Unfortunately image is everything and truth is nothing when it comes to tripping the voters' triggers.
7
“The biggest scandal of all is not just the corruption of the Trump administration. It’s the inaction of Congress”.
Leader of the do-nothings is Mitch McConnell. He is a leader of ill repute in regard to protecting the Constitution. He is the problem.
The ignorance of many GOP supporters about the party’s responsibility to the Nation means that we need a blue wave at the ballot box on Nov 6.
48
This is truly one of the most shocking news articles I’ve ever read. The idea that an American president and the named governmental officials might misuse their offices for personal gain in open defiance of the law and provisions of the U.S. constitution in the manner described is unthinkable.
That the members of the majority party in both houses of congress might ignore these crimes, abrogating their constitutional responsibilities, is equally incredible.
After my first reading of Trump’s Corruption: The Definitive List, I paced back and forth, silently asking myself questions like, “Can this be true? Is this sort of lawless shamelessness really going on in my country? Can it be that the man who sits in the office occupied by Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt be, in truth, an absolutly unprincipled scoundrel???”
I and many of my family members and ancestors have served this nation. Sacrificed for our country. Believed with all our hearts that the dreams of freedom, fairness, and equal justice for all were and are worth working for, fighting for, living for and even dying for.
How could we possibly have possibly come to this?
63
Thank you for this list. I'll wager there is far more corruption yet to be discovered by investigation.
I could not believe, that in the summer of 2015, Republican candidates, the NYT, the LAT, WAPO, MSNBC, etc., FAILED to proffer three SURE things on a DAILY basis: Trump will never provide his tax returns, NEVER put his businesses in a blind trust, if elected, and that he was involved in OVER 3,500 law suits by that point in time. I did, to anyone who would listen.
Even today, these FACTS are rarely discussed. His new rant on not liking globalists while wearing the "nationalist" mantle, goes without the media stressing that he laughs at America (and his own followers), and has businesses and funds all over the planet. He does NOT pay taxes to American coffers, the exact claim he accuses other nations of perpetrating in so many ways.
Is it not clear by now, Trump is NOT a Democrat, Republican, nor American? He is solely a Trumpist, in the service of his own monetary advancement, worldwide. Some world leaders (despots), and the VAST majority of Republicans are aiders and abettors to his criminal enterprises.
He should be sent to The Hague for prosecution.
44
The GOP will do nothing. They're too afraid to lose his base (now) and want to make sure they have access to Congress when they become high paid lobbyists (future).
Vote them out and replace them with someone who has a spine. Even a jellyfish would do a better job.
29
Complicit in all this are the Republican campaign ads stating that if Democrats are elected, they will impeach Mr. Trump. The ads are clearly trying to protect the Trump Administration from the legal consequences its criminal actions. At what point does this become aiding and abetting in support of a criminal enterprise? Certainly by the time that these Republican opportunists are running the government.
10
Who knew? President Bonespurs said he was going to drain the swamp. Who knew, that he was going to take all that slime from HIS Swamp and dump it in Washington DC on top of the heads of the American people. Who knew?
15
Congress has given presidents a lot of discretion and power.
That assumed that the president had the best interests of the country in mind.
Trump has only his own interests in mind.
Congress needs to exert far more control.
15
This is a blueprint for the next Congress. Let’s hope it’s majority Democratic, and democratic.
12
Mr. Leonhardt:
Another item you missed that I think should be added to your list of the Trump administration's corruption is the potential insider trading and conflicts of interest involving Carl Icahn, who was a financial advisor to Donald Trump, who benefitted from his ties to the White House. Click on links to related articles below.
http://fortune.com/2017/08/20/carl-icahn-donald-trump-adviser/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/02/shortly-before-trump-announced-tariffs-his-former-adviser-dumped-millions-in-steel-related-stocks/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.404c3ffb3599
14
Thank you for this. Please be reassured that it is NOT a boring article and we know that it is NOT fake news. Do you have thick skin? I hope so. Keep it up, please!
22
Here is another interesting thing from The Guardian on what appears to be Soviet interest in Trump starting in the 80's. Remember, his casinos went broke then, and the source of his resurrection funds has never been explained.
"However, secret memos written by the KGB chief, Vladimir Kryuchkov, in the mid-1980s reveal that he berated his officers for their failure to cultivate top-level Americans. Kryuchkov circulated a confidential personality questionnaire to KGB heads of station abroad, setting out the qualities wanted from a potential asset.
According to instructions leaked to British intelligence by the KGB defector Oleg Gordievsky, they included corruption, vanity, narcissism, marital infidelity and poor analytical skills. The KGB should focus on personalities who were upwardly mobile in business and politics, especially Americans, the document said."
"Czechoslovakia’s Státní bezpečnost (StB) carried out a long-term spying mission against Trump following his marriage in 1977 to his first wife, Ivana Zelníčková."
They were watching him then, and didn't he just have the perfect profile for them - corruption, vanity, narcissism, marital infidelity and poor analytical skills? He was a gift.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/29/trump-czechoslovakia-communism-spying
20
There is no point in trying to argue with Trump supporters, as many commenters are pointing out. After WWII ended there were Nazi sympathizers and party members, common people--not higher ups, who had lost everything. Their sons were killed in a pointless, pre-emptive war, their homes were in rubble, their savings up in smoke, their values, beliefs and dignity shattered and some still believed in Hitler and in the party! This is what being a member of a cult is all about. Trump supporters truly value this crass, vulgar, angry, immoral man far, far above their country, their religion, their communities, their families and their values. Tragic isn't too strong a word for what is happening in this nation. Anyone who wonders how Germans and other Europeans could have fallen for crazy Hitler's deranged and evil plans for Germany, look no further than the United States, 2016-2018. The veneer of our civilized, moral selves is apparently thin indeed.
46
@Eva Lockhart
Well said indeed, Eva.
I offer you thanks for your sharing your clear, honorable thoughts. And pray that you live to see our nation washed of this current stain on American honor. To the day we are restored to righteous government and our deserved place among the nations of the world.
8
Show the American People the millions (or billions) being spent on trump, melania, kushners, eric from the taxpayers money. Dollar Signs speak loudly....print the dollar sign information weekly or monthly? We have a right to know where our money is going & for what. No other presidents have traveled & vacationed like trump (daily & weekly). No others have held rallies to praise themselves. Time We Know The Truth about ALL trump's spending & his extended family's spending of taxpayer money.
15
Have Americans simply become inured to this type of corruption ? I hear the collective sighs but I don't see any leadership on "prosecuting" these cases. Trump seems to be using the office of the President to create deals for himself and his family now and into the future...It's one big money making opportunity with scant attention paid to the leadership of the country.
6
Chinese patents to Ivanka
11
Yawn? This all you have? So much for an amateur politician keeping part of his business. I spose Jimmie Carter's peanut sales did well during his term as well.
2
Here folks, just for us.
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." –Mark Twain
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." –Mark Twain
14
Democrats do not have to have a lilly-white history in order for this list to be considered true.
The Clintons may have benefitted from the power of the office illegally or unethically but the chance to examine their history seems to be over.
This does not in any way excuse any illegal or unethical behavior from the current administration. Nor will it for future administrations regardless of party affiliation.
7
Yet today, he stood on a stage here in Florida and called Andrew Gillum a "thief". Gillum's alleged "crime"? He took a "Hamilton" ticket from a guy...And the irony continues.
13
@Terri McLemore- I misspoke-it wasn't a rally, but a Tweet. And Mayor Gillum's response was epic!
1
HE most sickening thing about these facts, is that about 40% of the American people either don't care that they are being fleeced or just believe that the press is outright lying. this despite the fact, yes the FACT, that Trump and his cronies lie every single day. They will still support him as do the cronies at FOX (I refuse to put "News") after that name.
God help us next Tuesday.
God help us next Tuesday.
14
Here's a lighter comment: how can a man, even less a President wear a baseball cap with a suit?
11
And this is different than the corrupt practices of Obama and cohorts? Or those of Hillary-Bill and friends? Gimme a break. The American system of government is funded by taxes, the collection of which is backed by force, violence and coercion.
What the government does to obtain the funds on which it survives and thrives is no different than what the Mafia does--except it's "legal." It is extortion. Those who consume its "benefots" cannot avoid being corrupted by its dependence on violence, no matter how upright they might otherwise seem.
Watch this video of a Democrat stalwart and long-time Majority Leader of the Senate Harry Reid, and you will see how twisted these politicians become, and what they will say to refute the obvious. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg)
If, as you say, "Trump’s administration is the most corrupt since at least Warren Harding’s," I must assume you are exonerating F.D.R. because you are Democrats. F.D.R. had an advantage over Trump and Harding in the corruption business for being in office for over 11 years, versus Harding and Trump whose times in office were just over and just under two years. Anyone doubting F.D.R.'s qualifications as perhaps the most corrupt of all must read John T. Flynn's magnum opus, THE ROOSEVELT MYTH (https://mises.org/library/roosevelt-myth)
All things considered, I'd say Trump is off to a good start to equal or exceed Roosevelt in misdeeds, but he'll never last long enough to take F.D.R.'s crown.
What the government does to obtain the funds on which it survives and thrives is no different than what the Mafia does--except it's "legal." It is extortion. Those who consume its "benefots" cannot avoid being corrupted by its dependence on violence, no matter how upright they might otherwise seem.
Watch this video of a Democrat stalwart and long-time Majority Leader of the Senate Harry Reid, and you will see how twisted these politicians become, and what they will say to refute the obvious. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7mRSI8yWwg)
If, as you say, "Trump’s administration is the most corrupt since at least Warren Harding’s," I must assume you are exonerating F.D.R. because you are Democrats. F.D.R. had an advantage over Trump and Harding in the corruption business for being in office for over 11 years, versus Harding and Trump whose times in office were just over and just under two years. Anyone doubting F.D.R.'s qualifications as perhaps the most corrupt of all must read John T. Flynn's magnum opus, THE ROOSEVELT MYTH (https://mises.org/library/roosevelt-myth)
All things considered, I'd say Trump is off to a good start to equal or exceed Roosevelt in misdeeds, but he'll never last long enough to take F.D.R.'s crown.
1
President Trump & this group of GOP legislators are the most corrupt Federal Government we have ever had in America. Or as the President would say, ever in the history of mankind.
8
How Ironic: the Clinton Foundation received billions of dollars from foreign individuals, corporations and governments. Many of the Clinton cronies worked there--drawing exorbitant salaries--including daughter Chelsea. It was so blatant, a book was written by Peter Schwweizer called "Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich". Only because it was a NY Times Bestseller, was it ever mentioned at all--and only then as a name on a list.
And if you doubt that Hillary was selling influence, then please explain why the foundation closed down--as soon as she was no longer Secretary of State. Could it be because the donations stopped?
A U.S. Senator from my own state--a guy who has never had a real job in his entire life--now is worth millions and owns three houses in Vermont. His name is Bernie Sanders. Where are the stories about Bernie's unexplained good fortune?
The point I'm trying to make is this simple: the NY Times is only interested in how Trump may be personally benefiting from his one and only political position--that as president of the United States. It has no interest in how politicians on the left may be personally benefiting from their power and influence.
The bias is breathtaking. Columns written by Liberals for the benefit of Liberals. Shameful, honestly. Where is the balance? Where is the fairness?
6
Trump's center of attention is himself, not the public/common good, and that has been evident since he took the oath of office, which for him was the repeating of meaningless words. We are losing our country, and if voters do not rise up and put him and all his venal apparatchiks out of office, we will no longer have a country-at least a country pursues the lofty goals articulated in our Preamble to the Constitution.
3
Trump supporters will always disregard the corrupt practices of the Trump administration because that is what they expected their hero to give them, the looting and sale of government for personal gain. For decades Republicans have talked about the evils of government disregarding its supportive role in their lives. This cynicism has spawned and supported Trump in everything he does. Now it is the rule of law that is being sacked along with the White house silver ware.
2
Our current circumstances emphasize the need for an Electoral college. It's our best defense against the feckless who might try to rise to positions of responsibility and authority.
People who have canvassed for candidates during elections, especially at the local level, have met community boosters who are stakeholders for their candidate. Boosters know and respect what it takes to build community; they've done so.
Over time, they've demonstrated commitment and learned to get things done through people while understanding their needs and the available resources.
They care deeply and strive to be informed and effective.
They practice the art of the possible: what is helpful and what isn't
Their strength is their wisdom. Their adversary is greed.
Politics is the art of getting things done through people.
There are two ways:
Greed says:
Give me your money and do what I tell you!
Wisdom says:
Figure it out for yourself -- If you can't we'll find a way to do it.
Wisdom fosters independence.
Greed creates dependency.
Political candidates are presented as contestants in a beauty pageant, selected for their appeal. But the job requires qualities that are harder to see: intelligence, integrity, wisdom, empathy, political potential, and progressive attitude.
Boosters seek and select the best candidates and support them for office.
The candidate and booster are reflections of each other.
The Electoral College is a remedy for a candidate who has misrepresented himself. -- Trump
People who have canvassed for candidates during elections, especially at the local level, have met community boosters who are stakeholders for their candidate. Boosters know and respect what it takes to build community; they've done so.
Over time, they've demonstrated commitment and learned to get things done through people while understanding their needs and the available resources.
They care deeply and strive to be informed and effective.
They practice the art of the possible: what is helpful and what isn't
Their strength is their wisdom. Their adversary is greed.
Politics is the art of getting things done through people.
There are two ways:
Greed says:
Give me your money and do what I tell you!
Wisdom says:
Figure it out for yourself -- If you can't we'll find a way to do it.
Wisdom fosters independence.
Greed creates dependency.
Political candidates are presented as contestants in a beauty pageant, selected for their appeal. But the job requires qualities that are harder to see: intelligence, integrity, wisdom, empathy, political potential, and progressive attitude.
Boosters seek and select the best candidates and support them for office.
The candidate and booster are reflections of each other.
The Electoral College is a remedy for a candidate who has misrepresented himself. -- Trump
1
Responding to another comment that states the Democratic Party has missed a great opportunity to tie all Republicans running for office to Trump. Sir, perhaps you don’t realize that not only Democrats but moderate Republicans are capable of connecting the dots. Most people who are Americans detest Trump and understand that our Republican elected officials are towing Trumps line for whatever reason. This is not a campaign strategy. This is the truth.
4
They are even redefining corruption and calling it 'commitment' instead. They feel confident they can do it and they will get away with it because the US has shown there is no accountability in place in the rule of law when it comes to those at the top of society. Since the Global Financial Meltdown of 2008 and not a single banker or Wall Street exec was put in a court room, let alone a trial of any sort (instead they got a bailout from taxpayers). Was it the less painful and quicker fix to the US economy and that of the rest of the world that had invested in the US real estate market? Yes, definitely yes, but it came at a cost we are only now realising which is the lack of accountability.
Their strategy is simple, overload the news and outrage with too many scandals of very little economic interest (more social injustice) so that while they are distracted, the real theft can occur in plain view and no one gives it the attention it deserves. It is working, none of them will spend time, they expect even if caught to get pardoned. Real banana republic stuff and it is spreading across all democracies because the legal system does not give harsher sentences to people in high society because they are supposed to set an example for the rest of society, instead they get special treatment and feel entitled to do so. That is the true entitlements we should be complaining about, but the sound of crickets can be heard in the GOP Congress when it comes to accountability.
Their strategy is simple, overload the news and outrage with too many scandals of very little economic interest (more social injustice) so that while they are distracted, the real theft can occur in plain view and no one gives it the attention it deserves. It is working, none of them will spend time, they expect even if caught to get pardoned. Real banana republic stuff and it is spreading across all democracies because the legal system does not give harsher sentences to people in high society because they are supposed to set an example for the rest of society, instead they get special treatment and feel entitled to do so. That is the true entitlements we should be complaining about, but the sound of crickets can be heard in the GOP Congress when it comes to accountability.
5
This article provides a great nonpartisan reason for voting for Democrats running for Congressional seats, as they are likely to investigate these corrupt activities, do their job, and hold Trump and his family accountable. They will truly work to drain the swamp rather than enlarging it.
7
You left out the Trump Soho fraud case against Trump Jr., which was dropped suspiciously, and Ivanka/Jared eb5 visa sales and influence peddling, as well as the Chinese approval of ivanka's patent and copyright applications.
9
Adding up the dollars and cents is an amusing exercise but a more serious problem is the way corruption at the top leads to corruption everywhere. All governments operate on 90% trust and 10% verification (or is it 99/1?). If I know the President cheats on his taxes, why shouldn't I cheat on my taxes? If the Department of Labor doesn't really care about workplace safety, why should I? If the Department of the Interior has no respect for the nation's natural wealth, why should I? They are not just thieves, they are poisioning the well for everyone.
6
It seems very strange to me that the GOP seems to be ignoring this. Could they be under pressure to ignore it from any source except the president?
4
Good list. Keep it up. Until the American public votes the gop out of congress and replaces it with responsible office holders beginning this November, nothing will change; no one will be brought to justice for pillaging the coffers of American taxpayers.
And we, the People, will be left with corruption, no health care, no Social Security, no Medicare, no opportunity to live and be well. Get the vote out for Dems this November and in 2020.
And we, the People, will be left with corruption, no health care, no Social Security, no Medicare, no opportunity to live and be well. Get the vote out for Dems this November and in 2020.
6
President Trump and his family seem to be behaving more like how Saddam Hussein & his sons were behaving in Iraq, and less like Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter & George HW Bush did. They seem to have no shame!
There will be reckoning some day. That some day maybe sooner than later. Hopefully at least the House will flip in next week's election, which will be a start.
But things aren't that simple. Even if there's more than enough reason to impeach & oust him, without at least a third of the Republican Congress members' strong support, I think impeachment proceedings will be futile and are likely to backfire.
True, Trump supporters in Congress are fair-weather comrades. But will that be enough?
7
The congressional Republicans insist on keeping their heads up their you know what's...
As a 70 year old women I can never again justify voting for any republican for any office; local, county, state, fed.
Prior to Trump's election I took heart in the fact that our executive branch was relatively NOT corrupted. I saw the Republican Party began it's devolution into congressional corruption with the Reagan Administration. I saw the Democratic Party devolve into congressional corruption with the Clinton administration. Unfortunately the law defines corruption as quid-pro-quo. This is completely in-adequate as a common definition of corruption. Big monied interests have as much access to our elected officials as they want, lobbyists craft legislation through the A.L.E.C. run by big monies hired guns and membered by our senators and congressman. Today access equals INFLUENCE. This is an ALMOST inevitable result of the huge sums of money it costs to get elected to office, multimillions to a measly 2 year term in our US House. Thus, fund raising is in governing is out, who has the time for it? The only way to level the playing field is to publicly fund all elections only. Until we do this the pressures of increasing inequality, and corruption will continue to grow.
