{"id":33325,"date":"2016-12-13T10:31:48","date_gmt":"2016-12-13T18:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33325"},"modified":"2016-12-13T10:35:48","modified_gmt":"2016-12-13T18:35:48","slug":"donald-trump-cancels-press-conference-to-address-his-sleazy-conflicts-of-interest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=33325","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump Cancels Press Conference To Address His Sleazy Conflicts Of Interest"},"content":{"rendered":"

The specter of Donald Trump’s business relations continues to hang heavily over his pending administration. For months there has been concern over the far flung enterprises that could have a profound impact on how he might govern. The opportunity for personal enrichment is more than speculation<\/p>\n

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Foreign government officials are already trying to curry favor with Trump by booking rooms at his hotels. What’s worse, Trump has projects in countries whose leaders could use their presence to blackmail Trump<\/a><\/strong>. That can take the shape of denying permits or other regulatory requirements that would kill the projects. But it could also involve harassment, and even imprisonment, of Trump’s local associates.<\/p>\n

There is no way to adequately prevent such activities without Trump completely divesting himself of his businesses. Simply handing them off to his kids would not suffice. Everyone, including Trump, would still know how to influence the leader of the free world. So two weeks ago, in an attempt to address these problems, Trump announced that he would hold a press conference. In a series of tweets<\/a><\/strong> (of course) he said that:<\/p>\n

“I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Once again, Trump still thinks that his kids would provide the necessary distance to avoid potential corruption. But all it does is appoints his kids as the executors of his worldwide graft and bribery operations. It could not be characterized as a \u201cblind trust\u201d<\/em> and would still be a tempting target for favors or threats. However, even his promise to hold a press conference on these dubious terms is not being kept. On Monday he disgorged another set of tweets saying:<\/p>\n

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Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my busineses before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the……<\/p>\n

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n