Reported Trump Ambassador Pick Raises Conflict-of-Interest Questions
On January 20th, around the time Donald Trump was being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States, James "Wally" Brewster was tendering his resignation as the U.S. ambassador to the Dominican Republic. Now, Trump reportedly is giving that post to vocal supporter and business associate Robin Bernstein – a founding member of Trump's exclusive Mar-a-Lago Club – raising questions about potential conflicts of interest, given that the Trump Organization is considering a licensing deal on a luxury resort in the island nation.
"We cannot have a situation where the ambassador is giving favorable treatment to Eric Trump, or lobbying the Dominican Republic government on his behalf," says Richard Painter, who was a White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush.
The Bernstein news was reported this weekend in The Guardian, after first appearing on a South Florida tabloid site, Gossip Extra. A photo posted to Instagram last Monday by Juju Bernstein shows a woman holding an American flag with the caption, "I am so grateful and honored to be your daughter and excited to get to call you Madame Ambassador - the Dominican Republic is lucky to have you!" According to the photo tag, that woman is Robin Bernstein.
The White House has not issued confirmation of the nomination, but The Guardian reports that two other Trump friends in Florida, Patrick Park and Brian Burns, are likely to be nominated as ambassadors to Austria and Ireland, respectively. (Neither the White House nor Bernstein have responded to Rolling Stone's requests for comment.)
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