This aberrant Presidency needs to be ended asap!
11
Excellent list David.
It is sickening to watch Trump inflict punishment on his own base, taking pleasure in watching them blindly follow him as he pulls the rug out from under them.
Honesty, decency, respect and kindness - this nation needs to return to these basics.
Trump is glad he gave 62+ % of last year's trillion dollar tax cuts to folks within the upper 1% of income, and glad to enact additional cuts earlier this year for these same blokes.
Although he failed to repeal Obamacare, over the past two years Trump and Congress enacted many measures that raised premiums 20 percent over what they would have been if they didn't cut out such protections.
Trump’s tariff policies force working-class families to pay lots more to buy groceries and other products.
Trump's policy to remove requirements for more efficient cars require that working-class families pay more for gas.
Trump's environmental and worker protection policies removed many regulations that require industry to protect human health and the environment, resulting in shorter worker lifespans and increased rates of cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Hopefully the American electorate wakes up, change their 'lifestyle' for 15 minutes, and go to the polls.
Hopefully, turnout on November 6th will break records, especially among women voters.
And hopefully, Trump and his actions to support and benefit only the rich will hit a brick wall and be properly pushed back.
6
Trump, Inc. and the Republican Party (I mean Congress) are two different branches of the same white-collar crime syndicate. They need each other to cover up and protect their loots. They can do all this because the public does not seem to care. He did not release his tax returns before the election; those who voted for him did not care. What he was hiding, and still hiding, should have been enough red light for any decent person to pause and not to vote for him. I hate to say this: I think the people who are not bothered by this overt and covert corrupt practices and the abuse of power are just as corrupt as Trump, his cronies and Congress. That makes America corrupt, immoral and unethical instead of "Great". Let us tell them STOP by sending a message on November 6.
6
@Dodurgali: Tax cheating is probably up even more than hate crimes under Trump's leadership and example.
1
I wonder if Kelly Johnston, who as Campbell Soup's recently fired VP of Government Affairs (and a former Secretary of the US Senate under Bob Dole) started via Twitter the rumour that George Soros' Open Society Foundation was funding elements of the refugee caravan currently moving north in Mexico, was in some nefarious deal with a Trump operative. And if so, how many more American corporations have been in similar nefarious deals?
1
@Angus Cunningham: Many US bureaucrats spend much of their work-time auditioning for corporate jobs.
Nothing about the money laundering? A look at Trump Inc.'s links to the states of the former Soviet Union and how they explain going from Chapter 66 to an extensive international hotel chain would reveal how truly and totally corrupt the president is.
2
I guess, after reading this disgusting article, everything can be summed up in just one sentence.
If you want to make money, just get elected to the presidency...its just good business.
The keys to winning are:
1. Tell lies
2. Bully your competition
3. Tell more lies
4. Always remember to talk about the two Corinthians
5. Tell some more lies
6. Blame all bad things on others
7. Take credit for all good things
8. Tell even more lies
9. Use derogatory nicknames
10. Always, always, always say "Believe Me."
10
Tangential comment I admit, but..
Where I come from, when one of our own makes good, everyone in the area takes some pride in that and promotes the person as being emlematic of ourselves.
Its telling that few if any people from NYC or New Jersey have anything good to say about him, his business, or his family. Scan any article feedback at most news outlets and you will find few
Thats because they know him longest and best, and know him for the guy he really is......
Altruistic Statesman... ha... hardly.
4
I have never seen this level of corruption in our govt.
And this is just the corruption that is on the surface and known at this time. I am sure it goes much deeper and is more widespread than we know. I hope the dems take power and investigate all of the corruption and shine a bright light on how much tax payer money has been spent buttering these crook's bread.
10
When I try to discuss these issues with conservative friends I almost always get the same response. They say they have never heard of them. They either say they don’t pay attention to any news at all or only to Fox News (or some other non-objective source). Of course Fox News never talks about any of these issues. My friend don’t say everything else is “fake news”, but that’s clearly what they think. Then they say: can we not talk about politics? Discussion over.
6
Thank you for publishing this.
Please try to create a financial running tally and periodically publish it.
6
All told, IF each line item listed is identically true, the "corruption" outlined amounts to a few million dollars. At most. Over a lifetime.
Needless to say, ALL line items listed here are at least disputatious, and none has been proven to be true.
Now, let's address the BILLIONS the Clinton's stole by various means, for themselves, for their daughter, for their Foundations...and the NYT's absolute, UTTER, complete, silence on this topic. These perfidies, again, in the billions of dollars, are virtually "all" true as verified by outside-the-NYT sources (as the NYT has refused to even examine these issues).
Crickets. None of my statements make Trump blameless. They do whoever point out the rabid bias of the NYT, the opinion writer's themselves, and the liberal media in general.
@BKH
You are resorting to whataboutism.
You have no defence of trump so you deflect to try to blame the Clinton's for a worse crime. The evidence for those crimes coming from Fox news, brietbart, and Alex Jones.
Of course, no one examines those sources more than one would the diary of a child for insight into the current problems in Washington.
3
@BKH---Since you seem to be the only one who knows that the Clintons stole billions of dollars, you would be able to prove what you claim, right? Surely, you do not expect anyone to believe you without proof---right?
So, where is your expose? Where is your proof?
4
And if Republicans in Congressional power aren't raising their voices to audible levels, Democrats aren't doing much to be heard, esp in Congressional elections. It's as if Dems are seriously afraid of Trump, or of being perceived as overly-critical of the president, in their campaigns. Their reputation for whimpish behavior precedes this, but the national level of this campaign has to be fought more openly for Dems to benefit--as they should--from Republican moral and intellectual corruption.
Maybe David Brooks is right in suggesting that Dems aren't fighting the values war as effectively as they might. But it's not just the basic values of governing, it's the corruption, stupid!
1
There’s a lot of vitriol (deservedly) here from the choir over Trump’s corruption. Hopefully it will spur us to get out the vote. We have to win the vote first. Because on the other side, Trump supporters don’t care at all about his corruption. He’s “getting the job done.” In fact, many applaud his corruption, seeing it as an example of self-reliance and rugged individualism – traits they see as virtues, as the very definition of freedom. That’s the mentality we are up against.
Get out the vote.
9
Trump has always been a grifter. It's the Congress that has abdicated its sworn constitutional duties.
12
Trump's corruption makes the Clintons look like boy/girl scouts...
9
It seems crazy that Trump's base doesn't mind. Yet, that sort of political wisdom was once espoused by LBJ, "If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."
13
WHERE IS THE OUTCRY FOR THESE CRIMES? Can anyone imagine how the media, the congress, the courts and the general public would have reacted to this kind of behavior if it happened on any other official's watch?
There is no check and balance, no strict interpretation of laws, procedures or protocols. Everything is laissez-fair.
Voters must vote, regardless and they have to clean out this way of thinking before we all go down the tube.
6
Shall I wait with bated breath for this investigative journalism to be turned onto the Clinton's and their eponymous foundation?
Be nice to see an exhaustive list there
@Gabriel, are the Clintons running for election? Are they running the government? Wrong tree.
10
@Gabriel Can someone - maybe @Gabriel , please tell me what corruption you are sure the Clintons should be accused of? Seriously like line by line with the facts to prove it.
4
@Gabriel--The Clinton Foundation has been investigated over and over again. If the GOP had found anything, they would be shouting it from the rooftops.
According to Google, when you type in "investigate Clinton Foundation" you will get 5,460,000 results. And yet, NO wrongdoing has been found.
4
This is just top much stuff for a House committee or two to investigate. There is enough to keep several independent investigators busy for years. Let them do the job. Mean while, House democrats can investigate the complicity of people like Nunes and Meadows.
3
Where's the outrage? If Americans turned off their televisions and exited from their social media caverns, perhaps we'd wake up to the scourge that is ruining the Republic!
Where are the decent Republicans in all of this? That's an even more perplexing question.
9
Decent Republicans don’t exist anymore. They are too busy supporting Trump and his agenda. They have been bought by the corporations, extraction industries, military-industrial complex that line their pockets and keep them in power. Oh, and the racism is just gravy. Yes, there are Democrats who have benefited from the same corporate unholy alliance. But I believe we still need to Vote Blue in this election. We need a check on this President and his policies of raping the country for his own gain and we need to send a strong message of disgust with the silent and complacent Republicans!
7
@Mossy--Decent Republicans do not exist anymore because they have all become Independents. The exodus from the GOP has turned in to a rout.
3
I’m looking forward to the Biden - Trump debates....Biden is going to rip him to pieces!
8
@Marty--Do you remember the debate that onlookers credit Mitt Romney for "winning" against Barack Obama? Mitt simply stood there and lied through his toothy smile over and over again. Trump does the same.
1
I knew when the 2016 election was down to Trump and Hillary that the "winner" would become the looter-in-chief. Dems and Repubs are Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Congress doesn't pursue the Trump admin.'s corruption because they have their own corrupt games going on, enhanced by the SC ruling of "citizens united" which fills their coffers with corporate cash. We have to be realistic in expecting no help from the president or congress to stop the pillaging.
I see the ghosts of a half million dead American soldiers from World War II who sacrificed their lives to fight fascism and gross injustice in the world. They look at us as weaklings who won't even peacefully fight to stop the endless and growing cancerous corruption. We've reduced the total sacrifice they made for the widespread theft of American assets and virtue. The ghosts shake their heads and ask, "How could you fall so low as to accept this? How could you let us suffer and die for nothing?"
3
There are those that claim both sides are at fault. They are not. One side flaunts it as intelligent, the other side hides it as wrong. One side defends those that are caught, the other side exposes them and says it is wrong. Which side are you on? Nov. 6th will tell the story.
8
And what are we doing? NOTHING.
2
Voting.
5
Thank you for reminding us of all the corruption continuing to go on under our noses----dealing with daily tragedies in the news makes it too easy to forget these abominations.
4
Who pays for Air Force One, Advance teams, Security Sweeps, Ground transportation leads, ground transport, Secret Service, Security Staff, Food and beverage, hotels to the extent they are used, etc, etc, for all these "Rallies"
I'd bet it isn't the GOP or Trump bank accounts.
Esentially, the US taxpayer is paying thorugh the nose to have this circus travel around campagning for the benefit of Trump and the GOP.
If I was a US taxpayer, I'd be mortified. Can't pay for basic healthcare, but can fly Trump all around the US for free..... MAGA.
18
@416, we the American taxpayers are basically paying for the Trump run republican party campaigns.
5
Trump bragged during the debates that not paying taxes, "makes me smart." So he's getting all these perks without having supported the United States financially for over 20 years. If not paying taxes makes you smart, we should all show how smart we are and not fund Trump's constant vacations to his own properties.
12
@Linda
And all get real smart and stop paying taxes, and all get real smart and have our youth develop temporary bone spurs so they can skip exposure to danger in the military......
Smart isn't the right word in this context. Evasive is more appropriate I think.
3
I agree that the bigger scandal is the inaction by Congress. I call the administration a syndicate intent on helping themselves protected by the con man and Chief. Oversight is missing therefore Congress must change hands. But remember, this is only the first step. Serious damage has been done that may take decades to reverse.
7
Hmm. Promises kept department:
Said he'd drain the swamp.
"More than 164 former lobbyists work in the administration, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, including several who regulate the industries that once paid their salaries."
Dictionary and thesaurus searches do not see any case where "drain" and "hire" mean the same thing.
Said he self-funds, so he's not beholden to big money donors.
"Environmentalists have expressed alarm at the new direction, and have complained that Mr. Trump was following a blueprint from the coal industry. A confidential memo written by the head of the country’s largest coal mining company suggests they might not be wrong.
The memo was written by Robert E. Murray, a longtime Trump supporter who donated $300,000 to the president’s inauguration. "
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/climate/coal-murray-trump-memo.html
6
There is a very good reason that the President is not legally required to remove all financial conflicts of interests like businesses nor from conducting business while in office. Such laws could be written by Congress to neutralize Executive authority. But to preserve the integrity of the office Presidents diver themselves of any holdings which might present a conflict of interest and the haven’t conducted their private business while serving in office.
Trump is acting like an outlaw teenager thumbing his nose at everyone. The Congress is refusing to act to protect the integrity of our government for fear that doing so could risk their political power. It’s a perfect storm in which multiple individuals in this administration are using their offices for personal material benefits exceeding any taken by any other administration in over ninety years.
It would seem that conservative Republicans who want honesty and integrity in government face a big dilemma. They can vote for continued corruption or for liberal Democrats. The kind of Conservative Republicans they respect are being driven out of office by those controlling their Party.
5
If the democrats fail to take the House next month Trump will be emboldened to expand his web of self dealing corruption. Trump family will operate as an arm of the USA government encouraging foreign entities to participate in any Trump related project that further enriches the Trump family. A KLEPTOCracy /OLIGARCHY will emerge with Trump acting as a Putin style president with the GOP terrified into complicity. With a new Attorney General and Sec of defense beholden to Trump his ability to enrich his family will be unlimited as the Supreme Court would vote 5 to 4 on any case that hurts the Trump family .
8
Once a con man always a con man.
13
Mike Espy was prosecuted for less than these! Where're 'Benghazi' Gowdy and 'Subpoena' Issa when you need them?
9
Investigating Hillary, like all right-thinking ‘murricans.
4
I keep hoping for the best headline of the year. "Trump and Pence Resign: Work is too complicated."
I guess I'm just a silly, dreamy Democrat who wants the nation to return to its ethics and mutual dependency. We have all worked so hard at trying to make our nation a tolerant community, But The Donald is like the kid who enjoys kicking down all the sandcastles on the beach because he won't build one, can't build one--too hard. Easier to destroy than build.
12
Let's be clear, America. If you vote for the Republican supporters of Trump, you are voting for a criminal, and supporting criminality in the White House. You are supporting the rotting of American democracy.
Think long and hard about this before you pull the R lever. You are dooming our nation to corruption in unprecedented levels for at least the next two years, and likely far beyond that if Republicans retain control of government at all levels.
20
The day the man was elected president was the day the predictable happened: self-agrandizement.
The last sentence asks where is Congress?
Not the point anymore.
Where are the lawsuits against corruption?
10
@Svirchev--There are a couple of them winding their way through the courts. Be patient.
2
Presumably some of what is listed here will turn up in Mueller's report: collusion with Russians oligarchs, shameless emoluments infractions and racketeering involving foreign governments, tax evasion.
When it is released, I fear it will seem anticlimactic. People may shrug their shoulders and ask, so what, we knew about all this before.
At best it runs the risk of getting lost in the din of the ever-shorter, wearyingly intense news cycles that are numbing us into a state of complete indifference and inaction.
UNLESS he and his team can follow through with indictments, arrests, convictions, and sentences with real bite. So, build airtight cases, Mr. Mueller, but please, . . . not too much longer.
In the meantime, VOTE resoundingly and overwhelmingly DEMOCRATIC and nip in the bud any attempt to steal the election through voter suppression, endless recounts, and court-decided winners.
11
I think Mueller's been neutralized. i don't think anything significant will come of this long term analysis.
1
@ellen Thankfully, my heart and mind disagree.
1
@ellen I hope you are wrong.
1
Although your article apparently is addressing only those atrocities committed since he took office, I would have pointed out that Wilbur Ross should never have been appointed because he ran a Russian ruble laundering bank in Cyprus.
7
@Pete Steitz Agree withyou re Wilbur Ross, but would further question whether Saudi, russian and other questionable sources are laundering money through Trump businesses.
2
I do not know if the items the authors allege are illegal or not. What I would ask is 'Where were they during the Clinton Administration?' - as at least the first half dozen items were fully present .... culminating after their Administration with the Clinton Foundation follies.
You don’t know that nepotism is illegal? Or that it’s illegal to advertise products like this?
You can’t offer even one bit of comparable info about the Clintons, yet their corruption is completely obvious?
6
@jrgfla--At some point, you are going to have to realize that the "terrible corruption" of the Clintons were simply lies. The Clinton Foundation is audited every year and investigated....and yet, nothing !
1
Why am I not surprised? From the moment he came into the public consciousness, he showed his true colors as a con man and a corrupt liar. It has only gotten worse. The good citizens of Pittsburgh, more than 16K strong, have sent him a letter stating he is not welcome to their city unless he rejects white nationalism. Obviously, this letter as a result of the toxic rhetoric he spews that allowed for a crazy to create a tragedy at Tree of Life. The man is only fit for jail!
5
Well...sure we all think Trump's actions are egregious, etc, etc, but in the end, the whole country is getting conned by the greatest con man in history. In a way, I have to laugh at his shenanigans as he gets away literally with murder, and the Dems stand there flat footed while his Republican buddies cheer him on.
It is so crazy that one could not dream this up and write a fiction novel that would be believable. But...Trump is doing it. And, his staff of 200 lobbyists or some rediculous number clap their hands while cabinet members like Zinke sell our national lands to te highest bidder.
The whole process is a bill board that says in large eight foot letters that Washington, D.C. is CORRUPT. And, a large portion of this corruption can be directed to the Repubican Party, the Supreme Court in it's decisions like "Citizens United", and the Congress-Lobby. We have been sold out by our politicians over the past 50 years who care more about money and power than the country, democracy, and its citizens. Trump is just a magnification of what has been created over this time with a focus of making useless wars throughout the world in the name of the American people.
Let's face it, the entire process has been corrupted by big money that begets more big money. Trump just shows the rediculousness of the entire system today without checks and balances or a shred of honesty.
10
Sorry, David, this is all well known, small bore stuff. I am surprised that you failed to mention the Original Sin which the NYT itself reported, albeit two years too late: how 8 figure sums were transferred to DJT and his siblings by his father through fraudulent under valuation of properties. Now, there's corruption!
5
I am not sure what circles you travel in, but in mine a $500 mil “loan,” from the Chinese gov followed by which you drop their sanctions is a pretty darn big potato.
3
Is anyone truly surprised, I doubt it, recently watched a discussion with Jim Acosta and NYT Maggie Haberman.... Maggie was asked “ In what way has the President changed since being elected to Public Office?” In a fraction of a second her answer.... “None”. None of the Inner Circle can afford to change, they appear to be so deep into the mire. Mayhap a trifle greedy and arrogant also.
4
Neither the Constitution or the laws apply to the President or other high federal officials. If they did, then almost every President after FDR (including Reagan, both Bushes, Obama, and Trump) would not have been able to start wars without a congressional declaration. We would not be holding prisoners at Guantanamo for up to 17 years without a trial, even after the Supreme Court held that they are entitled to due process, and Bush, Obama, and Trump would have been impeached for doing so. If the President were subject to the Constitution and the laws, then Trump would not only have been impeached, but would be in prison for kidnapping children and for his numerous other crimes.
4
The Constitution and our laws do not have feet, hands and a mouth.
