Trump Has Now Shifted $1.7 Million From Campaign Donors To His Private Business

[demmiblue]

The Trump campaign is spending big money at the president’s properties, according to a review of Federal Election Commission data. Yet the records show that Donald Trump still has not donated any of his own funds to the campaign. That means America’s billionaire-in-chief has shifted $1.7 million from campaign donors into his private business.

Forbes first reported on this arrangement one year ago, when documents showed that Trump’s companies had taken in $1.1 million of campaign-donor money. By the end of 2018, that figure had climbed to $1.3 million. Subsequent disclosures show that more than $450,000 flowed into the Trump empire from January to September of this year.

The biggest beneficiary has been Trump Tower Commercial LLC, which controls the president’s famed Manhattan skyscraper. Trump still owns the entity, which has accepted $1.2 million in rent from the reelection effort and another $225,000 from the Republican National Committee. Since Trump became president, an estimated 1.6% of the tower’s revenue has come from either the RNC or the reelection campaign. The majority of Trump Tower’s income comes from Gucci, which leases 49,000 square feet of prime retail space on Fifth Avenue for roughly $21 million a year.

In the basement of Trump Tower, a much smaller space now serves as an official campaign store, selling hats, T-shirts, signs and other memorabilia. The rent payments for that space could be flowing through an entity called Trump Restaurants LLC, which has taken in $87,000 of rent since Trump became president. On a price-per-square-foot basis, the campaign may be paying more for that basement space than Gucci is paying for its street-level location upstairs. Smaller spaces tend to command higher rates, but the payments have nonetheless raised eyebrows.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2019/12/06/trump-has-now-shifted-17-million-from-campaign-donors-to-his-private-business/#2975dd5677f7

[Botany]

1. Isn't this illegal?

And didn't Duncan Hunter Jr. plead guilty for just the same thing? Such as using private campaign donations
for personal use?

[redstatebluegirl]

2. If he is really a billionaire (which we all know is a lie) why does his business need the money?

[moondust]

3. Will "emoluments" be

part of the articles of impeachment? Maybe folded into "abuse of power" or something? I don't know if these campaign fund redirections are emoluments or something else.

One question that could be asked: "How many rounds of golf has pResident Trump played on golf courses that he doesn't own?"

I suspect the answer is ZERO. Because it's not so much about the golf as it is about the self-enrichment with taxpayer dollars.

Plus all the other emoluments.

[Blue Owl]

6. Gonna take more than 15 flushes to get rid of these emoluments

n/t

[smirkymonkey]

4. Crooked, grifting motherfucker!

God I hate him so much!

[struggle4progress]

5. I drink the kool-aide and I'm proud

I use to feel alone in a crowd
but now you look around these days
and it seems there's a kool-aide sipping craze

I'm a sucker
He's a sucker
She's a sucker
We're all suckers

Wouldn't you like to be a sucker too?