The Weiner laptop: Hunter Biden addition

[Nathan89]

[Ef-man]

TSA, still insist this is not disinformation?

[Trill Clinton]

Ouch

[RD2191]

[RD2191]

These fools are desperate.

[ElNono]

It would be a full time job refuting each and every re ed right wing conspiracy theory. The “well he didn’t deny it so it must be true!” standard of proof is confirmation bias from MAGA s who are butthurt that their conspiracy theories haven’t impacted Biden’s campaign.

stop Will, it hurts

[ChumpDumper]

one of his later replies:

[ElNono]

lmao rudy...

[Blake]

Nope

A non vote for Biden in Texas is a vote for Trump, tbh

[ElNono]

welp... Joe was so flustered with the laptop story and getting 20 miles of rope, he apparently brought up the whole laptop-drama himself on the debate

[Will Hunting]

welp... Joe was so flustered with the laptop story and getting 20 miles of rope, he apparently brought up the whole laptop-drama himself on the debate

Trump had no idea how to handle Biden flanking him on Huntergate

[Winehole23]

what's with the really dark bronzer? is Trump getting darker or is it just my imagination?

[FrostKing]

what's with the really dark bronzer? is Trump getting darker or is it just my imagination?

Colored people can't be racist

GuyPointingHead.jpg

[Will Hunting]

another L for the MAGA s

[Winehole23]

Colored people can't be racist

Says you.

Do you think the heavy application of bronzer makes DJT a POC and therefore immune to accusations of racism?

[Winehole23]

like flashy sparkles on the water

[Winehole23]

[TSA]

welp... Joe was so flustered with the laptop story and getting 20 miles of rope, he apparently brought up the whole laptop-drama himself on the debate

He brought it up and was forced to blame it all on muh Russia

[ElNono]

He brought it up and was forced to blame it all on muh Russia

lol forced.

what do you think though? He needs more rope?

[Chris]

Joe Biden wasn’t Vice President in 2017. He was a private citizen. What illegal or corrupt activity are the MAGA s saying he engaged in after he was out of office?

Burisma was in 2015.

https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/p...105publ366.htm

Concerning 2017:


While VP, Biden illegally sold influence to his office to foreign nations, corporations, and US domestic corporations by using Hunter as a go-between whereby all financial and equity proceeds earmarked for Joe would be held by Hunter Biden on Joe's behalf until at least January 2017 when Biden was no longer VP.

There is also a possibillity that he is compromised (blackmail) and could be controlled by foreign governments (China) and would be unable to function as POTUS.


Saavy?

[ElNono]

Burisma was in 2015.

https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/p...105publ366.htm

Concerning 2017:


While VP, Biden illegally sold influence to his office to foreign nations, corporations, and US domestic corporations by using Hunter as a go-between whereby all financial and equity proceeds earmarked for Joe would be held by Hunter Biden on Joe's behalf until at least January 2017 when Biden was no longer VP.

There is also a possibillity that he is compromised (blackmail) and could be controlled by foreign governments (China) and would be unable to function as POTUS.


Saavy?

You'd love for that to be true poor fella

[Winehole23]

Funny, Kim Strassel and the WSJ opinion page had a distinctly different take on the same material

[Blake]

Burisma was in 2015.

https://www.congress.gov/105/plaws/p...105publ366.htm

Concerning 2017:


While VP, Biden illegally sold influence to his office to foreign nations, corporations, and US domestic corporations by using Hunter as a go-between whereby all financial and equity proceeds earmarked for Joe would be held by Hunter Biden on Joe's behalf until at least January 2017 when Biden was no longer VP.

There is also a possibillity that he is compromised (blackmail) and could be controlled by foreign governments (China) and would be unable to function as POTUS.


Saavy?

Lol "possibility"

[RandomGuy]

It's not whataboutism to start a discussion directly on the topic of corrupt Joe and his family.

This thread is itself a whataboutism deflecting from the ing show-cesspool-dumpsterfire of the Trump grifters [click on link for handy reminder of what you are deflecting from].