The irony is that if the Dems did a fraction of this, the GOP pols would go bonkers yelling about it. They do not care that this may come back to haunt them OR are fearful of speaking up against The Exalted One. We are sure finding out that his kids are no better than he is.
9
For some reason Trump is lauded for all this cleverness. Perhaps it is under the heading "sticking it to the government". We also hold Dems to a higher moral standard. Here is where I felt betrayed by the Clintons from Bill's sexual disgraceful behavior to their foundation pulling in lots of Washington type money. I know it pales in comparison to Trump but it allowed for real corruptions like these to be easily dismissed by the Trump crowd. I knew it then and I see it now.
1
@Carol Aronowsky--Other than claims against the Clinton Foundation, there have been NO indictable offenses found.
This culture of corruption and at the expense of the taxpayer needs to get more exposure. There should be ads in papers across the country showing this list so people know that the great benevolent one is actually a fraud, a con artist and is purely interested in enriching himself and his family. It is shameful and needs to be more widely published. This should be shocking to every American of all parties. The Trump family and administration are corrupt to their core.
5
These corrupt financial shenanigans are a relatively minor aspect of the real corruption - of our values, our compassion, the hatred and vile behaviors and corrupting the minds of the weak, the ignorant and, yes, the deplorables (white - supremacists, Nazis, etc.). But most repugnant of all, is the corrupt nature of the Pres. of the U.S. and its impact on our children, our elders, all life and the earth. The cost is incalculable and this deranged person occupying our White House must be a prime example that "no one - no one - is above the law", and more important, no POTUS should be enabled to behave with such impunity and clear and observable crassness, bullying, fear mongering, divisiveness and criminality. Trump could not be a worse messenger for these critical times.
8
I like to share good writing that appears in the NYT but can't bring myself to spread around the overexposed and repellant face of this man who dominates our media today. Does every article or editorial or opinion piece about him need his face at the top? Please do us all a favor and use a photo we might want to look at or even just a relevant logo like $.
7
Thanks to the Times and Leonhardt and Philbrick for pulling this list together, since each news story, on its own, appears for a day and then disappears into the "ether" with the next account of corruption by this Administration. Time to do the same for Trump's long, long list of racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-women comments.
6
This list is mostly, at best, circumstantial or implicated by association.
This is the standard of reporting that adds fuel to the fire of Trump's accusations of "fake news" and bias
For sake of balanced journalism (and even comparison) at the same time you should have prepared a similar list for Obama and Clinton.
1
@Henry
Might be, but the the sheer blatant way this administration is ignoring the COI regulations is astounding.
2
@Henry
They can't because there isn't one.
4
Tied for most shocking, with republican Congress' collusion in the Trump grift, is the devastating collusion by citizens. That (almost entirely) republican voters not merely condone, but actively assist in the grift by voting for the criminals.
That the morals, and intellect, of these Americans is so low is a terrible indicator of the depths to which our country has fallen. If we do not remove them on November 6, we will never recover.
4
Where are his income tax filings? That'll show us what is really going on plus more illegal lying.
5
The primary goal of Empire (and Emperors) is to "Divide and Conquer" the people with political deceit and wars, so that the natural wealth of a land can be Looted (via Emperor "Trump's Corruption") and channeled-up to a tiny ruling-elite.
Which is why the late great Jewish intellectual, Hannah Arendt, warned her own German people:
Empire abroad entails tyranny at home.
6
Two-bit, low-life crooks running our government, and getting away with murder. Shame on America.
6
Not really a definitive list.
Missing any of the financial ties, gifts, graft, campaign contributions of money and in-kind gifts from the Russians.
Of course, a definitive list will never be written. One might as well attempt to inventory of all the vile substances that enter a large metropolitan sewage processing plant. It is just too much, too varied, and close examination will make you gag, sick and filthy.
5
And just how much did the Clinton & crew enrich themselves? I will wait to read that article tomorrow.....zzzzzzzz
@Joe
Clintons were virtually broke when they left the WH. The high dollar speaking tours that immediatey followed their exit were no coincidence, they needed the money.
If you recall, they were resoundingly critisized for this as they were accused of cashing in on the exeutive office.
Not saying the Clintons are wihtout fault, most politicians have some activities over the line, but comparing Clintons to Trump is the same as comparing a small leak in your roof to Niagara Falls.
Excuse the expression, but Trump is making a business out of corruption, commoditizing.
16
At least the Clintons set up a charity organization that does good work. Trump and Company have NEVER given on dime to charity.
7
@Joe--Joe, although you claim the Clintons were corrupt, where is your proof? Google "Clinton foundation corruption" and you will find tons of stories telling you the Foundation is being investigated. But there have no been any indictable offenses found.
At some point, you are going to have to deal with reality.
1
"To qualify, an incident needs to seem highly credible"
Why would an "incident" need to seem highly "credible"?
Mere allegation suffices for NEVER TRUMP and resist.
The New York Times doesn't need to pretend that it is exercising any degree of objectivity in its erstwhile jurinalism.
Dispense with the histrionics and just do your job. The Democratic Party expects The Times to blare its agenda 24/7.
Facts and truth. Without fear or favor.
Wink. Wink. Nod. Nod.
@Albert Edmud--Reality is your friend, Albert. Try it some time.
1
If the corruption had an odor then the streets of Washington would be too vile for human occupation.
But the EPA would describe the smell as being like fresh baked apple pie. The White House would agree.
America what have you become?
5
@Dave a putrid mess.
1
Why is this classified as "opinion"?
Is it not factual? Is it not news?
5
@John Worrall
Excellent point! It seems even our most important news sources are careful around Trump.
3
And people wonder why an honest president would refuse to release his tax returns.
2
Trump's outsize interest in fossil fuels and related industries is unusual and may indicate large investments. I'm sure that like any investor, he is diversified outside his Real Estate empire. In January 2016, the price of a barrel of crude oil hovered around 30 dollars and now trades within the range of 65 to 70 dollars. Pollution limits have been curtailed making the power generation sector more profitable as well as mining. He has done much to destroy the alternative solar and wind industries, known competition. Let's also recall the corruption of Congressional Republicans as well. They repealed the restrictions on exporting American crude oil to enrich the oil industry. Trump signed the legislation. Exporting our strategic natural resource leaves us vulnerable in times of political or military trouble. Trump has also isolated a major exporter of oil to America; Venezuela.
3
Additionally, Trump has overseen the opening of millions of acres of the people's land to the oil and mining industries.
2
“They don’t even try very hard to hide it.”
Here, let me fix it for you: They don’t care if you know. Not a single one of them. In fact, they’re emboldened to out-grift each other as if it’s a competition for “Best Corrupt Act By A Member of an American Presidential Administration.”
2
You ask, "Where is Congress?" but failed to mention that Elaine Chao is married to Mitch McConnell. Then again, if you tried to connect all the dots in this scenario you would need a fork lift to carry the print version of today's Times.
5
A Stunning compilation of the disease that Trump has brought to our country.
We MUST vote him out and make changes to prevent this corruption from ever happening again.
And all his ill gotten gains must bring a significant penalty.
He and his family are a POX upon our country.
4
What does Rudy charge the government per hour to always say nice things to
DT?
3
You left out Trump’s friend and former “special advisor,” Carl Icahn, who traded on insider information by selling more than a million shares of a steel related company, Manitowoc, just before stiff imported steel tariffs were announced and the stock plunged.
5
There's an election, very soon. Everybody VOTE.
3
The raping and pillaging of America by America's not so finest. If Congress were doing its job, Trump would have been removed by now. However, Republicans in particular are riding this train of greed and power for all it is worth.
The United States is paying dearly for this larcenous malfeasance; and, we will continue to pay dearly for it over the coming years. And here I thought Reagan was the Great Destroyer. Wow. By comparison, Reagan's evil deeds were mere child's play.
3
Those useless kids of his qualify for Secret Service protection . Why are taxpayers paying for this protection when JaVanka, Eric, and Jr have enough wealth to pay for their own private protection? But why not? They save their own money while using taxpayer funds. Sweet. Tiffany probably isn't independently wealthy as her sibs.
And why does the Secret Service have to pay for their own accomodations and golf cart use when at Trump properties?
Only one answer. Greed. More taxpayer money into his pocket. Sweet. There is no bottom with this family.
5
I got dizzy and had to stop. What I'd like to do to these people they won't print here. You know of course the Republicans are not going to do anything but where are the Senate Democrats. They should be yelling this from the rooftops. On every TV & radio show till it's the talk of the town. This blatant corruption could get people to the polls. I swear, Schumer is absolutely the worst. Totally weak and irritating to boot.
2
@Doctor Woo
Although, the Democrats are by far the better choice. Both parties are money corrupt.
@Richard Fried
Citizens United. Corporations are now citizens too. Plus, the richer you are the better served you are by government.
1
And yet too many Americans still believe trump has THEIR best interests. WAKE UP AMERICA! When will Americans open their eyes and stop drinking the trump koolade? Again, he is swiftly taking the UNITED out of “States of America”!
4
As much as Trump acts like an imbecile, he does have an certain genius for avoiding accountability. The Trump era is a saga of inane distraction and Twitter tempests that divert attention from grave threats like the ones outlined here.
Instead, the electorate and media occupy themselves with the Trump agenda--inane provocations, celebrity nonsense, trying to prove that he has lied once again (surprise!) and blatant appeals to prejudice, resentment and hate. All that diverts attention from the real corruption and destruction of democratic institutions.
Trump has shown that if you can stroke the resentment of a certain voter, he'll let you pick his pocket. The horror of the Trump era is not just the man himself but the gullibility of the voters and the cowardice of those in Congress who might check his power--and their collective lack of concern that we are sliding towards banana republic.
Vote like this is a fight to the death--because it is.
8
In Webster's Dictionary, they should make the definition of "emoluments" as "Donald Trump" and/or "The Trump Empire".
thank you David for doing the Congress' job.
drain the swamp?!
remember everyone vote (democratic!) Nov 6 or early.
3
I am shocked, shocked: there is grafting going on in our political establishment!
It requires a very long column to enumerate fully the instances of graft and corruption on the part of President Trump, his cronies, his family, his well connected friends overseas, his Cabinet and even his White House staff.
This is what draining the swamp looks like. Who knew that the swamp would be replaced by a fetid cesspool?
3
Who needs foreign enemies? We are rotting from the inside out.
6
Wah, wah, wah. Trump entered office an extremely wealthy man and his net worth has gone down while in office. Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama entered office with very low, essentially zero, net worths and left office as multimillionaires. Both continue to profit handsomely from having been in office.
1
@Burton
Everything you said is wrong. Trump was no where near as wealthy as he claimed. Why else is he hiding his tax returns? Both Clinton and Obama made money after office.
6
That's what happens when the clubby rich live by a different set of us than we of the hoi polloi.
1
Grifters from the top on down.
Thank you for compiling this ongoing list.
Don't forget Mnuchin & wife's trip to Kentucky courtesy of taxpayers — which suspiciously coincided with viewing the solar eclipse. That one cost us an est. $27K. Sleazy.
5
His supporters are proud of their very good businessman. They all think he is so good at business. Yes he is, and always uses other peoples money, its his brand. Over 100 million for his golf trips so far. Then their are the umbrellas he dumps since its too confusing to try and close them.
3
Time to stand up, Jared.
1
Corruption is weakness.
Trump is weakness.
Yes but 63 million Americans including 58% of white people voted for Trump in 2016 knowing full well who he was and what he stood for.
None of Trump's corruption nor lying moral degeneracy nor cowardly dishonorable and unpatriotic nature and nurture mattered to his base. They preferred him for his misogyny, xenophobia, color aka racism, ethnocentrism and sectarianism.
Trump is the one and only Article II executive office President of the United States that we have. Thanks to those voters plus the hacking and meddling of Julian Assange, James Comey, Mitch McConnell, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin.
MAGA?
6
I’m a presidency scholar. Trump’s administration is certainly more corrupt than that of Harding. And the fish, in this case, stinks worst from the head.
3
Rather than saying “ How can I serve my country?”, most members of the Trump administration ask “How is this opportunity going to serve me?”.
Vote on the 6th.
4
“Behind every great fortune is a crime.”
Honore de Balzac
1
I would love to know how Trump financed his golf courses in Scotland and Ireland and how he can afford to lose millions every year on them.
2
I will never understand how one corrupt individual who flaunts his lifestyle and his worldview so brazenly, has not been imprisoned for his crimes but has risen to the Presidency.
1
Thank you David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick for this detailed report. A bright light, as this type of journalism reflects, is needed now more than ever.
1
The Trumpiosa better pray the GOP keeps the Senate. If not he will be out in collusion and corruption charges in a year. I wonder if Pence is praying they loose the Senate?
It will be similar to all the Trump crimes before - he will not suffer for them. Thanks to the grand old abuser party and their minority majority.
4
Those fist-pumping Trump supporters at his rallies are so fixated on shouting for more “God and guns” in America, that the rampant greed and corruption of the Trump family and many members of his administration are simply fake news and of no importance to them.
“Drain the Swamp” was never meant to apply to Republicans.
3
His family is entitled to flying around on our tax dollars too, also accompanied by their Secret Service details. Don't let them off the hook. Didn't Melania's trip to the Florida spa cost us $64,000. while her adulterous husband was out of town? Who is paying for Tiffany's Secret Service and travel to Mikonos for summer break, for example? And the boys???? Do we fly them around on their business trips and pay for their staff and hotels? Honest taxpayers want to know.
3
I hope the congress flips this election. Both House and Senate flip. I think its right to drop on Trumps head what he's been dropping on the US. He will eventually go to jail for all his corruptions. I know it's not unique. But "Lock him up, lock him up" seems an appropriate chant now.
The Trumps are shameless in their pursuit of riches through the presidency, yet the right wing media and republican congress --who complained about Obama's golfing "too much" --has nothing to say about this blatant corruption. More than be outraged at Trump's children, I feel sorry for them--they are pathetic little money grubbers (raised to be like Donald) who should have never been allowed into the WH.
2
Reminds one of the line attributed to Billy Sutton, the bank robber, when he was asked why he robbed banks, "Because that's where the money is." With an annual budget exceeding $4 trillion, plus billions "off-budget" items, the federal government is "where the money is" and Trump's toadies want plenty from the public trough. The G.O.P no longer stands for anything conservative about government, like saving money. It now stands for "getting while the getting's good" because, with so much money sloshing around, Republicans believe that the American people are too stupid to know the difference or to care. And, when the Republicans are "heading for the door" as they bail out of "serving" the people, they will cut Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, just to rub it in for all of us rubes.
9
Make no mistake: These people are LAUGHING at the poor and working poor who voted for them.
Republican voters — the president and the Republicans are LAUGHING at you,
Vote to show them you are wise to their con-man tricks — or they will laugh at you some more.
I’m speaking truth, and on an instinctive level, you know it.
7
I wish the Times would spread out such a good but long article over several days. That would have more impact, just as the good work on Trump's taxes would have benefitted from a similar pacing. Otherwise, it becomes a Fire Hose of news.
But keep up the drumbeat!!
1
Very well researched list. It saddens me to read this & know that the GOP just shrugs and winks. It is stunning that Trump and his cronies have not been held accountable for any of this blatant corruption. And sadly all one has to do is read any political public forum and see that his true base - they will defend him no matter what. After kissing Putin's ring at Helsinki, after saying there were "very nice people" on both sides after Charlottesville, after still blaming and attacking the media after the bomber suspect was arrested and making light of the "bombs" in tweets, they still support him 100%. He knows exactly how to play off this scared, ignorant, hateful base and stoke their ire. Can you imagine if a brown-skinned person had shot up a Christian church and killed 11 people? His rhetoric would be 1000 times hotter and directed at minorities of any kind. But has he once ever gone after these white male home grown terrorists and called out this sub-sect?
3
Though fully aware of each and every as they have been reported by reputable outlets such as NYT and this is nothing new, to see it all in place and to be reminded of the predictions during the campaign, which proved accurate, certainly turned my stomach
I should not have read this before breakfast
Thank goodness someone finally said it in a newspaper! I have screamed about this daily on twitter since he got into office! A disgraceful, grotesque abuse of power, the American people have been robbed in broad daylight. ENOUGH OF THIS. SEIZE THEIR ASSETS NOW! From Carl Ichan in the Oval Office on day one to Zinke, Ryan, Ross, McConnell, Devos, Kushner and the rest, we will hold you accountable. Hurry, please! Before trump bankrupts the country because he will!
2
Does anyone remember the bru ha ha over the Clinton’s letting contributors stay in the Lincoln bedroom?
The hypocrisy of the Republican Party knows no bounds. I really don’t think there is anyone left in this party who is not corrupt.
2
Read the book “Clinton Cash” with an open mind and you will find these stories thin and trivial by comparison.
1
@Peter--The problem with that is, Peter, there are allegations but no provable claims in there. It's a thin fairy tail that no responsible prosecutor wants to touch.
We also have no idea what is paid to the Trump family which I'm willing to bet is taking bribes left and right. They are criminals after all. Oh that's right after the Saudis decapitated an American national journalist in their embassy they gave Ivanka $100 million. How is that investigation going? Just vote them out as quickly as possible.
The ole adage "a fool and his money are soon parted" applies perfectly to this. While all of these countries are throwing money at the Trumps, at some point they are going to realize they've been duped like everyone else that does anything with the Trumps.
2
And this administration isn't even two years old yet.
1
It's an expected extension of his life as a serial grifter.
Anyone with the ability to read his bio knew he was a twisted low life bully and socipath who loved only himself and money.
It's not even debatable -He's a criminal in every sense of the word!
It's the Corleones without any heart or soul or courage.
1
Trump & Kushner have been cheater for long, just ask Kushner Sr.
Now they have created swamp of cheaters around them to lot USA
Irony is that GOP has been supportive and party to that.
Vote them out.
4
Why aren't the items on this list being shouted out by every Democratic Senator and Representative?! Do we have ANY leadership? Do we have ANYONE willing to take a stand and fight?! Do we have a Senate Minority Leader or is he just an empty suit with a pair of reading glasses balanced on top?
2
These notions of:
> Wreaking justice without capital punishment
> Waging war without civilian casualties
> Holding office with sequestered finances
> Eating meat, fish, poultry while treating animals humanely
> College partying without drinking anything or groping anyone
Are corollary to the redistributionism that defines progressivism at its base - and categorically similar, in that they are...
> Simplistic, to the point of naiveté
> Asymptotically unachievable
> And so, can be arbitrarily ignored, exempted, or weaponized for ideological or vendetta purposes
For clarity, whatever ideological issues I might have with Andrew Gillum, his election should not pivot around a couple of Hamilton tickets – and whether his brother does bad acts...
The existential issue in front of us is whether we survive as a significant and relevant 1st-tier country in the face of Pacific Rim growth...
And idiot make-work like growing more corn to make more ethanol because we’re no longer selling as many soybeans to China – think about that...
