Global Issues: DT has a failed project in Toronto which was funded by Chinese investors and a dispute with Deutsche Bank, also owing them possibly billions of dollars. The bank is negotiating with the U.S. after lying to investors about its involvement in subprime mortgages during the housing crisis and ensuing global recession. The DOJ opened with $14 billion, but the deal could be sweetened in exchange for lessening DT’s loans, especially because the bank is being investigated for shady equity trades benefiting Russian clients.

Ivanka Trump plans to make money off DT’s election. After the family appeared on 60 Minutes, her business urged reporters to write about the $10,800 gold bangle bracelet she wore during the interview. She has also participated in conversations with at least three world leaders: Turkey, Argentina and Japan. DT was given a gold driver worth $4,000 at the meeting with Japanese officials.

Another issue is identifying responsibility for protecting Trump properties, possibly against terrorism, around the world. David J. Kramer, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor during the George W. Bush administration, said DT’s financial situation could stop the government from using the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, that attempts to prevent contractors from paying bribes to secure government work abroad.

Even without overt DT action, officials in foreign countries may feel pressured to support his businesses by moving forward building permits or pushing more business to DT’s hotels or golf courses. DT’s diplomats may also not wish to frustrate his business partners or political allies.

Republicans were virulently opposed to Hillary Clinton’s potential involvement in the Clinton Foundation, and at least one representative, Justin Amash from Michigan, is now calling on DT to be transparent. Amash tweeted, “If you have contracts w/foreign govts, it’s certainly a big deal, too. #DrainTheSwamp.” As DT rearranges the alligators in the deepening swamp, almost no Republicans are mentioning the murky morass. Instead they plan to investigate Hillary Clinton’s emails.

DT has already pointed out that there is no law against his conflict of interest. At this time, he is ignoring the Emoluments Clause (Article 1, Section 9) in the U.S. Constitution, “emolument” meaning compensation for labor or services. The clause states that “no person holding any office of profit or trust” shall “accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state” unless Congress consents. This provision could go as far as preventing DT from renting space in his New York tower to the Bank of China or hosting foreign diplomats in one of his hotels.

When President Obama took office, David J. Barron, a Justice Department official who is now a federal appeals court judge in Boston, declared that the clause “surely” applies to the president and money can be barred if it comes from a foreign state. Barron added, “Corporations owned or controlled by a foreign government are presumptively foreign states under the Emoluments Clause.”

The Supreme Court has no rulings about this clause because no previous president has refused to give up his businesses when taking over the office. The question is who would have standing to challenge the President of the United States. Violations may require impeachment and not a lawsuit, something that a GOP-controlled House of Representatives is unlikely to do. Yet Virginia Gov. Edmund Jennings Randolph stated during a Constitutional debate in June 1788 that a violation of the provision by the President would be grounds for impeachment.

Legal scholars are calling on Electoral Voters to not make DT the next president unless he follows earlier presidents in selling his companies and putting the proceeds in a blind trust. Harvard Law Professor Larry Tribe, a preeminent constitutional scholar, said, “[T]o vote for Trump in the absence of such complete divestment… would represent an abdication of the solemn duties of the 538 Electors.” Painter and Norman Eisen, President Obama’s Chief Ethics Counsel, joined Tribe in this opinion. DT could agree to have his businesses audited and any payment from a foreign government turned over to the United States, Painter suggested, but Tribe does not think this action would actually cure the Constitutional violation. DT won’t do this anyway.

If DT makes no changes before he takes the Oath of Office, he would immediately violate his promise not to be “indebted to, or otherwise the recipient of financial remuneration from, any foreign power or entity answerable to such a power.” Taking the oath would qualify him for one of the “high Crimes and Misdemeanors” that would require him to be “removed from Office.” The only alternative is for Congress to “endorse Trump’s exploitation of public office for private gain and authorize his emoluments as the Constitution allows,” according to Eisen.

Eisen summarized the situation perfectly: Swearing in DT without his selling his properties would force the U.S. into a “wholesale oligarchic kleptocracy of a kind that we have never seen before in our history.” Without taking action, the GOP can find itself in the midst of a constitutional crisis.