Hypocrite much?

Why don't you want to admit that the show-cesspool-dumpster fire of Trump corruption exists?

[RandomGuy]

While VP, Biden illegally sold influence to his office to foreign nations, corporations, and US domestic corporations by using Hunter as a go-between

Donald Trump Has At Least $1 Billion In Debt, More Than Twice The Amount He Suggested
https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalex.../#68f3536b4330

Who does Trump owe the money to?

Reports of Trump's secret Chinese bank account spark controversy
There's a lot to unpack in the new reporting, but it's probably worth dwelling on Trump's previously undisclosed bank account in China.
https://www.nbcnews.com/rachel-maddo...versy-n1244186

Whistleblower says Ivanka, Jared got security clearance over experts' advice
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...-idUSKCN1RD2HU

https://time.com/4578431/donald-trum...interest-list/
2. Foreign Interests

More than 100 Trump companies have done business in 18 countries. One extraordinary conflict of interest is an effort by eight mysterious Trump companies established on the eve of Trump’s campaign to develop luxury real estate projects in Saudi Arabia—a country that Trump explicitly said he hopes to protect as president.

It’s also clear that Trump may not be shy about mixing and matching official White House duties with those involving foreign business interests. Just last week, Trump met with three Indian business partners at Trump Tower to discuss a luxury apartment complex they’re developing together near Mumbai, the New York Times reported. For this meeting, at least, there was no apparent effort to separate his business dealings from his work as the President-elect, though a spokeswoman for the Trump organization described it as nothing more than a courtesy visit rather than a business meeting. Those Indian executives, however, have told Indian newspapers that they had been discussing the possibility of expanding their business deals with the Trump organization now that he was the President-elect, the Times reported.

Regardless of whether any sorts of business partnership expansions were discussed, legal experts say that such meetings alone raise conflict of interest questions for Trump because there is at least the appearance that he could be using the White House to advance his own business interests. Ivanka Trump joined a Trump White House transition team meeting with Japan’s leader, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, last week, which prompted even more questions about how closely aligned Trump’s business interests will be with affairs of state.

3. Family Matters

Relatives and family members who are currently making important decisions about what a Trump administration will look like will come under intense media scrutiny—especially for those who choose to work in the White House or take on official advisory council posts. Trump’s closest advisors have said in recent weeks that they would like to see his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, become a senior White House official, reflecting his clear and obvious role in major decisions the President-elect has made since the election.

Kushner, for instance, has been widely credited with the decision to replace Gov. Chris Christie as the head of the Trump transition efforts. There is, however, a large, potential conflict of interest looming. After former President John F. Kennedy made his brother, Robert, the attorney general, Congress passed an anti-nepotism law. That 1967 law is still on the books, and there isn’t an easy way around it—even if Kushner chooses not to take a salary as a senior White House official. It bans public officials, especially presidents, from hiring their relatives for jobs in federal agencies and Cabinet posts.

Trump advisors, however, believe the anti-nepotism law doesn’t apply to the White House—a conflict that could be tested early in Trump’s presidency if he allows his son-in-law to operate out of the West Wing. “This falls right in the bull’s eye of the statute. I think it’s illegal,” Norm Eisen, who was President Obama’s chief ethics counsel, told Politico. Other legal experts, though, feel Kushner can serve as an unpaid advisor in the White House.

Republicans, likewise, don’t see any conflicts at all in Trump’s family members managing the national government. “For goodness sake, JFK put his brother over at the Justice Department. It’s not like these things are new and unprecedented,” Rep. Tom Cole said. And if Trump wants to give Kushner or his daughter, Ivanka Trump, access to intelligence briefings, he could appoint them to White House councils like the intelligence advisory board without any oversight from Congress or intelligence agencies providing classified briefings.

https://time.com/4578431/donald-trum...interest-list/

5. Lending, Financial Ins utions and Economic Policy

And, in the U.S., economic and monetary policy discussions at a Trump White House will have a direct impact on federal ins utions like Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the Internal Revenue Service—all of which impact, audit or affect both his domestic and international business interests. The question of whether Trump is taking his own business interests into White House consideration on financial and economic policy considerations is one that critics and others are almost certain to raise repeatedly during his presidency.