Soybeans may be the single product – even more than F35s – to which our ostensibly 21st century executive and legislative branches pay most attention...
This sort of thinking leads to all sorts of civilian casualties...
In our country...
PS
If you tell me butbutbut some of these things have been enacted into law - sort of makes my point...
Law is made at the end of a FISA warrant or secret recording, these days...
The appalling and pathetic truth of this list which begins after all at the top of the Trump world and titrates down to the Zinkes of the world is that there is so much of it. Congress is nothing in this matter as I suppose those who go along are lining their own pockets/purses as well. Of course the midterms could and I hope do change matters for the course of our country. This flagrant thumbing noses at what are rules and guidelines should be screamed from the rooftops, a la Tom Paine, or by horseback or heck, even Twittered. And the blanket GOP covers as in Texas even the sins of the attorney general who is under investigation for stock market shenigans. He has an opponent in current election. We'll see how that goes. The behavior when not exposed is like a virus that returns and returns if not treated stringently. We as a nation go to such great lengths to applaud ourselves for our country, the Constitution, and "our" morals and beliefs. How so than can all that Trump does and encourages continue so unabated?
I am in daily contact with half-a-dozen avid Trump supporters on my daily dog walks in the park. All of them are fully aware that he is a thief and a crook. They tell me that this is one of the main reasons why they voted for him and are planning to do it again.
2
All this must be accounted for under our Constitution. For the sake of our children this kind of thievery must not go un dealt with.
2
This list perfectly illustrates the problem with these types of accusations and why the independents who potentially support Trump don't buy in. It's all fluff (oh, people are using his hotels...) and unproven ("he gives perks to his buddies"). You want to be serious about this? Find an actual case; something that Trump and/or his staff did, that was illegal. Then we talk. Otherwise, it's more of the same abti-Trump rhetoric which convinces those already on your side...
You are kidding right? No real facts once again and this is why journalism today is non existent. Barack Obama has gone from a community organizer to a multi millionaire in just 8 years. His most recent Hollywood production deal is said to be quid pro quo for him moving the country so Left. Also, God only knows what is really going on with the Clinton Foundation.
In fact, Trump has lost millions since he became president. And please, don’t point to foreign government offices staying in his hotels as some form of corruption!!!
To paraphrase President Barack Obama, during his eight-year administration, not a single one of his cabinet members or officials were indicted. Less than two years into Trump’s first term, enough of his appointees have been indicted, pleaded guilty or become cooperating witnesses to field a very dirty football team. If this is what “making America great [hate] again” looks like, you can have it. This much “winning,” as the film-flammer-in-chief would say is, indeed, making me sick.
5
Great and distressing article.
Is it time to send this subpar human back to Mar-A-Lago,his castle in the sky?
Vote 11-6
1
Is not Elaine Chao married to Mitch McConnell? Does not the Hatch Act apply to the ruling class?
1
I can't give examples, context or proof, but Obama was worse!
(snark)
3
Trumpoholics will just shrug off all of this and consider just how cheesy all of this graft is. Doesn’t even rise to the level of Dr. Evil.
Btw where does Afghanistan get the money to stay in a trump hotel? Your pocket American taxpayer.
4
David,
I don’t think you would have to look very hard to see that just about EVERYTHING Trump has rolled back or put into play has been in the service of lining his own pockets or as payback to his donors.
Trump brags about the vast number of regulations he has rolled back, regulations that were put in place to protect consumers or this beautiful country of ours.
I can’t think of a single one of them that didn’t also that didn’t also happen to interfere with profits of big Trump donors.
Coal mining? Gimme a break, coal is filthy and we have cheaper and cleaner alternatives, black lung disease is freaking at record levels ITS 2018!! The new rules protected Wells Fargo from class action suits after they did WHAT to consumers? My ISP can can no longer be stopped from selling my data? Still waiting for my bill to come down. The environmental stuff is too sickening to try to articulate.
The market soared and the crowd roared...
Seriously look at everything he has done with that magical pen of his and I bet you can show most of them show a direct benefit to corporations at the expense of us citizens...
1
Where there is smoke, and this is only smoke, there is FIRE!
I followed Price's appt. I was looking for a hint of a caring man. He to me as a nurse was one of the coldest people on earth to be health cabinet sec. OMG and then to pump a health stock at a congressional hearing and then he put in a sell order while he was speaking knowing it would shoot up. And for days after press was reporting this his attitude was "SO WHAT" This is Trump's one of the best people. Their attitude is we must accept corruption we are lucky to breathe the air they breathe. We must bow down to these criminals.
6
Democrats need to get very aggressive in going after Trump and his family. Nepotism, corruption, Fraud and Outright lies are the hallmark of the Trump administration.
The so called GOP leaders especially Mitch McConnell are destroying the America the world admired and looked up to. Lindsey Graham, one would have expected at least some of the decency from McCain would have rubbed off on him. His true sycophantic character has come out. He should not even mention McCain's name anymore. He just used McCain's good name to get visibility. Poor John MC is probably rolling in his grave with shock. There are too many corrupt and totally unqualified people in the current administration like Ben Carson who turns out to be a total fraud. Hope the American people and voters who support this crooked government wake up and stop continuing to be ignorant.
3
Why are the Republican congressional leaders not checking the president and his appointees??? I think it would be revealing to see each of their financial gains since trump took office. I know one reason was the 2017 Tax Scam they wanted so much for their own benefit and that of their corporate donors. We much have checks and balances in this government for our Democracy to work. Since the republican congressional leaders refuse to do this, it's time to vote for leader that will.
2
@Never Ever Again: Political plutocrats are prepared to spend even more to malign the characters of politicians they oppose than to advocate for the characters of politicians they support.
When writing about the Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and her family benefitting from her position please include her husband, Mitch McConnell, sharing in the largesse.
Nepotism comes in all forms. Neither would want to sacrifice their power or financial interests by rocking the Trump boat.
2
Let’s not forget the special 20 percent tax deduction for real estate investors that was inserted into the tax overhaul bill without debate.
2
imagine this: EVERYONE takes the extra special 20% tax bonus this year.
oops, just a mistake!
Just this year the presidents of South Korea and Peru were caught up in corruption scandals and impeached or forced to resign. When the corruption came to light, people in those countries mobilized in the millions, filling the streets until politicians took action and their presidents were forced out of office. In the case of Peru's president, the accusation was of bribes totalling $5 million.
Trump, meanwhile, has been accused of corruption in the hundreds of millions of dollars, especially when the outright tax fraud expose by the Times is accounted for. And yet the American streets remain empty of protesters, the people seemingly indifferent to the accusations or willing to trust their politician to resolve the problems. When the people of other democracies have felt let down, they made their voices heard in the millions, ensuring politicians could not ignore them and their leaders be held accountable. Why are the American people not demanding the same?
1
It would be helpful to have this as a list with two columns.
One column detailing the corrupt misuse of the presidency for self-enrichment.
A second column detailing related presidential actions that conflict with the interests of the Nation.
2
I agree and think this is a great article on the corruption of the Trump administration. However when I try to make these points to some others they come back with the reply "all Presidents made some decisions and took some actions based on what would personally benefit them". Is there anyway to help explain put the Trump egregious corruption as worse which of course I believe it absolutely is?
One you missed: I believe the massive tax bill passed by the GOP specifically modified the pass-through provision so real estate investors could benefit:
https://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/donald-trump-gop-leaders-could...
1
This article needs to be updated to include the fact that Elaine Chao is married to Mitch McConnell. And people wonder why Republicans don’t speak up about such corruption?
4
It is astonishing and shameful that republicans get elected to anything much less Congress.
2
"Corey Lewandowski, the former manager of Trump’s campaign, is paid for work that looks very much like lobbying — such as participating in a lobbying firm’s phone calls with clients and doing work on behalf of T-Mobile, the telecommunications company firm."
Since the GOP Congress is doing nothing about this blatant corruption, perhaps We the People can take matters into our own hands.
It would help if the author's of this piece would compile and publish a complete list of companies engaging in dubious activities with this administration. We could then arrange to boycott those companies so their decision to help corrupt our government ends up costing them more than the corruption benefits them.
Meanwhile, as quoted above, we at least know that T-Mobile is in on the action. If they're your carrier, call them up and complain about their corruption of our government -- and then dump them. There are cheaper alternatives anyway.
Then, if you're on social media, post that you're boycotting their service for enriching thoroughly corrupt Corey Lewandowski.
If enough customers do that, including corruption in their business plans will suddenly seem far less attractive to these companies.
When our current president makes his many trips to hold so-called MAGA rallies around the country, who pays for the travel and secret service protection? Maybe the Republican Party is footing the bills, but it would be nice to know for sure.
1
None of this — not a penny of it — makes a difference to Trump’s base and the majority of Republicans.
What have we come to? Where are we headed?
4
Could we have an article contrasting and comparing how recent past presidents managed their resources with the way our current president has?
Likewise, compare and contrast current cabinet members business/ lobbying ties and involvement with those of past cabinets members.
Is it way to easy for Trump supporters to just think, “Everyone in politics is corrupt, so I’ll just go with this guy because he hates who and what I hate.”
This thinking disregards the earnest “country over personal gain” perspective that many, but not all of course, in our history have actually held to.
Could we have some articles that narrate what putting country first looks like? And a checkpoint as to who we have been, and who we could be, as a country.
flagrant corruption is usually associated with leadership of third world countries and not the united states of america. but with trump, everything seems possible.
2
I could not read the whole story. To disturbing. Lock him up.
"Absolute power corrupts absolutely; as a person's power increases, their moral sense diminishes' (Lord Acton) This is certainly true of Trump and has been true of him long before he became president.
1
Here's the thing . . . none of this matters: not Trump's corruption, his tax returns, his assault on the rule of law and democratic norms, or even if the Mueller report finds a direct connection between his campaign and the Russians. No matter the evidence presented, roughly 40% of America won't care.
The critical question is "why don't they care"? And the obvious answer is that their values have nothing to do with the person holding the office, and everything to do with what they perceive he accomplishes. Conservative court appointments; using belligerent language to stand up to enemies real and perceived; the appearance of strong economy . . . this is what they care about. Who cares if he's a corrupt, terrible person?
And yet, what this segment of the electorate doesn't understand is that it's all a house of card. You might think you're getting what you want in the short term, but when you destabilize the rule of law enough, eventually it will all come crashing down. President Trump and his administration is an existential threat to this country. That is why investigations by the NY Times and media outlets are so critical, even if they seem to have little effect on many Americans.
2
NY Times: Please keep plugging away at documenting the corruption in this administration. Even if Congress continues to let them get away with stealing from the public and benefiting from Trump's (alleged) service to the country, we must have historical information on just how corrupt and morally bankrupt these people truly are.
"Officials from foreign governments have realized they can curry favor with Trump by spending money at his properties."
When you elect a Monkey, expect a circus. At this point he could morph into Satan himself, and it wouldn't come as a complete shock.
3
Another excellent article explaining how the United States of America is rotten to the core.
1
I’m curious why no mention is made of the book, “House of Trump, House of Putin.” It appears to be a precursor document to this article, listing (with extensive footnotes) the banal, incompetent, and sleazy history of Trump. Past is prologue; we can expect this story to get much worse so long as Trump is with us. The fact that he retains support of so many Americans is perhaps the scariest element in this sad period.
1
@Tom Kelly
I think that leaving Putin basically out of the picture in this article makes it that much more powerful.
There is another word for this (besides corruption): corpocracy.
I'm beginning to believe we need to leave Trump's supporters go their way and focus on the majority in this country that would vote against him and his criminal activity, agenda and power grab. Young people get it but a lot of the old folks (I am one of them) will never catch on. I was born during WWII and the thought that we have forgotten why that war was fought scares the bejesus out of me.
3
The array of corruption displayed here is yes, appalling, but also in its own way quite impressive. Lesser mortals would not have been able to put together an administration consisting of -- shall we say -- "leaders in their field", the field of course being corrupt behavior.
Missing from this list, surely should be a very hard look at how much stock trump and associates have traded in major companies whose stock was adversely affected by trump's rants against them. Everything he does and says is motivated by monetary greed, racism or self interest.
1
Does this crew do anything OTHER than line their pockets? What exactly is Kushner's job description?
One more thing. All that angst over Fed rate hikes is about personal greed. Trump Org might owe in the neighborhood of $1 billion with rates tied to prime. A 0.5% hike in prime takes $5 million per year out of Trump's pockets
1
Highly recommend the TRUMP INC podcast for all the corruption threads of Trump and his family. From Panama to India to the secret structure of Trump family finances this cast gives a picture of corruption fuels our politics. Sigh.
2
Trump has no sense of civic responsibility. He has no convictions. He sees competitors as enemies. The President is using every opportunity as President to advantage himself and his interests. The Republicans condone it all. The most blatant exploitation of our people’s government that has ever happened and the separation of powers are not working. Only voters can stop this.
Barack Obama is now worth 40 million. Bill Clinton is worth 75 million. How did that happen? Bill Clinton once made 500k for giving one speech to Russian executives - the same executives and investors from Uranium One. no problem there, right?
And if Trump is the buffoon Democrats say he is, how is it possible hes making money off govt officials from his businesses all over the world? I thought he didnt know what he was doing? Which is it?
Face it.The Trump organization is a worldwide, multibillion dollar organization. Donald Trump built it. He certainly didnt inherit that. Then you wonder why the economy is booming now, and Obama couldnt get us out from under sub 2% growth for 8 years.
@Sports Medicine
No one suggested that rampant corruption, across party lines, isn't a problem. The notion that political corruption is focused on one person is not something anyone should take from this article.
How did Kim Kardashian become several times wealthier than the former Presidents you mention? How did Facebook and Uber spawn overnight billionaires? These questions are part of a larger picture. The very definition of "economic growth" may soon have to be "revised," and it won't be pretty.
Trump came into office vowing to “drain the swamp”. After reviewing this list it appears that all he has done is made the swamp deeper. Where is Congress?
1
This is not to say that the below applies to all congrescritters, but it is true that the Republicans, at the time of this writing have complete control of the federal government.
And why should they care that the President and his cronies are looting? They're lining their pockets just as avidly as he is. Let the good times roll...
3
Trumpism is a stain on the republican party that will be with them for many years to come. It will give democrats political ammunition that is much needed in the fight against corruption in Washington DC.
Not that democrats have totally clean hands, but nothing like Trump has ever been so blatantly "in your face". The amazing part of this is that his followers do not care and overlook his contempt for them and the country.
1
But Republicans still believe in the Trump and McConnell.
I think we can safely say this is not the definitive list, that Trump (& Inc.) have more ways to enrich themselves than we can possibly imagine (seriously, who would have thought a fake University, ties, a winery, steaks!).
He has spent a lifetime, using everyone from expensive lawyers to mob/underworld figures, to come up with new schemes to enrich himself. We will never completely mine his intrigues.
Funny thought: Fred Trump was putting money away for his kids since they were toddlers. Anyone bet that the Donald does the same?
As shown time and time again the cowardly republicans in congress will do nothing to cross trump or his toady minions in the administration.
There is only one way to change things.
VOTE as if the future of your country depends upon it.
It really does.
1
I am going to post this story everywhere I can as another reason why VOTING is the only way to remove these corrupt individuals. The lack of a moral compass for our elected officials is beyond disappointing.
2
Is it any wonder that the Congressional approval rating hovers in the mid teens? They're good-for-nothing crooks. Vote blue and see it at least reach the high teens. It's high time Congress uses its power over oversight and the purse in checking this disastrous administration.
In the face of all evidence we still judge Trump and his supporters by the criteria we have always used to judge US presidents and their supporters. This is why we are constantly aghast at the next outrage. This is more than just an error in judgment. It's being on a slippery slope and not knowing it. It's also backward looking and thus dangerous because it blinds us to where the road logically takes us. No, don't tell yourself "My God this isn't at all what an Obama or even a Bush would do." Tell yourself hey you know at first there were just little hand written 8X11 signs saying in German don't patronize Jewish businesses. Then you won't become indignant, you'd be terrified. That fear is the helpful emotion in this situation.
Electing a democratic House is the only hope we have a putting the brakes on this rampant corruption as this looting of our government is taking place with the GOP complicit. Trump is frantic to protect the gravy train of his presidency ,no wonder he hates the media capable of exposing his nefarious enterprises corrupting our government.
Trump corruption manifest itself first and foremost in his effectuation of those leaders and despots that control all levels of power, including their country funds. He likes other corrupt world leaders more then his allies. Way easier to do business with other corrupts then with uptight honest accountable European leaders.
He makes nice with the Putin's and MBS's of this world in the hope and expectation that post presidency they will be nice to him.
its so obvious and its by far most dangerous and worrying part of this administration.
(With apologies to the Gershwin brothers)
You say corruption they say capitalism
You say abuse they say use
Corruption, capitalism, abuse, use
Let's cut the whole thing off
Goodness knows what the end will be
Oh, I don't know where Mueller's at
It looks as if Trump will never be undone
But something must be done
Things have come to a pretty pass
Our president is growing fat
For Republicans like him and the power
While we go for law and order
You say Constitution they say Trumpism
You say laws they say deals
Constitution, Trumpism, laws, deals
Better vote the rascals out
Let's vote the rascals out
Let's lock the rascals up!
In 1976; I rode my 'crotch rocket' across Canada and then down through your coastal highway to LA. I stopped for a night and set up my 'pup' tent on Crescent Beach. A young couple, my age, had a cab-over pick up truck camper across from my site. I cannot remember his name, but I swear his wife's name was Mary, and they had a month old baby. Like all people everywhere; they befriended me, fed me, and shared their fire. He was a preacher who had lost two brothers in Viet Nam. I confessed I was on my way to LA to support my cousin who had been pistol whipped after his brother had been shot and killed in a neighbourhood fight. He couldn't believe I didn't carry a gun. In the morning I found him asleep in his lawn chair with a rifle across his lap. He had stood guard over me all night. His selflessness, in the face of all that happened to him gave me hope.
An impressive list and an impressive reporting job, but only what could have easily been foreseen. Sixty million people knowingly voted for this crook and his crooked family, and got exactly what they voted for. They couldn't care less about a list like this, and the rest of us don't need it. What we need is constant exhortations to vote Democratic.
1
Trump's corruption should be exposed over and over again, as with South Africa's Jacob Zuma, after many years of repeatedly exposing his self-serving he was removed and will be prosecuted.
1
Thank you for sharing the facts with us. My hope is that all of it will be prosecuted. This is a disgrace but was completely expected by anyone that knew Trump in the slightest.
It is not difficult to fool people, especially those that want to be fooled, and there is the Republican Party and its supporters, lock, stock and barrel. The Republicans are cashing in anyway they can. The tax cut was a big one for them.
No one in their right mind would support any of the President's policies, since they are the closes thing to raping the country possible, but through the use of fear Trump is able to maintain his support, they slog on.
