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New documents released by House Democrats on Thursday show how much Donald J. Trump’s companies received from overseas transactions during his presidency, most of which came from China, and 200% during his presidency. The company reportedly received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments. .
The deal is detailed in a 156-page report written by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee called “White House Selling,” which shows that the former president engaged in the kind of conduct that House Republicans had previously strived to do. It provides concrete evidence that it has so far failed. , to prove that they worked to build an impeachment case against President Biden.
Using documents developed through legal battles, the report describes how foreign governments and entities they control, including some of America’s greatest adversaries, interacted with Trump companies during his presidency. . They paid millions of dollars for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC. Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas; Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York. Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York.
House Democrats on Thursday touted the deal as a response to the Republican impeachment inquiry into Biden. He sought to link him to international business deals before his father’s son, Hunter Biden, took office to prove corruption and influence in peddling operations. They have so far been unable to prove that President Biden was enriched in any way by these transactions.
Rep. Jamie Raskin: “Former President Trump violated the clear mandate of the Constitution and the policies established by previous commanders-in-chief by prioritizing his personal economic interests and the policies of corrupt foreign powers over the public interest of the United States.” , violated both the prudent precedents it had followed,” the Oversight Committee’s top Democrat, a Democrat from Maryland, wrote in the report’s foreword.
The report found that of the countries patronizing Trump’s real estate, China paid the most for Trump’s business interests, totaling $5.5 million. These payments included millions of dollars from the Chinese Embassy in the United States, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Hainan Airlines Holding Company.
Saudi Arabia was the second-highest spender, spending more than $615,000 at Trump World Tower and Trump International Hotel.
Eric Trump, the former president’s son, said foreign interests had no influence on his father’s presidency and that the company’s profits from hotel stays were paid to the federal government through voluntary annual payments to the Treasury Department. It has been claimed for many years that it was returned to the United States.
On Thursday, he noted in an email that the Chinese bank mentioned in the report had signed a 20-year lease on Trump Tower in 2008, nearly a decade before his father became president. . They argued that it was clear that the former president did not allow personal business incentives to be the driving force behind his public actions.
“That story is outrageous,” Eric Trump said of the Democratic report. “No president in American history has been as tough on China as Donald Trump,” he added, citing the previous president’s significant tariffs on Chinese goods and services. He also said the Trump Organization “didn’t have the ability or feasibility to prevent anyone from booking a hotel through a third party.”
House Republicans also dismissed the revelation Thursday, saying that while it’s not a problem that Trump received revenue from foreign governments while president, Biden’s family businesses were corrupt.
“Former President Trump is running a legitimate business, and the Biden family is not,” Rep. James R. Comer, R-Kentucky and chairman of the oversight committee, said in a statement. He accused the Biden family of obtaining three times as much in benefits from foreign governments as Mr. Trump “using the Biden name.” Additionally, he added, “no goods or services were provided other than access to Joe Biden and the Biden network.”
Raskin pointed out Thursday that donating profits to the Treasury doesn’t meet constitutional requirements for the president.
The constitution prohibits the president from accepting money, payments, or gifts “of any kind” from foreign governments or monarchs without the “consent of Congress.” The report notes that Trump never went to Congress for approval.
The Democratic Party’s report acknowledges its own limitations. Democrats fought aggressively through years of litigation to gain access to just a portion of Trump’s business records. Accounting firm Mazars USA, which had long severed ties with Trump and his family business after winning a court ruling, began turning over documents related to Trump’s financial transactions in 2022.
The development came after Mazars said he could no longer stand by the 10 years of annual financial statements he prepared for the Trump Organization.
But once Republicans won a majority in Congress, they halted efforts to force Mazars to continue producing documents about Trump’s business dealings.
Comer said he was abandoning any investigation into the former president’s financial dealings and was instead focusing on whether Biden and his family were involved in an influence-spreading scheme.
Still, Democrats claim they received important documents before the investigation was closed.
“Importantly, portions of this document also reveal shocking millions of dollars in payments made directly to Trump-owned companies by foreign governments and their agents while President Trump was in the White House. “There are,” the report states. “These payments were made while these governments were advancing specific foreign policy objectives with the Trump administration, and sometimes with President Trump himself, and were also made while these governments were pursuing specific foreign policy objectives with the Trump administration and, at times, with President Trump himself, and were also making specific payments to the United States to further their own national policy objectives. This was done while calling for action.”
The report is the result of a multiyear investigation into whether Trump received payments from foreign companies while in office. The investigation began in 2016 under the direction of Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Maryland Democrat who died in 2019.
The paper said Trump has occasionally boasted about wealth provided by foreign governments, including at a 2015 campaign rally, where personal financial incentives can influence his dealings with other governments. He pointed out that he had suggested that.
“Saudi Arabia, I get along very well with all of them,” he said, according to the report. “They buy apartments from me. They spend $40 million, $50 million. Should I hate them? I like them so much!
The report urges Congress to consider introducing new disclosure rules to ensure that the Legislature has information for proper oversight. It also recommends a more formal process for presidents and other officials to seek permission from Congress if they want to receive and keep wealth from other countries.
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