40 Wall Street
40 Wall street
The Trump Organization owns the right to lease the space in this office building in Manhattan - and makes money from the rent paid to the building.

According to Bloomberg News, there are five ongoing federal investigations into current or former tenants of 40 Wall Street, mostly for securities fraud.

Those investigations are headed up by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Mr Trump's appointee to head the SEC, Jay Clayton, has been criticised for his ties to Wall Street firms by Democrats during his confirmation hearings.

Dakota Access Pipeline
Native Americans march to the site of a sacred burial ground that was disturbed by bulldozers building the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), near the encampment where hundreds of people have gathered to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's protest of the oil pipeline slated to cross the nearby Missouri River, September 4, 2016 near Cannon Ball, North Dakota

It's unclear if the president has also sold his stock in Phillips 66, as his last financial disclosure was in May 2016.

Update:

On 24 January, Mr Trump signed an executive order paving the way for final construction of the pipeline. ETP began work in early February and oil is expected to flow by early April. The pipeline remains the subject of a lawsuit by the Cheyenne River Sioux.

Deutsche Bank
One of Trump's major lenders on his real estate projects is Deutsche Bank.

The bank is currently in negotiations with the US justice department to settle a case involving misleading buyers when it sold mortgage bonds backed by risky loans.

Update: Deutsche Bank settled the mortgage bonds case for $7.2bn in late December 2016.

The FCC
The president has another job le beyond "commander-in-chief": executive producer. He will continue to have a "big stake" in The Celebrity Apprentice, which airs on NBC, linking Mr Trump's business interests with the network.

NBC and its parent company, Comcast, is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Mr Trump's pick for the chairman, Ajit Pai, will be need to be reconfirmed by the Senate this year, in order to continue on at the commission.

National Labor Relations Board
On 3 November, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that Trump International Hotel Las Vegas - which Trump co-owns - broke the law by refusing to negotiate with a hotel workers' union.

The hotel appealed the case to a higher court. But three other labour disputes involving the Las Vegas hotel are currently before the board, as well as several others involving the Trump Organization.

NLRB is facing an unprecedented situation on how to rule on disputes that will affect the president's business. Mr Trump has named current board member Philip Miscimarra as acting chair and will be able to appoint two new members to vacant spots.

Secret Service
Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump departs in his plane after rallying with supporters in a cargo hangar at Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. November 6, 2016

During the campaign, Trump's airplane company, TAG Air, billed the Secret Service for flying on Trump's Boeing 757 while protecting the candidate. It is standard for Secret Service to pay their own way on private aircraft, and during the campaign, this was tracked by the Federal Election Commission through campaign finance reports.

Secret Service has also paid to protect Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, as members of the president's family - even as they travel to take care of business for the Trump Organization.

Stocks
Jason Miller, the transition team's spokesman, has said the president sold all his stocks in June 2016, a month after the required financial disclosure, but the campaign did not furnish proof nor provide an updated list of Mr Trump's investments.

Since his election, Mr Trump has singled out specific companies for criticism on Twitter, causing price swings on the stock market. If Mr Trump still owns these stocks, he could make money off of selling and buying before and after such tweets.

Foreign holdings
According to Trump's financial disclosure, as of mid-2016, he had investments in or owned companies in at least 20 countries. Unlike his domestic business, Mr Trump could run afoul of a clause in the US cons ution by continuing to profit from these deals.

The emoluments clause specifically prevents anyone who holds a US "office of trust or profit" from accepting gifts, payments or any benefit from a foreign nation.

Even routine business benefits like tax breaks could violate the emoluments clause.

One former White House ethics lawyer has argued Mr Trump would be violation of the cons ution "on day one".