The press is missing boat here or is on it, but when people defend what the President says as not being inflammatory or incendiary, these people need to be ask for their definitions. Beyond that there is the totally bizarre someone can create an equivalent between calling out a representative in public with the murder of 11 people in a place of worship is quite incredible. Obviously, they do not see Trump's remarks as incendiary because they are making their own, which they cannot see either, nor do they want to, since they are really only speaking to the base.
One would think that even the base knows the difference, but they have no where to go, being racists, white supremacists, anti gay, anti abortion and anti, anti, while winning at all costs has given them hope at everyone else's expense.
2
they're not called base for nothing.
1
I am having a hard time understanding why all of these political talkers are allowing one individual to hold this country hostage.
Hasn't the three hate crimes over the weekend gotten the attention of our do nothing congress? Is there no shame what is going on ?
We are going to let this hater destroy America and get richer by the day on our dime? while children are locked up in cages? the technology companies have sold us out. Politicians lie in their reelection campaign to your face take away health care, social security, are we are a country who will allow politicians to do nothing. No we are not, enough is enough. VOTE
2
If you had once told me that the New York Times would have an op-ed piece like this about a sitting President, I would have realistically expected the hammer to come down on his entire corrupt operation, and soon.
But nothing's going to happen.
We said Reagan was the Teflon President. He was covered in monster glue compared to this guy. And it's not just this op-ed -- the corruption is so apparent, being reported everywhere, that whoever came up with the Emperor's Clothes fable is wondering if everyone today has their eyes closed and their ears covered.
But he's getting away with it because his much-referenced base loves the energy of anger and hatred. Forget about lust, that's nothing in the world of Trump. When it comes to deadly sins, we like 'em deep, ugly, and malicious.
Nothing's going to happen. Nothing.
6
Thanks to the long-outdated Electoral College system, we have a corrupt demagogue as president, whom a minority of the electorate voted for. To everyone willing to turn a blind eye as long as Trump "takes the country in the right direction," I say, you should be ashamed to be enabling him. This is the kind of man we warn our daughters to avoid! I don't blame him for being the self-aggrandizing blowhard he is--that was obvious from the start. I blame you for putting him in office.
1
None of this is any surprise. Trump has been the most transparent President in US history, with every boastful, lying, lecherous, corrupt, unprincipled, greedy, careless, self-aggrandizing impulse on display long before he was elected.
For this reason he should not be impeached. In the political process envisioned by the Founders, we knew exactly what we were getting.
2
The financial corruption of the Trump dynasty is equalled only by Trump's amateurish presidency, devoid as it is of dignity, judgement and empathy.
2
Please put this list on something like a spreadsheet or a chart. Then, whenever Trump or his sycophants claim that anyone else is corrupt, display the side-by-side comparison of Trump corruption vs. that of their opponent.
This would give a visual example of just how corrupt Donald Trump is vs. any normal politician. Trump's column would contain the list Mr. Leonhardt cites, plus some others preceding his presidency. The opponent's side would have nothing, or very few and relatively minor transgressions. (No major Democratic politician would even be close to Trump's list.)
That way, when Trump bellows about "Crooked Hillary", the media could refer to the one-sided chart and show who the real crooked politician is.
5
Does anyone remember when the Republicans took Jimmy Carter's peanut business from him because of possible conflicts of interest? Does anyone remember that Jimmy had to plead with the Republicans so his mother and brother could continue living in the family house? Has anyone living ever seen a more corrupt, duplicitous government?
3
Why is this called definitive list? There are much more corruption going on.
This is what happens when you elect a man to run the country like he runs his businesses.
A key responsibility of government is solving the countries problems, this simply can’t be done effectively when the overriding principal of the administration is making money.
Cruz flat out said that it doesn’t matter if global warming is man made, other than mitigation (what sandbags along all of our coasts?) nothing will be done to prevent it if it will have a negative impact on our economy.
This administration is running things like a corporation trying to get its numbers up for quarterly earnings instead of a country that will need things in place now for generations yet to come.
The economy has been good for a while now, it’s been good under both parties now is the time to wow the voters with some infrastructure and long term planning
2
If only one of the major subheadings in this piece were true, it should be enough to make the case. That there is substantial evidence for all of these forms of corruption is staggering, and probably unprecedented.
It seems that Trump's graft has become too vast to pursue.
1
Trump did say he LOVES the uneducated. There’s a reason for that. They can’t understand basic civics, Corruption 101. This article should be published far and wide. The focus on the corruption is overdue and Democrats were supposed to run on it and use it in their stump speeches for the mid-terms. But, once again, they got sucked into maligning his character (which is just a smokescreen for the graft), not his behavior.
5
Dig deeper. Tariffs invite corruption. Which countries and imports are hit can be affected by under the table bribes. Waivers for US industries are similarly invitations for corruption. The potential is there, and the resistance to the temptation is weak.
1
Of course the NYT would never print a similar article re the Clintons. Your hypocrisy is nauseating.
@AJ
Neither of the Clintons is president.
1
Last time I checked, there hasn’t been a Clinton in the White House since Jan 2001. And if we are going back, don’t forget the whole GOP set of scandals during W’s tenure - Jack Abramoff, Mark Foley, Tom Delay, and the rest. Funny how all that was forgotten in 2016; no surprise we have the mess we have now given some folks only seem to remember what the other side did 20 years ago. Finally, W - for all his faults - didn’t seem to have this level of appetite for making money off the taxpayer. Trump continues to set new high water marks for filling the Swamp.
2
@AJ But the NYT wrote many critical articles about the Clintons. As recently as last year, NYT wrote many articles regarding Hillary's emails.
But Trump is in the oval office and your whataboutism is not relevant. So stop it.
4
I should not have read this before, it makes me want to throw up.
The founding fathers may have thought they gave congress a lot of power over the president but they could NEVER imaged that these Republicans would be so greedy and corrupt themselves that they would use this opportunity (they did know how corrupt trump was before they put him end office) to make themselves and THEIR families rich to and to, HELL with Democracy! Let the Democrats clean it up if they should ever get back in office, they think we will blame trump.
This is a time for every decent, patriotic America to vote these people out of office, if we do not, what then?
1
Thanks for this list; it's tough to keep track of all the corruption. Will this change 90% support for Trump among Republicans? Of course not, as he is busy Making America White Again.
Corruption, constant lying, affairs, constant campaigning or vacationing, attacks on the media...nothing affects his minions. He sucks all the air out of the media landscape, leaving little time for serious policy discussion or even coverage of his 50% increase in the national debt trajectory.
It will help a lot when Democrats repair their brand using some easy to explain plans: Universal healthcare and college education / trade school. Republicans don't actually care how anything gets paid for based on their support for Trump, so if Democrats ask we will eliminate tax breaks or the top 1% and go back to the Clinton rates for them.
1
The corruption is staggering. And yes congresses in action is infuriating! #BNC #VOTETHEMOUT!
1
NYTimes, please stop politicking. it's becoming very tiresome.
This list is speculative. I thought it was supposed to be definitive. And it's really not that much of a big deal. And oh yes, you seemed to miss this salient fact....
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/26/588984309/trump-pays-treasury-undisclosed...
Shouldn't that have been included in the smear?
Young Sulzberger is bringing the Times to new lows.
@K. Lazlo Hud
Times dates and the people involved pretty much tell the story; you certainly aren’t expecting Kushner to admit he was punishing Quater do you?
When money and favors flow immediately after these things happen your claims make you look either naive or loyal beyond reason
As for the payments for foreign income.
If the amount and the methods used to calculate the payment are not told to citizens it simply doesn’t matter that he sent in a check. Trump is simply showed us too many times he is dishonest, there is no reason to trust him in this case either.
You voted for a guy to run our country the way he runs his businesses, People that have followed or learned the details of how he does that believe that is a mistake this country will be paying for for a long time.
He turned a swamp into a cesspool.
1
i could not finish the article..... i need a shower...or two or three.....
3
Welcome to the new normal of privileged parasites and entitled looters.
A Secret Service agent died of a massive stroke at Trump Turnberry. He died in hospital, but How far was it to closest Level 1 trauma center the only meeting trump had during this July visit was with hos son Eric prior to departing to meet Putin. Trump was obviously at his golf club to check the books.
1
Herman Goering, Hitler's No. 2 man, apparently perfected the art of corruption and outright stealing in 1930's Germany.
Death and imprisonment were used as persuaders.
The real culprits here, in 2018 America, are the Republican members of Congress who are enabling and allowing Trump to violate the US Constitution!
2
Stop whining and VOTE!
2
Psychopaths are bold. They think the rest of us are stupid and that ethics are for fools.
1
I wonder when we can get a look at President Grifter's taxes and learn if he has money laundered
3
It's America thats being shot in the middle of 5th avenue.....
2
Excellent fodder for riling up the crazies NYT. I suppose it would be sacrilege to conduct the same investigation into the Obamas and the Clintons as they'd find absolutely nothing, right?
Happy Halloween!
For years, all this prez has given us is TRICKS ’n’ TWEETS.
Put that in your goodie bag.
Where are you, Robert Mueller?
3
Thieves, pure and simple!
1
This is only about the "winning" that is so important to Trump and about which he so often said that everyone was going to get tired of having. Of course, the delusion on the part of his base was that they would share in this grand larceny of gullible taxpayers or better yet, stupid chumps. Trump loves the uneducated.
1
The evidence of how Trumpism suckers its base.
It's classic oligarchy.
1
How much does Trump make at each of these rallies? He has been a liar and thief all his life. The only thing that has changed is that a corrupt Supreme Court will support his theft.
1
I really like that photo, "Steven Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, holding an uncut sheet of $1 notes bearing Mnuchin's name." I call it, "Honey, this is the new wallpaper."
This is as weak a story as I’ve seen. Hardly investigative reporting — more a bungled hatchet job. Come on, NYT, do you really need to stoop to this level before the upcoming elections?
One little op ed. Why isnt this headline news around the world?
You can’t call it “governing.”
Call it govt-sponsored “Larceny.”
America & Americans: Ripped off by Trump Inc & it’s Accomplices.
2
It boggles my mind how the writer can ignore the single biggest trade war in modern history between two countries and highlight instead the removal of sanctions on two telecom companies. When the NYTimes publishes these types of targeted hatchet jobs that ignore major facts, it foments the division between Americans even further which leads to events that happened this weekend.
Any well meaning idiot could run this country better than the squatter in chief pretending to do so now simply because he would be well meaning. That he carries his list of grift and graft with pride should be enough to give him a bum`s rush out the door. But it is his usefulness to the worker bees in Congress that keeps him in place. his little penny ante grift of the hotel is nothing compared to what the worker bees are doing for the Kochs, Adelson, Mercer and all the other oligarchs. The people should be reminded every day that what goes in the Oligarchs pockets from the worker bees should either be going in our pockets or comes from our pockets. Pence was put in place to put in action the largest swindle of our government. The Ruspublicans are there to sweeten the deal and give it a false legitimacy. trump is there for a distraction. he is rated by how well he can monopolize the media while the administration cockroaches empty the cupboards. I find it amazing that every time the Democrats come into power the cupboards are bare. If the Dems don`t make some headway there won`t even be cupboards next time. D is for going forward R is for reverse. Vote D or we can say goodbye to democracy.
2
Robert Mueller, what say you?
1
Why isn't this on the front page of every newspaper?
3
Where is Congress? NYT - They are part of the corruption. They love this.
1
Can we have the Red States pay for Trumps corruption and Natural Disasters facilitated by Red State trump supporters.
3
In a generation or two, their heirs will disown them as the thieving louts they are.
1
What a bunch of grifters we have running this country. He is despicable, and he has hired fools and crooks to do his bidding. We will never be the same again. Thanks, GOP.
4
Trump followers don’t care about the corruption. He had them at the white nationalism.
3
Please, please please NYT keep throwing stuff at Trump. Nothing u and your Socialist friends at the WaPo seems to stick. The USA is becoming more Red than ever before no matter what u do. The tired old Socialist tricks r losing favor all over the world. Keep up or get left behind.
2
There once was a man from New York
Who really was kind of a dork
But he was a gifted con artist
Who loved the poorly educated, not the smartest
And now he is lining his pockets with pork.
1
Dear NY Times,
Why is 'Trump’s Corruption: The Definitive List' published as an "Opinion" piece? If you wanted to validate Kelly Conway's "alternative facts" concept, you could not have done a better job.
Trump's Corruption can now be dismissed by his supporters as an "opinion".
SAD!
-Jose Pouso
Do you all ever, ever, ever get tired of writing negative stories about Trump? This laborious, wordy story could have ended in paragraph 1. Here is part of a sentence that should have stopped the story in its tracks. .....”to qualify, an incident needs to “seem” (italics mine” ) highly credible, even if it remains “unresolved “ (italics mine). I often wonder if reporters, etc at the NYT ever realize how tiresome this is all getting. We have 2 more years, maybe 6 of Trump presidency. Youu are going to wear out your welcome.
@KCE, Just as the FOX propaganda network and Limbaugh and others spent 8 years trafficking in negative stories about Obama. It's strange when the "liberal" media criticizes Trump, his apologists whine about how unfair it is. Funny, I didn't hear the same whining over the outright lies the right-wing media has been pushing for years.
2
What a deceptive dishonest article. TRUMP owned properties before he was elected and people staying at those properties is their choice. It also means absolutely nothing to a multi-billionaire. This is another inaccurate misleading hit job on the president furthering the hatred in America as the NYT has done since the election. Total nonsense in reality.
How in the world does this article not mention Elliott Broidy and Eric Prince?!?!?!?
1
When you publish a similar article on the Clintons, or explain how President Obama could afford the Kalorama manse after living on a POTUS salary, I will read eagerly.
Golf cart rentals? Really?
What a rat's nest.
Keep it on the front page while you can.
2
Does it ever end? The Trump base is obvilious! The pic of Mnuchin and his wife, Louise Linton, says it all. Those black leather gloves certainy didn't come from Walmat, they came from your paycheck. MAGA my behind. It's fleece the base, who are too ignorant to realize it.
Vote people and vote big on November 6th.
2
You didn't mention the windfall to real estate developers and repeal of the estate tax in the 2017 Tax Cuts for Billionaires which the GOP controlled Congress passed. For those who voted for The Con Man - you are all suckers.
2
Absent accountability, it is predictable that unethical people will act unethically. We must all vote D—for many elections to come— and see whether the people we elect have the courage to apply sanctions. The Nazis were grifters too.
1
No mention of Russian Oliarchs, Bank of Cyprus, Wilbur Ross? Jared’s multiple layovers inbetween his Middle East plenipotentiary gig? His Permanent Residency application to provide hasty exit if 666 comes tumbling down.
2
I don't see any surprise in that. This is consistent with his past behavior. For those who are asking the question, "where is the congress, etc?" remember his supporters are also sharing in his win. The gun lobby, the conservatives (?), the businesses, white nationalists, etc. are also benefitting.
If there is a solution or a lesson, it is that the silent majority needs to vote.
1
Trump’s corruption did not start from the White House. He was corrupt all his life. Even his father never paid . Why he is hiding his tax return? Knowing fully well about his flawed character, Sexual predatory nature and unethical businesses, some of us elected him president. Now he , his family members and friends are making money using the power and influence of the office of US president. Shame on us.
All this adm hears is a constant ‘k-ching’. The presidency has become an atm machine and congress does not seem to care. They hold their collective noses and take their millionaire tax cuts while they rest of the country struggles. Despicable.
The shameless government run by shameless republicans will continue to enrich them self’s all the while fooling the sheep selling them with 3 syllable chants and made in China hats. The country is sick and needs help the mid terms will be a deciding factor. Either we take the bitter medicine and begin to heal or we don’t and get worse.
The Trumps and their ilk make me sick. Emptying our
US Treasury, leaving we the people holding the bag.
One comment on clinical psychologist Martha Stout,Ph.D's book "The Sociopath Next Door" ran: "A chillingly accurate portrayal of evil - the decent person's guide to indecency". Donald Trump is a sociopath. and highly dangerous to boot. He is a liar who by his nature mocks and destroys anyone or anything in his way. A direct threat to our coherence a nation.
He cannot change.
So?
1
Excellent piece but the contents will not make one iota of difference to the Republican party or the Trump supporters. Why? The Republican party is benefitting their obsessive quest for power so what's a little corruption? Trump base? they are too stupid to understand how Trump;s corruption works? And they don't much care even though Trump corruption is costing the country millions of dollars which will be paid for by his ignorant base. Nothing like cutting off your nose to help Trump.
You ask, “Where is Congress?” I ask, “What about the tens of millions of Americans who think THIS is how you ‘Make America Great Again’?”
You can blame our so-called “president” and our lame GOP-controlled Congress all you want, but the simple fact is that they can only get away with it if American voters keep them in office. Gerrymandering, voter suppression, and a dysfunctional Electoral College aren’t helping, but even so, the social compact that is America is the only thing standing between decent people and corporate fascism, Trump-style.
VOTE!!!
1
Hardcore Trump supporters actually admire his corruption and long time con-man status.
They also admire the womanizing, as well as the only thing he really knows how to do: romp around on Air Force One giving circus-like sideshows filled with venom, hate and incitement of his base.
Misters Leonhardt and Philbrick: I challenge you to find a way to spread your list among those who need to see it. Buy column space in a publication less balanced than the Times and reprint your essay for those who might genuinely benefit from a read.
1
Bravo! It is the corruption. See Sen. Warren's Anti-Corruption Act at
https://www.vox.com/2018/8/21/17760916/elizabeth-warren-anti-corruption-...
1
Our hands are tied with this guy in the W.H.
He is a bully and loud mouth but more importantly Congress won't do anything because they are happy to close their eyes as long as they have jobs and are in POWER!
Unless Democrats get out in mass and Vote it will go on and on.So stop wringing your hands and VOTE his party out of congress.
1
I think it should be noted that Transportaion Secretary Elaine Chao is married to none other than Congressmen Mitch Mc Connell.
Secretary of Eduction Bettsey DeVos’s Brother is pushing for private military contractors, should replace our military in Afghanistan.
Tom Franzson. Brevard NC
1
Republican = criminal
Grassley isn’t drinking trump coffee, he’s drinking trump koolaid.
You forgot to mention that Elaine Chao is McConnell’s wife.
This administration is so corrupt and anti-American it’s beyond the pale.
Yes Democrats must have a plan for the country but they should prosecute everyone of these criminals simultaneously.
Very nice line up of malfeasance NYT. Now apologize for the Clinton hate on that contributed to this Coup of the Oligarch.
The U. S. Is not a democracy. Majorities exist for health care, abortion and cutting the military budget but are ignored to meet the demands of donors. This is corruption. Apparently no one cares, therefore a great American historian WB DuBois sums you up nicely:
Land of the theif, home of the slave.
