Trump Swamp Grows With Don Jr’s India Trip, Kushner’s Security Clearance

Trump continues to break his promise to “drain the swamp.” Here’s a few recent ways Trump and his family have made the swamp even deeper that you may have missed:

 

Donald Trump Jr. is mixing business and foreign policy while on a trip to India, where the Trump Organization is selling access to the president’s son.

 

Washington Post: “The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is making what has been dubbed an unofficial visit to India to promote his family’s real estate projects. But he’s also planning to deliver a foreign policy speech on Indo-Pacific relations at an event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

 

Washington Post: “News that the Trump Organization would be offering buyers in the Trump Tower the chance to meet the president’s son sparked criticism of potential conflicts of interest, and the fact that Trump Jr. will be giving a foreign policy speech while on a private business trip complicates the matter further, ethics experts said.”

 

Jared Kushner had to quietly update his financial disclosure forms, again.

 

Talking Points Memo: “Exclusive: Kushner Quietly Made More Fixes To His Financial Disclosures, May Have More To Come.”

 

Talking Points Memo: “Top ethics experts say that while corrections and amendments happen from time to time, the number and scope of amendments Kushner has filed are highly unusual.”

 

The Trump Organization sued an Arab prince, which could interfere with U.S. foreign policy.

 

The Real Deal: “The Trump Organization sued Prince Faisal Bin Abdul Majeed Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud in a Manhattan court for allegedly not paying more than $1.8 million in rent at his Trump Park Avenue penthouse.  In the six-page complaint, an LLC under the umbrella of President Donald Trump’s namesake company alleges the prince stopped paying rent in January 2017 on a lease that runs through June of 2019. The unpaid bill comes to $1.8 million and the Trump Organization is seeking more than $3.7 million to account for the remaining future rent on the lease. The company also seeks damages in an amount to be determined by the court.”

 

The Real Deal: “Since taking office last year and handing control of the Trump Organization to his two oldest sons, Trump has frequently commented on the U.S.’s relationship with the Saudi crown and visited Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip as president. He initially appeared to support a Saudi blockade of Qatar last year and has used Twitter to encourage the country to commence a public offering of a key oil company on the New York Stock Exchange.”

 

Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to a firm started by an adviser to Melania Trump.

 

USA Today: “President Trump's inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm reportedly started by an adviser to first lady Melania Trump, according to tax filings released Thursday. The inaugural committee raised a record $106.7 million for the inauguration, and until Thursday, it was a mystery how those funds were spent. The payment to the firm linked to Trump's adviser was one-quarter of the total $104 million expenses spent by the committee, which includes $5 million of donations to charity.”

 

An apartment company owned by Jared Kushner asked a federal judge to move a lawsuit brought by tenants back to state court rather than reveal the identities of their investors, as ordered.

 

Baltimore Sun: “Rather than reveal its investor’s identities as ordered by a federal judge, the apartment company owned by Jared Kushner has asked the judge to transfer a tenants’ lawsuit against it back to the Baltimore court where it was first filed.  Westminster Management ‘respectfully requests that this Court remand this matter to the Circuit Court for Baltimore City,’ the company says in a filing submitted Friday by Baltimore attorney Michael E. Blumenfeld.”