In addition to emoluments, Mr Trump's foreign policy decisions could be called into question in any country in which the Trump Organization does business, especially when his policies would benefit the firm's holdings overseas.Here are some of Mr Trump's larger business deals that intersect with US foreign policy.

BBC Monitoring contributed to this report

Argentina
An Argentine broadcaster reported that Mr Trump allegedly asked President Mauricio Macri for his support to build an office tower in Buenos Aires while on call during Mr Trump's transition period.

Mr Macri's office and the Trump campaign have denied the report.

However, several days later, the Buenos Aires firm building the tower announced construction of the project was going ahead after years of delays.

Brazil
A waterfront property in Rio de Janeiro, branded with the Trump name through a licensing deal, is the subject of a federal inquiry after two small Brazilian pension funds invested heavily in the unfinished project, with allegations of bribery.

Update: The Trump Organization has reportedly cancelled their licensing deal with the developers in Rio. Trump lawyer Alan Garten told the AP in December this and a few other cancellations were "normal housekeeping" and not part of a strategy to reduce potential conflicts of interests.

Canada
The Trump Organization has licensing deals with two hotel towers in Canada - one in Toronto and one in Vancouver.

The Vancouver building is now open, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by the Trump sons, but the Toronto tower is up for auction after the developer went bankrupt and was put into receivership by a Canadian judge in November.

China
The Bank of China is one of China's largest banks and also majority state-owned. It holds the le on a $950m loan for a New York Building in which Trump is a part owner. Mr Trump has previously labelled China a currency manipulator.

Another largely government-owned Chinese bank - the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - has space in Trump Tower, paying rent to the Trump Organization.

The Trump Organization has also previously attempted to open a series of hotels in the country, and Trump Hotels chief executive Eric Danziger told a Hong Kong media outlet in October they wanted to open 20 to 30 hotels in the country in 2017.
Meanwhile, Trump's son-in-law and now senior adviser, Jared Kushner, was negotiating a deal with China's Anbang Insurance Group to redevelop 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City before backing out of talks in late March.

Mr Kushner has been given a senior role inside the White House. His lawyer told the New York Times he "would recuse from particular matters that would have a direct and predictable effect on his remaining financial interests" without giving specifics.

Ivanka Trump, who has her own non-paying position at the White House, has advised her father on a broad number of policy areas, including high-profile foreign policy meetings.

On the same day she sat next to Chinese President at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the Chinese government approved three new trademarks for Ms Trump's firm to sell items in China.

While Ms Trump has moved her firm to a trust and said she will not partake in decisions could led to conflicts, ethics experts are concerned with the broadening scope of both her business, which bears her name, and her advisory role at the White House.

Dominican Republic
Despite a promise to do "no new deals" while Mr Trump is in office, the Trump Organization is testing that definition in the Dominican Republic.

The firm with developers of a beachfront planned community but the project stalled, and Trump sued in 2012 for unpaid licencing fees.

After a settlement of that lawsuit, the developments did not use the Trump name or discuss any involvement with the Trump Organization.

But in February, owners made a show of announcing Eric Trump had toured the project, saying "we are excited to be working with the Trump Organization in the future phases of the project".

A Trump Organization lawyer has described the deal as "never dead" and said discussions were "very preliminary" but some investors were surprised to find the firm was still technically involved in the project.

Georgia
The Trump Organization cancelled a licensing deal to build a condo tower in the resort town of Batumi, Georgia, shortly after Mr Trump won the election.

The deal had been originally inked in 2011 but stalled amid slow growth in the country.

One of the business partners involved in the deal told Forbes the firm had expressly told him the reason the deal was cancelled was concerns over the Emoluments Clause, despite a Trump lawyer's earlier statement the cancellation was "not part of a strategy to reduce potential conflicts of interests".

ndia
Trump has a licensing deal for buildings in Mumbai and Pune.