And Nixon was called crooked. "t", his family and cohorts are self-serving deceitful thugs.....some in sheeps clothing. But, we know who you are.
The message is, please vote on Nov. 6th and get this despicable administration out of office before the damage already done cannot be repaired. We deserve better than this.
1
This the news that should be headlined, day in day out. For the working class, what an absolute scam Trump, his family and his greedy greedy underlings have pulled on the taxpayers of America. While everyone wrings their hands over his rhetoric Trump Inc. are laughing all the way to the proverbial bank.
I hope someone at the Times provides this link to Maureen Dowd as an example of true investigative journalism. We can only hope too that Robert Mueller can get trump’s tax returns.
2
Great idea. Bog down the President who finally gave us a booming economy with investigations.
Something Obama couldnt do for 8 years.
The IRS audited Trump 10 years in a row and found nothing. all of a sudden Im supposed to believe Democrats?
(And by Democrats I include the NYTimes, who are Dem operatives. Its not like you try and hide that anymore)
The same Democrats who WikiLeaks caught lying and cheating? the same Democrats who tossed the presumption of innocence and the burden of proof out the window?
No thanks.
He didn’t drain the swamp, he swamped the drain!- Bill Maher
2
I am breathless at the scope of these horrors. As long as Trump and Pence are in the White House, I will vote a straight Democratic ticket. I urge others to do the same. Vote the bums out!!!
1
Trump, the charlatan who is succeeding at the duping, and dumbing down his supporters, bragged that the presidency would benefit him in many ways, yet, his supporters give him and his fellow swamp dwellers a pass on his corruption.
It is comical that his adoring crowds chant to lock Hillary up for her alleged corrupt practices.
Well, in many voters refusal to vote for anyone other than Bernie, we get a corrupt president and cabinet members, along with the crown prince and princess.
Hillary exclaimed back in 2000 they were dead broke upon leaving the WH. Soon, they had $ 250 million.
Trump likely has lost double that amount since being elected...
For the record, this Republican Congress isn't "shirking it's duty", it's doing exactly what it's been paid to do. Which is enrich the filthy rich, while shafting the middle class. They may not put it in their campaign ads, but that, in fact, was what they were elected to do.
The GOP works for solely and exclusively for the 1%. And they use social dog-whistles as a smokescreen in order to maintain their ability to do so. If you are not in the 1%, the GOP doesn't care about, nor does it work for you.
Tired of it? Then vote them out. All of them.
2
Some of us have been saying this since the Campaign. This entire extravaganza of sleaze was all about the MONEY. Expanding the Brand, seeking commissions and fees, suckling the teats Of Taxpayers in novel and astonishing ways. The Trump Crime Family. The Mafia for Dummies. And Deplorables.
Seriously.
2
Trump's corrupt practices are so well known. Yet his poor supporters continue to hail him, not even realizing that Trump is basically enriching himself at their expense. Taxpayers beware...Trump has zero ethics and the Republicans have given him a free pass. Lock him up!
Sadly; we have a disproportionate share of stupid people on the globe who will not believe these facts and continue to support Trump.
Unfortunately after Trump; these people will continue to lower the bar in our country by every measure.
Hence, I don’t believe in equal votes for everyone. Everyone does not contribute the same to our economy and society. Everyone is not rewarded the same for their contribution. So why should they have an equal say??
Read it and weep.
The GOP congress is as corrupt as Trump!
1
Someone was visiting President Harding during those last, tumultuous months. He zipped up to the second floor--
--and found the President throttling his own Director of Veteran Affairs. Can't remember the name.
"You RAT!" he cried. "You dirty RAT!" Just like James Cagney.
So Harding decided on a long tour of the USA. You know--get away from it all. He summoned his Secretary of Commerce, Herbert Hoover.
"What would you do, " he asked, "if you discovered massive corruption in your administration?"
"Go public with it," Mr. Hoover advised. The President seemed unhappy with this answer. He dismissed the Secretary and went on with the tour--
--and eventually (very suddenly) died of a stroke. Or heart failure. Or something.
Incredible as it may seem, the poor man really DIDN'T know what was going on. Like the proverbial piano player in a brothel. Had not a CLUE that highly salacious stuff was going on upstairs.
Mr. Donald J. Trump?
I can think of friends I had thirty plus years back--all staunch conservatives. Most of them probably voted for Mr. Trump in 2016.
But they JOKED about him back in the eighties. His crooked business dealing. His want of basic honorableness. The never-ending bluster and vanity.
I say all this to point out the obvious.
OF COURSE, he knows what's going on. He's a CROOK. He was ALWAYS a crook.
A smile on his face--
--and his hand in the till.
Lord help us!
1
According to evangelicals his actions are the Christian model for moral leadership. Putin exposed our democracy for the sham that it always was.
The greatest, most beautiful, fantastic taxpayer expense will be the ones used to prosecute this fraud of a president along with his despicable family. "The time for honoring yourself will soon be at an end." Maximus Decimus Meridius
1
YAWN....and what other administration didn't have the same and/or different instances of the Trump list, including the Obama administration. It's the swamp folks!
Definitive List becomes obsolete the minute it is published with this administration. Sad
When Trump was elected, I said that this country could end up like S. Africa under Jacob Zuma or S. Korea under Park Geyung-hee--two so-called leaders who used the government for their own personal gain.
Congratulations! We are them.
The picture Of Mnuchin and his trophy says it all. It’s all about the Benjamins baby.
1
The "swamp"? Donald Trump practically invented it.
1
Democrats, on November 7, get to work.
2
@L'historien
But first — Vote on November 6.
1
Donald Trump et al and Willie Sutton would make good bedfellows. Whereas Sutton robbed banks Trump and his administration and friends rob the Amerucam tax payer. Clearly, the Republican Congress is getting kickbacks, that’s why they do nothing to prevent the glaring corruption taking place since the dat Trump was sworn in as president.
And foolish Americans vote these perps into office and end up giving up healthcare, safety in their workplace, clean air to breathe, and food on the table.
It would be more useful for the Times to challenge the claims of fake news. The Times should demand that Trump spell out three fake news events.
That the country currently suffers two news camps prevents any sane conversation. We have to have shared facts, its in the hands of the NYTs and the Post.
I am positive that many of the GOP know that Trump and his administration clearly violated many rules and regulations.
But nobody stands up and every one of them is cowardly standing behind the corrupt POTUS?
This means that they care more about their jobs than our country? These spineless group of old white men is not patriots. They are a bunch of sellouts.
1
Trump makes no attempt to hide his graft.
Sadly, it is the Cowards who control Congress, the Republican Party, who are truly to blame hear.
They KNOW he's lining his own pockets....and they do NOTHING.
2
This type of article should be the headline. Everyday.
Republican demagoguery.
The NYT and other mainstream media are being manipulated by Trump and they DO NOT understand what he is doing and how to counteract it.
The ENTIRE front page should concern the demagoguery.
Republican demagoguery.
Only when the rebuttal to this master manipulator is everyday / everywhere will the ignorant be FORCED to read and hear it. Until then they will be fed idiocy from this newspaper and others.
1
He has confirmed the worst suspicions of anyone who ever thought politicians were crooks -- but this Congress isn't even bothered --
DO they all believe that they will get a payoff in the end? I am hoping the pay off is a kick out of their seats in Congress.
Its as if the US has formally moved from a place where officially we were against corruption - - and enforce laws, at least sporadically, and that enforcement had the support of most Americans - into accepting what was once the dirty "old world" systems of bribery and pay for play.
Trump and co. have unfortunately made a lasting imprint on the American psyche.
One thing you can count on - if his Dad cheated on his taxes, the Donald is doing exactly the same thing with his children.
1
If this isn’t high crimes (and even a few misdemeanors) I don’t know what is. I don’t care if Kavanaugh casts the deciding vote to pardon Trump, I hope Trump is eventually convicted of all the crimes his rotten administration is guilty of.
1
Thank you David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick.
One would think that it would be clear to everyone that this president, his family and his aides are enriching themselves at the average taxpayer's cost. But, is it clear to his man's followers? Apparently not, they still believe in this fata morgana (anything that seems to be something that it is not). America has gotten rid of crooks who preceded this president and this congress before and she can do it again. Hope springs eternal.
1
Trump's swamp of corruption is actually a flood.
1
Of course there is corruption. The fact that it is so egregious is not surprising. If it is so despicable, vote him out. It is about November 6!
1
It’s been demonstrated that the conflicts of interest of his appointees or hires makes no difference to this president. And after being appointed or hired, only public embarrassment matters - it’s not the actions lead to a fall, only getting exposed. But we shouldn’t be surprised. The same thing was true during the campaign. And the same thing applies to the president himself and his family. He advertised himself as being smart because he cheats and when he bragged that his base would accept his shooting someone on the streets of NYC, it was a given that simple graft and corruption was not going to be a problem.
The only way any of this will ever matter is for the Democrats to take the House and have very, very public oversight hearings. Some will defend Trump, Inc. no matter what is found, but eventually the accumulation of demonstrated malfeasance will build up and more and more people will be unable to accept what used to be completely unacceptable. And when the dam breaks, the torrent of self-dealing and lies will be so noxious that not only Trump and his family but also those who joined him to feed at the public trough will be swept away. For just as there is nobody as fanatical as a recent convert, there is nobody as bitter as someone who finally realizes that they have been publicly duped and made the fool.
We all know the solution to this and many other problems: vote them out November 6th.
1
Though I’m a lifelong Republican, I will not be voting for Trump/GOP. Trump & GOP are in fact planning to cut healthcare, SocSec, & Medicare, while they gave the wealthiest the biggest tax cuts worth $ trillions, which you will be paying forever. Unless you’re ultra wealthy, Trump & GOP have done nothing for us. In fact, Trump & GOP are stealing $ hundreds of billions from us the American people. How does that square w you the hard worker struggling to put food on the table for your family?!
429
I have news for you Mr Lifelong Republican. The tax cuts for the wealthy and the cutting of social safety nets has been the running mantra of your party for most of the 20th century and all of the 21st so far. The Donald has simply accelerated the process. However, your pledge to not vote for the Trump Inc./ GOP is certainly a step in the right direction. Now, if you could just take one step further and pull the lever for a democrat or two you would be on your way to becoming a citizen of conscience, and helping the country move in a direction it desperately needs to go in if it is to survive the next hundred years. Thank you for your service.
46
With corruption stories abundant
And investigations redundant
The only antidote
Is to go out and vote
Heeding the words of every pundit
1
Does anyone remember the scandal when it was discovered that Al Gore had made some campaign phone calls from his White House Office? Headlines and outrage ensued and there was even talk that it could derail Gore's Presidential bid. Gore was definitely in the wrong, but compared to what the Republicans of today are willing to accept from Trump Gore's offenses seem quaint.
It's easier for people and the press to focus on one bad act than it is to make sense of a vast corrupt enterprise. Also, let's face it, the Republican noise machine is much more effective than the Democrats.
The root of all this corruption is the stupid vestige of slavery that discarded millions of votes to empower a blatant prima facie crook and his cronies to rob us all into destitution.
1
Washington has been a cesspool of graft and corruption for many years, but the Trump crew and Citizens United are pushing it to the outer limits. This is no longer a government of, by, and for the people, just a few special people.
Congress is to blame, and the spineless majority of them need to go. Please vote!
So much for the 'Law and Order" party.
This is what all of the incitement to violence is about: to distract us from the corruption. Most of this was known before the election. All of the chaos -- e.g. bimbo eruptions -- has been to make everyone ignore the issues of blocking voter access, Russian interference, etc.. The man is not above committing treason if it makes him rich. I believe the reason he has not been impeached or removed through Article 25, is that informed people believe that Pence would be worse. At least Trump shows his hand; Pence doesn't.
1
The Kushner company also successfully lobbied the Qatari government to invest in 666 Fifth Avenue, a financially troubled luxury building. Ironic that the number 666 is a symbol for the devil!
We ,the taxpayers, pay for every campaign trip this man makes...
5
63 million voters; 60+ million of which voted against their own self-interests. There's no hope for them.
The 100 million that didn't vote; many claiming there was no difference between Trump and Clinton. I blame them for this disgrace of a presidency. Unforgivable.
12
But the most disheartening are the crowds of supporters of the American public that continue to cheer Trump on, like zombies.
I just picture him constantly laughing and smirking behind their backs.
Does anyone take the presidency seriously anymore, really?
4
Who is paying for all the expenditures surrounding these farcical campaign rallies? Security? Fuel for Air Force One? I’m a democrat but I’m paying for republican campaign rallies? They could at least mail me a Make America Hateful Again hat, right?
2
I don't doubt that Trump is a dishonest, unethical businessman. But many of the claims against Trump have parallel examples with Hillary Clinton. The NYT itself reported in 2015 that "shortly after the Russians announced their intention to acquire a majority stake in Uranium One, [former President Bill] Clinton received $500,000 for a Moscow speech from a Russian investment bank with links to the Kremlin that was promoting Uranium One stock." A total of $145 million went to the Clinton Foundation from interests linked to Uranium One, which was acquired by the Russian government nuclear agency Rosatum. Surely a mere coincidence?
The entire structure of the Clinton Foundation, which was set up to employ Clinton hangers-on between elections, and to provide a means for foreign governments to legally(?) buy influence with a potential future president, was corrupt. Interestingly, the Clinton Foundation has not published any financial reports since the 2016 report. It would be interesting to see how much foreign contributions have dropped since Clinton's failed presidential campaign.
1
So why is it, that if trump is guilty of the same crimes as Hillary, we never hear lock HIM up chants. If Hillary is breaking the law, why is trump not breaking the law. You can't have it both ways.
@J. Waddell, sorry barking up the wrong tree...
1
I think it is the trump haters that are on Trump all the time are the ones that started the whole thing with what is happening these days, it is some of the most ridicules stuff I have ever seen in my life, I seems like only the people on the loosing side that are doing it and getting everybody worked up, it will get worse before it gets better if they don't knock it off, they are poisoning everything with their hate
Only the ones on the losing side are stirring the pot ?? From whom are you receiving your info ???
1
@Tony Not clear what your point might be, but since the writing makes no sense, I cannot tell. Every one of the examples here has been documented many times over. What part of the facts reported here do you not like? There was a time when so-called conservatives were in favor of honest and corruption-free government, but Trump and his people brazenly use government to enrich themselves and you think this is fine?
One significant difference between the corruption of Teapot Dome and the Trump administration is that it was only members of President Harding's administration who were mired in the muck. Here we have the President himself and his family who are deeply involved in and directly benefitting from these corrupt activities. Do we have any previous examples of presidents who used their office as a piggy-bank?
2
@shofet: Now every patch of public land where someone believes there is a mineral to exploit is for sale.
I do appreciate reporting the myriad and plentiful examples of trumpist graft and corruption. Also appreciate the angst and righteous anger at the “Know Nothing Party” (aka republican) for total absence of performance regarding their Constitutional duties.
So, how does this blatant rape of America continue ad nausea?
Maybe because our beloved nation has already been converted to authoritarian oligarchy.
1
The problem is that corruption is seen as bi partisan. Trump is no worse than Obama sort of thing. It's not true but the equivalent though process is what sustains the Republicans.
2
Grifters, conmen, carpetbaggers, trumps. There is a serious infestation happening at the top, fumigation, we need a fumigation, stat! Trump ran for president on a lark, to build his brand with months of free advertising during the runup to the 2016 election. Well, he got that and more with the surprise win. Now that he and his tools are ensconced in the White House its a free-for-all of raiding the public treasury and profiting from the presidency. Hello Congress, we need some pest control. Do your job.
2
Those Trump voters who thought they could stick it to the coastal elites are discovering they have stuck it to themselves.
3
President Truman" "The buck stops here," while vice President Trump says, "Millions of bucks stop here."
1
Less than a week after the attack of unarmed protestors on the grounds of the Turkish Embassy here in DC, I witnessed and photographed uniformed Turkish military officers (amid what appeared to be a wealthy international crowd) attending a conference at the Trump Hotel and posing for photos in front of the Trump sign. A man I assumed to be a member of Turkish security photographed me from his vehicle just feet from Trump Hotel security personnel while they did nothing — though he stopped when I returned the favor. I have also been elbowed in the side by Trump Hotel security while photographing on public property, and I have witnessed Trump security push a barricade into another photographer.
1
Makes Nixon like like a decent guy. I think we need to start mourning our country, the US as we knew it, is gone.
1
Again, a big round of applause and thanks to The New York Times and its reporters for putting this together. I'm sure this will be treated with tweets about the "failing New York Times" and "fake news" but I hope that the Times and its staff will wear that as a badge of honor.
Looking at this I think the current administration has out done Warren G. Harding's administration when it comes to corruption. In contrast with Trump and his administration, Harding's appears quaintly innocent.
2
And incredibly, Trump is getting away with this, and no one seems to care. I am still stunned that for at least the last 28 months Democrats have not screamed every single day on TV, "Where are his tax returns? What is he hiding?" The Republicans showed us that you can keep an issue alive forever (see: Benghazi, emails, et.al.) and it's amazing that the Democrats can't follow the same playbook.
4
You didn't mention Charles P. Rettig, recently named IRS Commissioner, who defended Trump's not releasing his tax returns in 2016.
For more on that and more on what's in this piece, check out the podcast "Trump, Inc.", from WNYC and ProPublica; excellent investigative journalism that is exposing and documenting the corrupt practices of Trump and his family.
2
Ultimately we must blame the treasonous Rebublicans in Congress.
We all KNEW that Trump cared not at all for our country. We all KNEW that the Republicans in Congress would behave against the best interests of the country if it seemed better for their party (see Senete leadership comments on President Obama and Senete actions throughout his Presidency).
What we truly didn’t know—What is so gobsmackingly stunning, is that the Republicans would actually allow our country to be destroyed by one of their own simply to protect one of their own, themselves, and their money and power.
There is but one extremely small glimmer of solace in all of this:
History WILL remember these people as the traitors that they are and they will be used as examples of societal evil that will be held up to children and audults as an horrific example of the face of corruption and betrayal to country.
I just hope the country survives them.
4
Trying to prove to a Trump supporter that Trump lacks ethical leadership qualities is useless. We need to resist that urge. It serves to harden the supporter. Only time can make a difference- perhaps.
Trump supporters love that they are making money. He has appealed to baser instincts and that is what we face today, What is most troubling is that the GOP are silent. They no longer care for our country. It is just the party.
Vote, vote , vote.
2
In SD, the majority of people vote Republican. It is mindless voting with no regard to the corruption the party has come to represent. I don't get it. Many don't like Trump but still voted for him.
2
This list will be updated every 15 minutes or when additional evidence of corruption becomes available.
2
What is so amazing is the price to "bribe" or influence a politician is extra-ordinarily cheap. Being able to limit a competitor via some simple paragraphs in a law can only cost a few thousand dollars for a campaign contribution, yet yield millions in extra revenue from price point increases. To get that same profit increase would cost millions of advertising dollars and may not even work. Regulation changes or elimination almost come with a guarantee!
Same for "for-profit colleges" -- very easy to use the government to permit these useless institutions to operate and get countless students with taxpayer money (remember, they recruit military and use the educational resources granted to military personnel from us taxpayers).
As for safety, health and environmental legislation, it is so much cheaper to change regulations so that a business can pollute the environment or harm workers while reducing their costs to clean up their messes! The community has live with and/or pay for the damage, pay to remediate the damage, pay for the sick or hospitalized workers, live with the black lung or radiation poisoning, etc.
"Bribing a politician" is one the cheapest, most effective, highest return strategies that a business can make. AND THEY KNOW IT, AND THEY DO IT.
4
Did this piece include a reference to Trump's history of money laundering for Russian oligarchs? I want to know whether that practice is still occurring.
If nothing else good comes from this abysmal administration (and it's likely nothing good will come from his time in office), perhaps we can at least pass legislation requiring release of tax returns by anyone running for high office. Maybe we can come away from this train wreck of a presidency with this modest effort to prevent corruption?
4
It will not change, not for the better. It will only get worse, as the crowds laugh and cheer.
1
I'd suggest that since the Times apparently has absolutely no interest whatsoever in exposing the mind-boggling corruption and political profiteering practiced for decades by Bill and Hilary Clinton, it should at least delve deeper into the egregious impropriety of his own staffers shamelessly flaunting the Trump brand on those umbrellas at one of his own golf courses.
I was appalled at such blatant Trump commercializing of the American presidency, and indeed the umbrellas' politically incorrect misappropriation of the national colors red, white and blue. And what about those stars on the blue field topping the umbrellas, brazenly hinting at the American flag? Is Trump trying to invent some sort of new national symbol, possibly portraying the United States as the world-protector umbrella?
1
Nevertheless sincere Trump supporters and those pretend supporters in Congress, continue to call us a “country of laws.” How can they?
They are supporting wild lawlessness. For the sake of making the wealthy wealthier. What gives?
2
Please be aware that I am a Democrat whose disgust for the corruption of this administration is boundless.
That said, however, where are the Democratic voices in Congress? I know of no provision in the Constitution that muffles the voice of the minority party. Yes, the tyranny of the Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the House disallows minority legislation to even be brought to vote if it suits them, but it doesn't gag the minority party.
They are allowed to speak out! Why the silence of the minority, or worse, the failure of the press to report it when the do speak up?
My fear is that corruption has become so rampant in Washington that the guilt is universal.
1
I met a former attorney who is obviously intelligent, interesting, and funny who passionately supports Trump. I am genuinely interested in knowing what intelligent people like this former attorney see in Trump. I’ve always held that Trump is in the president business to line his and his family’s pockets, period, so this article comes as no surprise, but why do intelligent people support Trump? That’s what I want to know, NY Times!
2
Could it be that Trump’s decimation of the state department has something to do with his business goals? ... Fewer eyes and ears on the ground in these countries to call attention to Trump Inc.’s shady practices. And then there’s his denigration of the intelligence and law enforcement communities—cover against anything they could do or say against the Trump brand.
1
And I thought the rise in the National Debt was due to Trump's Tax Reform. Silly me.
Where and how does this stop?
2
Trump’s Corruption: The Definitive List?
Definitive?
That's what I call an optimistic approach :-)
2
In related news, the Trump GOP Congress has either tacitly allowed or openly encourages the blatant corruption of the Trump regime. Congress needs to change hands.
Vote November 6.
4
He came to DC as an outsider and, rather than draining the swamp, gave the DC insiders lessons in corruption that I fear will make things worse when--and if--he ever leaves.
1
Corruption is definitely a major problem of the Trump administration. i would add sheer incompetence as it often accompanies corrupt decisions.
Trump never was any good at business, gaining estimates of a few hundred million to get started by the estate of his father.
He didn’t read nor did he show the slightest curiosity about how government works.
What’s scary about all of this is that Trump hasn’t been really tested. But that’s coming at least in the next two years.
That’s where incompetence can be even more,problematic for our country than corruption.
1
All serious crimes with evidence that may surface, beyond what has already surface, when Mueller drops his bomb after the mid terms. We the tax payers foot the bill for this corruption and the GOP congress is as complicit as it can be.
We also foot the bill for his constant rallies where he exposes his hate, and lately, his self pity. Poor, poor me he says in his pity parties.
On the whole, and completing the perspective, Trump and clan, along withe the GOP's help, have seriously damaged our standing in the world community, and harmed our very own democracy. The entire community of these people have also managed to split us into warring factions. Witness the results of the constant barrage of hate last week alone.
Thank you for producing this list.
2
As for the President staying in a luxury hotel with Secret Service in tow, I recommend Starwood Preferred Hotels (SPG). Since Marriott has taken over, it has gone downhill. Also for guest members, every fifth night is free.
Perhaps the President can stay at St. Regis, while the accompany staff can stay at the Marriott Courtyard.
Thank you for researching and publishing this - I've been hoping for an article on this subject.
Something related that's needed, either by the NYT or a group with legal knowledge (lawyers, judges, a law school, the Bar - a group with legal credibility) should be a website that lists the laws broken (or potentially broken) by all politicians, judges and other public officials to be used as a checklist for future prosecution. This list/database would serve several purposes:
* it permits tracking from multiple sources of the misdeeds of our public servants.
* It would put our public officials on notice that someone's watching and keeping track... and may possibly curtail bad behavior (although I won't hold my breath).
* It would give the law abiding citizens of the U.S. hope that one day these betrayers of the public trust will be held accountable for their crimes.
Perhaps this website already exists? If so, could someone please advise what it is? I would like to be a regular reader.
4
Reading this column is a reminder, not of the signal corruption of this guy, he’s been this way for 50 years.... I’m reminded, sadly, of the corruption of the thinking of the body politic..
1
There are more nefarious themes to create definitive lists for:
- Immigration including child separations.
- Convictions of members of the Trump administration.
- Ignoring Security rules and conventions. Wouln’t It be strange if China or Russia tell us what Trump talks about with people like Putin and Hannity on unsecure iPhones.
- Encouraging violence.
- Destroying people’s lives.
- Attacks on the environment.
There are more topics for lists than I’ve listed.
Nothing has happened to stop it. Nothing will. That’s corruption.
Upto now,I thought that some Indian officials of Legislative assembly are more corrupt,but after reading this article,I can only say one who comes to the power definetly make their personal business strong and there are more lobbyists looking for them for having personal attention.This is no less than India,ofcourse it is incredibly Higher.Furthermore,In every department we can observe these people.The people of India,Most probably try to avoid paying taxes, thats why our economy is low.Eventhough we pay them it is not allocated for our state and its development.I really liked the article verymuch thank you Newyork times.
1
@Prem Chand, the difference is, here tax evasion is legal. Tax accountant and lawyers work through loopholes put in place by the wealthiest of the wealthy.
2
Tax evasion continues. Where are his returns? He promised that they would be released after ‘the audit’. How does this continue unchallenged? NYT should do an investigative report on where they are and what is going on.
3
Financial corruption seems to be goal of Trump’s presidency. This article points out several major breaches of the Constitution by Trump, his family and cabinet. For 800,000 dollars in travel expenses Mnuchin would be fired and probably face legal charges in any other administration. I wonder how and why people tolerate getting conned by Trump and his team.
1
It is infuriating to be reminded of the blatant corruption of Donald Trump, his businesses, family members and appointees, but we should be grateful to David Leonhardt and Ian Prasad Philbrick for keeping the issue fresh in our minds.
One maddening thing is that the extent of self-enrichment at taxpayers’ expense is simultaneously enormous, in the realm of many millions of dollars, and also disgustingly petty.
Donald Trump and those around him not only have taken a lot of money, they have had great fun doing it. They truly enjoy thumbing their noses at the American people.
The Republican Congress, whose job it is to stop these abuses, apparently also enjoys the impunity of holding the majority.
Republican leaders are laughing at us, but let us hope the tide turns on November 6th.
The GOP Congress has known this forever yet they allow this to go on to keep their donors happy. It is corruption at the highest levels and the alt-right and GOP voters of all types think that Trump is saving us from a caravan of terrorists. Fox fills the airwaves with fear so that the rich can keep stealing from us. Insanity.
The article and the posts show that Trump administration corruption (by himself and all the lackeys that have piled on) means that "the swamp" is a naive term for what's going on in our country since Trump's election. What we are seeing is the presence of numerous malignant tumors on the American body politic.
1
The information in this article needs to be disseminated far and wide, over and over, condensed and in easy to understand language: The GOP is corrupt to the core. Corruption is the GOP indelible brand.
This list narrowly defines "corruption" to limit it to financial matters. Far more serious is Trump's illegal and unconstitutional kidnapping of children.
1
No surprise that the Repub enablers in Congress let this go, but:
What explains the acceptance of this blatant corruption by the "drain the swamp" Trump supporters? Why do they not care?
Until the Democrats figure that out (and manage to devise a coherent message that's more than We-Hate-Trump), we're going to be stuck with this for quite a while.
1
Missing here is a constitutional violation intimately related to corruption: the Article II clause that gives the chief executive his or her only 24/7 duty—to take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Congress’s inability to understand that the laws Congress makes and the President (any president) signs are required to be executed/applied as written by the President and his appointees. No signing statements. No regulations that defeat the law’s purpose. Cabinet officers are supplied because this is too complicated for a president to do it without help, not to “represent” the regulated parties.
Yes, our so called watchdog, Congress, has done nothing but yawn and look the other way under the noble aegis of McConnell and Ryan. If history books are allowed to be written - one never knows what will be permissible should this autocracy continue to fester - then Trump's occupancy of the White House will go down as one of the most corrupt and self enriching, many of his appointees feeding at the same trough. Rabid nationalism does not put bread and butter on the table, does not create jobs, but it does rationalize long held, baseless fears and misconceptions, which in turn explain too easily disenfranchisement and unemployment. By falling for the drivel coming from the bully pulpit one will fail to see the degree to which you've been financially hoodwinked.
1
DC has been enriching themselves as 'public servants' for a hundred years, worse now than ever. Insider trading is rampant. Anyone ever wonder how someone making <$200k a year suddenly becomes a multimillionaire? Ever wonder how the VA county just south of DC is the wealthiest in the nation? Trump has no excuse, nor do his cronies. But, I suspect Congress is absent as they are complicit.
1
With president Donald Trump as their standard-bearer, Republicans have abandoned any last vestiges of pretense: They are now the party of blatant lies and corruption.
1
What is not on the list is that Trump has, since the beginning of his campaign, directed the spending of campaign donations by his devotees, to be almost exclusively on Trump businesses.
When Trump was self-funding he was parsimonious. But the instant the RNC took over, he QUINTUPLED the rent the "Trump Campaign" was paying at Trump Tower.
When he discovered that Eric's charity event in the Briarcliff, NY property was not nickel-and-dimeing the donations every way possible, instead actually sending them to the charity, Trump went ballistic! After that, far more of the donations went into Trump's pocket.
The poor, deluded fools sending Trump $10 or $20 hard-earned dollars to help him get re-elected don't realize that he ensures that virtually ALL of it get spent on Trump businesses, nothing but a fig-leaf covering up the violation of federal law that you can't pocket campaign donations.
2
The occasional act of corruption is noteworthy and actionable in an otherwise pristine organization. When corruption is a part of the DNA of a government it becomes the norm.Nothing New here. As always Trump gets away with outrageous behavior that would be impeachable if done by others. The Teflon President.
what's even more outrageous:
tax evaders, money launderers & co. are all over the globe.
[e.g. germany got swindled out of 55 billion euros recently.]
people just don't feel like remaining on these thieves' heels.
[many rather say: "i'd withhold taxes too, if i could."]
panama papers anyone? not too long ago & yet forgotten?
! go after these perpetraitors !
before they crush even the last traces of a sense of
social responsibility ordinary people might have left.
Teapot Dome is tame by comparison: this is not just a teapot, but the entire set of china!
1
Thank you. If Democrats gain the House and Senate, they have a dossier for grounds of impeachment right here. Add to this list a leader who endangers the lives of a large segment of Americans by the hate he incites--immigrants, Jews, refugees, gay and transgender people, journalists.prominent Democrats and many others. He is daily giving his supporters a license for violence. Trump enriches himself and threatens the very existence of our democracy and its people. He must be impeached by any responsible Congress, and hopefully he can be removed from office. If he isn't, the nation will we gravely weakened.
The article ends with a question, “What’s missing from this list?” What a pity!
Mr. Trump was a businessman who worked for himself for decades. His persona is that of a real person; he isn't a smooth-talking used car salesman. He does not pretend to be a politician and is a stark contrast to people like Mr. Obama who had not worked a day for a living in his life before entering politics.
The article nitpicks Mr. Trump and his family unfairly. He does not need any more money, neither does his family.
Another hatchet job against the President will not change any minds. The media is against him and can spew hatred against him from morning until dusk.
The damage to the press and those who pander poison through pens will be devastating. Mr. Trump will ride unscathed into the sunset in 2024. Unfortunately, these relentless attacks make the image of the media tainted forever.
1
@Appu Nair
I know you're following the GOP talking points in trying to disparage Obama's work as a community organizer. Go ahead if that makes you feel good.
But since when do working as a civil rights attorney at Miner, Barnhill & Galland, teaching Constitutional Law at the University of Chicago, serving as state senator in Illinois (where he chaired the Illinois Senate's Health and Human Services Committee) and serving in the U.S. Senate translate to not working a day in one's life? Please acquaint yourself with facts.
It's also notable that New York and New Jersey, two states whose populations are most familiar with Trump's decades of unethical business practices, overwhelmingly did not vote for him. We've known since the 1970's that he is not who he purports to be.
3
I sure hope that Mueller includes forfeiture claims for all of Trump's ill gotten gains in his indictments. The American taxpayers deserve to get some of our money back.
Fake news for the Trump base.
They will have to endure worsening quality of life before they eventually turn on him.
I hope the Democrats will be ready with charismatic leaders and a bold New Deal for the economic and environmental crises at hand.
It will be too late, if ever.
The really sad, depressing, and scary part is that Trump supporters know all of this and don't seem to care.
Until now, Teapot Dome was the reference point for political corruption. What will the tagline be for this administration? Deluge?
Definitive list?
When I began scrolling down to gauge the length of the article I was about to read, I noticed that the scroll bar on the right was fairly large, and moved fairly quickly. In other words, this article could not possibly be more than a tiny listunculus of the "definitive list" of Trumpian corruption. Remember that 14000 word article from like, not a month ago about Trump family gift and estate tax dodges? (The one that never got to asking why Maryanne Trump Barry, a Senior Appellate Judge on the Third Circuit, shouldn't be impeached and prosecuted for tax fraud, having signed Fred Trump's estate tax filings as a co-Executor along with her more well-known corrupt brother, the tax dodger in chief?)
that would be a short intro to one chapter of the tome you'd need to publish for a definitive list.
2
Trump is not the first crook holding the highest office, but all previous crooks, at least, tried to hid their correction. When they were exposed, the citizens were outraged.
Trump flaunts it in our faces. The frightening part is that so many millions don't know, don't care and some applaud him for it. Even more frightening is that his party, who controls the government, ignore it
A fine article, well investigated and written. Less effective than always calling him "Corrupt Trump" and all his family and court "The Corrupt Trumps".
A pointless exercise. Those who are keeping him in office either do not care about these transgressions or they deny their legitimacy. How do we break through this malignant blind support? Is it even possible?
I am assuming everyone has just forgotten about the FBI inquiry by Mr. Mueller. He certainly has.
This type of political corruption has been going on for millennia. Mostly it's relatively harmless, like greasing the skids to get a building permit pushed up several places in line.
What is happening with the Trump administration is different, both in degree and in kind. His blatant disregard for tradition and law has reached unprecedented levels. As mentioned in the article, there are legal actions underway to stem the red tide of corruption. Given the spineless inaction of the Republican-led Congress, and the way Trump has been stacking the courts with right-wing judges sympathetic to him, I don't see much hope for redress -- except your votes to drain the swamp.
The only answer for the average citizen is to VOTE THEM OUT!
Granted that greed is not the sole province of one party. But
in a democracy, there is a remedy when the current administration appears to be so one-sidedly crooked. Let's
hope enough citizens want a change from the present corruption, greed and hate-filled theatrics to go to the polls and vote out the enablers.
The Republican's greatest gift is their ability to hoodwink. The Democrat's greatest challenge is letting voters know that they even exist. We have always been taught that checks and balances in our government are the backbone of our democracy and corruption would always be found out. That is a good theory only if the political will of our representatives is present and not corrupted by the almighty dollar. Many Americans are kind of like Bubba....not too quick on the draw and usually have to be slapped upside the head to understand that something is amiss. It will happen, but I am convinced things will have to get a lot worse before the American public will finally figure it out. In the meantime Russia and China are methodically moving into place.
1
The exponential increase in the greed of our overlords has, in my opinion, one cause and one cause only: the imminent catastrophe of climate change. While the business class, our rulers, furiously mislead the public by any means possible they are busy securing the future for themselves and their families by accumulating vast wealth. With the police state already in place they are well situated to ride out the storm that is coming. Trump is merely the buffoon who is in danger of letting the cat out of the bag. Until the Democratic leadership throws off its own corporate yoke and comes up with a message that will wake people up don’t expect any change that will avert the looming disaster.
1
It is unfathomable that, in the face of this abject corruption, anyone can find it in themselves to vote for members representing the Greed Over People party. Ever since Putin's oligarchs paid to install the little dictator, Republican members of Congress have enabled it and its family to grift as fast and as far as they can. This tsarist family ideal appeals to the poorly educated who want to be rich and famous royalty, but are unlikely to amount to anything but victims of the Trumps.
So athletes can’t kneel before an American flag, but he can profit by selling American flag umbrellas?
2
This definitive list would be something indeed if the intrepid authors bothered to quantify and sum up this corruption DEFINITIVELY -- or minimally.
E.g.: Foreigners are paying the Trumps. Did other organizations book somewhere else other than Trump because foreigners booked the Trump hotel? How much more did the Trump hotel otherwise make?
E.g.: Americans are paying the Trumps. Ditto.
E.g.: Trump, Inc. is expanding overseas. $500 Million! We have a figure! But . . . no indication how much of that definitively, if at all, went to the Trump Organization.
And so on.
Are taxpayers footing the bill for Trump's travels to campaign for Congressional delegates? Is that legal?
1
This deal is also particularly suspicious: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-13/kushner-conflict-clou...