One of his deals is with the Lodha Group, whose founder, Mangal Lodha, is also a vice-president in the ruling government party, BJP.Shortly after Mr Trump won the presidency, some of his Indian business partners flew to the US to congratulate Mr Trump, who took time out of transition meetings to discuss "US-India relations".

Indonesia
Two building projects with Trump licensing and management deals have not begun construction in earnest but the Trump Organization continues to be part of the venture.

Mr Trump's partner on the resort projects is Hary Tanoesoedibjo, who ran for vice-president and is well-connected politically in Indonesia. Mr Hary is forming a political party in anticipation of the 2019 elections, the New York Times reports.

In addition, one of Trump's advisers, Carl Icahn, is a major shareholder of Freeport, which is looking to extend a mining contract with the Indonesia government.

Japan
Ivanka Trump sat in with a meeting with her father and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Ms Trump's own firm is currently finalising a licensing deal with Japanese clothing company Sanei International, although she has now stepped down from the firm as well as the Trump Organization.

The firm's largest shareholder is the Japanese government through the Development Bank of Japan. Ms Trump's company says the deal has been in the works for a while, and the terms were agreed before the election.

Philippines
Philippines' newest trade envoy to the United States is the same man who is building Trump Tower Manila. Like many of Trump's branding projects, Mr Trump does not own the building himself, but licenses his name to the building in return for regular payments.

Trump family members have previously promoted the project, including a promotional video.

The trade envoy/business partner reportedly flew to US to hold a private meeting with Mr Trump after the election.

Saudi Arabia
During the course of the campaign, Trump created eight business ventures tied to a potential real estate deal in Saudi Arabia.

Mr Trump told Fox News earlier this year, he "would want to protect Saudi Arabia. But Saudi Arabia is going to have to help us economically".

Update: A Trump Organization lawyer has told the AP the eight firms have been dissolved or shut and that there is "no deal" in Saudi Arabia. However, the firm could easily re-establish business ties there.

Taiwan
In September, a woman claiming to be an envoy for the Trump Organization discussed potential real estate developments in Taiwan with the mayor of Taoyuan.

The Trump Organization has denied any plans for expansion there and said there were no "authorised visits" to discuss business in the country. The Taoyan mayor's office said the woman had "authorisation do ents" but did not specify what kind, the New York Times reported.

A month after his election, Trump called the president of Taiwan directly, breaking decades of existing US foreign policy. It still unclear if the woman is connected with the Trump Organization

Turkey

In 2008, Trump entered a licensing partnership with Turkish conglomerate Dogan Holdings, who were planning to build two residential and business towers in Istanbul's business district.

Relations between Dogan Holdings and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan have turned sour since the towers opened in 2012.

The Dogan family, also own a paper critical of Mr Erdogan.

An earlier story from Newsweek argues the poisoned relationship between Mr Erdogan and the Dogans means Mr Trump would have a direct conflict between his business interests and his relationship with a US ally.

Turkey's importance in the fight against IS and the Syrian civil war makes the stakes much higher.

UK golf courses
Presumptive Republican nominee for US president Donald Trump visits Trump International Golf Links on June 25, 2016 in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Mr Trump owns two golf courses in Scotland and has recently asked Nigel Farage to oppose wind farms, not because he believed they were bad for the UK or contradicted US energy goals, but because a wind project would potentially lower the value of one of his golf courses.

"He did not say he hated wind farms as a concept; he just did not like them spoiling the views," Andy Wigmore, the Leave.EU communications director at the meeting told the New York Times and the Express.

The golf courses could also be affected as part of Brexit negotiations or a second Scottish independence referendum.

https://www.wsj.com/graphics/donald-trump-potential-conflicts-of-interest/
Trump, His Children, and 500+ Potential Conflicts of Interest
President-elect Donald Trump's complex holdings place him in an unprecedented position

Trump has amassed 3,000 conflicts of interest since taking office
Government watchdog CREW revealed that the president racks up the equivalent of two conflicts of interest per day

https://www.salon.com/2020/03/01/tru...taking-office/