6 weeks after Mnst. Abe rushes to meet with Pres. Trump, a Japanese government-controlled TelCo buys into one of Advsr. Kushner's buildings, the TelCo's 8th in the U.S.--out of all the buildings in the U.S. The Japanese government and Kushner family are now literally business partners.
1
Somehow this escaped the notice of every Republican in Congress, except Chuck Grassley who highlighted Trump's name showing his corruption 3 times and shared it with the world.
Way to go Chuck. You don't think the Donald will notice?
Corruption has been avoided here, and also successfully combatted (Pendleton Civil Service Act, 1883). In Afghanistan we have instituted it. (See Sarah Chayes, Thieves of State). Nothing is more destructive to republican government—and democratic—than corruption. Good thing the Constitution is against it, but eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. And our still uncorrupted civil servants are heroes.
Not that it matters to Trump et al. as your article so thoroughly details the liberty his cabinet and goodness knows how many others have rationalized their questionably ethical and legal behavior and have hopped on the Trump self-serving band wagon. No question that Trump cares not about this country, the health care morass, the pathetic infrastructure, the economic house of cards or anything other than lining his pockets now and in the future. Complicit GOP lackeys will push for more tax revisions to benefit guess who while stridently pushing for cuts and elimination of entitlement programs... same old story, new thieves with the master crook at the top. Armed with lawyers who have always helped POTUS slither through untold bankruptcies and other disingenuous financial maneuvers it seems likely the Trump coffers will swell. So, why is there not some congressional (fat chance) into investigations of violation of the emoluments clause, maybe a rhetorical question but I can't recall a presidency where the swamp has reeked more.
1
And he has stacked the supreme court to protect himself and his family in the future.
@Jim Manis
The Supreme Court doesn't get a vote if Trump is impeached. It's the House that votes first to impeach and sends to the Senate. The Senate then votes on guilt or innocence. That's in our Constitution.
@VMG
It will get to vote on any criminal charges on any charges that fallow him after he leaves office and on his family. It is already playing a part in denying American citizens their right to vote in the coming election (see North Dakota).
1
The Clintons curried favor with big business but their foundation bought aid including medicine for poor people in other countries.
The Republicans enrich themselves, with Trump being particularly corrupt.
But do not forget Dick Cheney refusing to divest his Halliburton stock, then promoting the fake yellow cake uranium from Niger story into Bush's state of the union speech, leading to the Iraq war, leading to the largest government contract of that war for Halliburton (Brown Root and Kellogg). If that is not corruption, I do not know what is!!!
There is really only one way to stop the Trumps and his crooked administration and that is to change the balance of power in Congress from Republican to Democrat. Even if you don't like the Democratic platform you must vote Democrat to break this cycle of corruption. The next step is the impeachment of Trump. It's well past the time to look the other way and accept Trump for what he is. This is unacceptable as Trump is unacceptable as president of this country.
November 6th must be the beginning of the end to Trump and his cronies.
1
Here's the problem with this list: it's in the Opinion section. If it were in the News section, it would be worth much more. It's much less consequential and influential as opinion rather than fact.
Any one of these corrupt practices, had it been done by Democrats would have made the Republicans storm the barricades frothing at the mouth.
3
Who could not have seen this coming? "He's a business man", "He tells it like it is", "He's an outsider", He'll drain the swamp".
What all these uninformed voters were really saying is "He hates the same people that I do" and "Finally, someone who thinks like I do".
The leaders of the Republican Party have been courting these voters for years by pandering to their prejudices, fears, and hatreds.
Vote them out!
4
The corruption of trump and his family have permeated the entire society, and as an American I am voting to send democrats to the House to block and defund very single piece of legislation that republican and Trump put up for consideration . Unless it defunds Defense , ICE , and the Border Wall and so much more . BLOCK THE REPUBLICANS !
1
Congress is absent from investigating since the republicans are still investigating birth certificates, Benghazi, and email servers. The president* is untouchable- as far as the GOP majority in Congress is concerned. This is my first comment on this site- and I am wondering how many conservatives will go on the attack. It is inevitable to read a host of trump defending comments from his cult every time I write something- no matter how benign .
2
Why do Republicans in Congress allow Trump and his associates to get away with this? Because many of them are also corrupt: they do not want to offend the corporations and other wealthy donors who are funding their careers.
3
The sad thing is that neither the Republican Party or the die heart Trump supporters seem to care! And so, The USA will implode and Donald Trump and "friends" could care less. It is all a big business deal to them.
The brazen shamelessness with which our President lines his own pockets is bad enough, that it often comes at the expense of honest hard-working people is even worse.
1
We have always had corrupt government people misuse their power in office to make a buck, nothing new here. But what is new with Trump is that he is allowing family and friends use the economic and military power of this country to enforce a policy in the Middle East that is starving and killing millions of people. That's what sets him apart from the run of the mill self serving politician.
None of this, if true, seems egregious. At least compared to HRC's pay to play scheme while she was SofS. You know, you want something, contribute to the foundation, let Billy give a very expensive speech. Didn't hear anyone from the Times setting their hair on fire over that.
And it's easy to see corruption in an administration you don't like. But I'm really not sure that people staying at Trump's hotels or using his golf facilities are problematic. You insinuate that they did it to please Trump? Maybe. But do you have any evidence. People need to stay someplace in DC and New York etc., and I bet most of his hotels are filled regardless. That's the key piece missing -- like most progs Leonhardt speaks first, then maybe thinks later. It might be problematic if Trump made it a requirement to use his hotels when a head of state visits. But I didn't read that, did you? Moreover, even if he wants people to stay at his hotels, it might just be because he is proud of them.
1
It's not necessarily that any of this is egregious. It is that Trump ran on the basis of "draining the swamp". His behaviour along with the blatant cronyism suggests that draining the swamp is the furthest thing from his mind. It is the sheer hypocrisy of the man that is offensive. While politicians of all stripes may demonstrate hypocrisy to some extent Trump and his entourage take it to new levels. He is the ultimate example of "do as I say, not as I do".
Ugh. The worst part is that when SOME Trump supporters see this they'll say, "See how shrewd he is? That's why he's so successful. What a great businessman. I love that!"
Ugh again.
2
Congress has taken no action on this blatant corruption because a majority of the senators ans representatives are equally corrupt and thus unwilling to correct this egregious abuse of power for fear of incriminating themselves.
Thus they remain silent and complicit; un-indicted co-conspirators as it were.
1
Bravo, the Fourth Estate is alive and well, though at least half of the government is not. Great reporting David and Co. Keep the light shining, it's the ultimate disinfectant.
3
Thank you for clearly detailing this list. And they chant, “drain the swamp.” It is another example of poor leadership at many levels, and a lack of oversight, checks, and accountabilities. It is quite shameful, and a sham. I do hope our country elects a president with integrity again. We had one, and folks preferred this.
The GOP Congress does not care what Trump and his family do. Nor do they care what their fellow members of the administration do so this corruption will continue at pace.
When the Democrats come into power, things will dramatically change and the GOP will discover that the tiniest infraction merits a full investigation!
Why do you think Jason Chafftez ran at speed on his hurt foot all the way back to Utah the minute Trump took office? He knew he would be facing a level of self-dealing that would require him to act and he would not do it. It's the GOP turn to be greedy hypocrites.
He's profiting off tax dollars, costing millions more with his whims and impulses (like a Kim Jong-un military parade that thankfully never happened and weekly golf jaunts) but he doesn't pay any taxes. Not a cent.
But this is all trivial compared to the cost inflicted by his policies and his henchman: climate change, deregulating pollution and toxics, giving away federal land to frackers and loggers, shelling out billions in subsidies to farmers hurt by his insane trade wars, a budget busting, deficit ballooning tax cut for corporate America and those who get rich off them.
The corruption is the tip of the Trump iceberg. Trump will cost us trillions if Congress doesn't turn deep blue next month.
For Americans, Trump is all pain and no gain.
3
This is appalling. We are no better than a tin pot dictatorship. There is NO "whataboutism" concerning this level of corruption. Zillions of investigations found no credible evidence of pay to play with the Clinton Foundation, yet, the Republicans howled about it relentlessly. Now, crickets. So, it really wasn't about corruption...it was about the Clintons and the Democrats. Just stating the obvious but this needs to be repeated again and again and again.
3
Wow - a powerful and must read opinion. Yes indeed the Republicans Leaders in Congress have enabled the most corrupt administration of our lifetimes. Hopefully, that will have a huge turn-around on November 6th with a new Democratic leadership in both the House & Senate.
There's so much outrageous corruption mentioned in this NYT article which screams for not only an end to this greed & federal law violations but a demand for all of the taxpayers money to be returned to the U.S. Treasury.
The greed, reckless spending, abuse of power & position by Trump, Kushner, Pruitt, Zinke, Price, Mnuchin, Cho, DeVos, Carson & others cannot be tolerated and ignored anymore.
There's a light at the end of the tunnel and it's A democratic controlled House & Senate. Our hope for justice.
1
I am a Christian, who is extremely frustrated with so many of my friends, who maintain that all the crooked things that POTUS does and the horrible way he demeans others, are acceptable because of the few things that he does to pander to the right. I have voted for democrats for the first time. How bad does he have to be in order to wake people up?
405
@JBC
Explain to your right wing Christian friends that Jesus would be in the caravan feeding the poor. He wouldn’t be at the White House wearing a MAGA hat and schmoozing with Donald.
43
The most significant challenge will be reversing this "normalization of deviance" once Trump is out of office. We need honest, intelligent, and credible leaders. Vote for them.
1
I'm waiting for super liberals and uniformed voters to claim that "both parties are the same", and it's not worth voting...
Onceagaininunisonwesay: Those who paid to get him elected and those who voted for and support him, knew and know the tRump and his family, his entourage, and too many fellow republicans (lower case 'r' is deliberate) are corrupt, corruptable, unethical, amoral, ad nauseum. Unfortunately, no one or political entity has directly, loudly and publically called him and the others to task. We must remember: TRUMP DON'T CARE about anyone but himself and his fellow travelors. Too, he probably figures that he will not be around to see the outcomes of his reign.
1
Yes, we must vote them all out. But, Where is the Gov Office on Ethics, CREW, Congress and the FBI on all of this? Why is there no legal Action taken? We seem at a stand still
1
Politics in our time is so often -- too often -- dictated by money, Influence peddling in particular. One long step away from the tyranny of monied special interests is common-sense campaign finance reform. The current mix of Capitol Hill lawmakers, however, isn't about to take on that elephant in the room, so it's up to the public to make it an election issue. It won't be easy, but any progress will have a substantive impact, because right now the way we finance our politics is an affront to what the Founding Fathers had in mind.
Americans will soon see how many of them think that morality has nothing to do with politics, that morality is the main obstacle to gain full power. Sadly, no inquiries on the subject.
1
You seemed to miss passing a tax law that directly benefited Trump, his family and associates through tax cuts that approach billions.
6
What I am missing in this list is his personal gains from tax cuts. And those of his cronies. Recall that the tax cuts were billed as for the middle class and his wealthy friends were not going to like them – despite the fact that all independent analyses showed the opposite. As tacitly hinted aat by his weird claim that Congress, not currently in session, would enact a “middle class” tax cut – clearly not necessary if he did that already.
The things listed here are small change compared with that.
Of course we don’t know if he does pay any tax – that is another whole story.
2
Trump's administration is the embodiment of the grotesque combination of oligarchy and kleptocracy. If we want to stop this nightmare we need to reclaim our nation before it is too late. It begins next Tuesday, election day. As Winston Churchill remarked "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps, it is the end of the beginning."
2
I have two primary issues with this article:
1. The authors should cite the actual laws or ethical rules being circumvented or broken, and
2. Call a crime a crime, i.e., "Brenda Fitzgerald, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, committed a more mild version of this sin." Crime is crime, and as far as I know only the Bible legislates against sin.
2
He wanted to be the CEO and MD of the USA, Inc., and, we allowed him to be that. The shareholders got the dividend. He did run a brilliant marketing campaign and some of us fell for it.
1
The biggest fleecing of tax-payers by Donald Trump and his Administration comes in another form - that of tax evasion.
For all we know Donald Trump, like Jared Kushner, has paid no taxes for years, despite being worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
Tax filings show that Kushner is worth $372,331,000, yet, he gets a $4000 check from the IRS after he filed.
His wealth has also quadrupled in the last few years, thanks to his father in-laws run for and occupation of the White House. I'm sure it's just a lucky coincidence.
My question is, how many millions does one need to make in this country in order to be exempt from income taxes?And how much more millions before your tax position actually becomes a revenue stream, as it has for Mr. Kushner?
It also makes me wonder why Donald Trump and the GOP pushed a trillion dollar tax-cut through, when for all we know, none of them actually pay any taxes in the first place?
6
There is an oft-told story that Donald Trump was completely surprised on November 8, 2016 when he ascended to the presidency, a job he never really wanted. His handlers had not written a victory speech, and there were no pretenses about assembling a transition team — or even knowing how to go about doing so.
So the accidental president went about doing what he knows best: acquiring an entity to fold into his high-profile collection of closely held companies.
But there are some things we do know about, thanks to some of his high-profile failures. The inability to run a casino (a business where the house ALWAYS wins) and the venerated Trump University (where students learned that they can be duped by Trump in any arena) are two examples of his natural business acumen.
The first hint of President Trump’s leveraged buyout of our Democracy was when he referred to Mar a Lago as the Winter White House. He brags about the strengthing of our military branches’ “brands” and reaches macroeconomic decisions using uninformed personal biases. The President fulfills his esoteric trade fantasies with the aplomb of a CEO of a family business.
Mr. Trump’s haphazard business model successfully creates illusions of success, and this most recent addition to the portfolio is likewise perceived to be successful by his supporters. Let us not underestimate the contributions of the management team comprising the definitive corruption list.
6
Let's not forget to mention Citizens United, which put into law allowing nearly unlimited corporate financial support for government legislation in favor of corporate lobbies, not for the interests of the people. Our politicians are ruled by big money. Money corrupts. We need to overturn Citizens United as a start. We need to have equal and public funding of political campaigns. Crying about corruption isn't going to do much, we need to get money out of politics.
7
@concerned citizen
Sadly, I think it will be a long time before Citizens United is overturned. Republicans and their donors don't care at all about Roe vs Wade or Heller vs DC. Those are for the suckers. What is important to them is maintaining the unlimited flow of anonymous money into our elections. They need to buy with their corrupt profits what they can't win with their ideas. The Federalist Society only exists to insure the flow of pro-corporate, pro-Republican ideologues to the Federal bench. Trump is correct when he says the system is rigged. He just omits the fact that it's rigged in favor of him and his donors.
VOTE!
1
Sorry David - misleading headline. It would be a herculean task to trace and document all of trump’s corrupt actions
And, unfortunately, heroes these days are very thin on the ground.
3
Unfortunately this is all old news. No matter how much this is reported, nothing is being done. Until there is a change in both the House and the Senate it will continue.
If, in fact the Democrats do control the House and Senate after November 6th, my hope would be that they first concentrate on issues that need to be addressed for all of the American people, Health care, Social Security and the weakening of the EPA, for starters.
At the same time they can, in the background, decide what to do about all of the corruption in the White House.
I would suggest that the best thing they could do about that is to protect Mueller until the investigation is completed. Mueller is the real key to removing Trump and his cohorts.
But then of course we will have to deal with Pence for the next 2 years, but with a majority of Democrats in the House and Senate that should be doable.
5
This list is probably the tip of the iceberg. These are dark times.
7
Elaine Chao's daddy did not rise from humble Chinese lad to shipping/financial industry magnate without the support/funding of the Chinese gov't decades ago. Marrying Mitch was at best a hedge to insure favorable legislation. Now that old Chinese transplant is a major philanthropist! daughter formulates transportation policy! and the old boy from KY is packing the courts, giving neo-nazi's a pass, letting the little people fund tax cuts for billionaires. Smog, income insecurity, trade wars, kids in cages, for-profit prisons, it's all good. Just go to a rally. Those voters in red hats will tell you.
12
Trump has no convictions, he has no respect for our country, it’s institutions mean nothing to him and he does not need the support of our people to enjoy life as he does. His life is entirely defined by having so much money that he can buy anything that he wants and there is nothing that he wants that he cannot buy. So when the principles of conduct that are expected of Presidents inconvenience him, he ignores them. His interests are his own and to him that means there cannot be any conflicts of interest in anything that he does. In a way he is an existential hero, the purely self centered and single minded person who need not compromise to have what he wants.
4
Please clarify whether the emoluments clause prevents the President by LAW from using his office for personal financial gain. We need the wording of this clause NOW -- to sort out our best course of action. Too many of these comments mix up the realities we face in returning our nation to at least a semblance of a democracy. The world is waiting. And wondering. What is America DOing?
I'm losing sleep. A lot.
9
Everything about America, including its values, can be bought and sold it seems. I work for a large well known American company and on a daily basis I see bad behavior being rewarded as long as the bad behavior brings money along for the ride. This is a top down problem. From the Government/Corporate leadership alliances ( let’s face it - our Government is owned by donors ) all the way down to the retailer marking up their overseas manufactured cheap labor products so the entitled customer can walk in and return a used shirt past the return policy date that gets thrown in a landfill and they’re still turning a profit. Don’t get me started......
2
What we have just read are the costs for Supreme Court Justices, so far two. If Mueller was given broad latitude in investigating corruption why has there been no indictments in these matters apparent to all? It appears Nixon was right, "If the president does it, it's not illegal."
3
How about the fact that we’re paying for Trump to go around the country campaigning for his Republican cronies?
And it looks like he doesn’t pay his fair share of taxes so I don’t understand why I should.
17
This is an important message. It is well compiled and written. As others have pointed out, it will be either unread by Trump supporters, denied, or countered. How to stop this mind set? It seems easy. 1. Stop Trump from using Twitter. Many of his comments there have been proven to be lies or imflammatory in nature. How this has not been implemented to date will undoubtedly be the theme of many articles & books to come. 2. Stop the charade of the "rallies."" As the Tyler Linfesty (plaid shirt guy) onscreen replacement showed, these are highly controlled audiences that promote the untrue impression that the majority of Americans support his policies and his rhetoric. 3. Make Trump speak in front of an audience that represents true segments of the USA population. This may ensue in violence, as booing, catcalls and sheer laughter (as at the UN) from segments in the audience may cause Trump supporters to become angry. Extra security is recommended, as well as live coverage from all nextworks except Fox.
9
The GOP-controlled Senate will NOT impeach Trump regardless of his actions. He is giving them cover for any number of egregious actions relating to taxes, environment, trade, judiciary and social safety net of our nation.
Should a Democratic-controlled House be elected in 2018 mid-terms, the best alternative for the country will be to focus on the 2020 elections by presenting and acting upon bills that promote the "general welfare". These would include increased funding for education, healthcare, infrastructure and social security. Forget about impeaching Trump - it simply will never happen with a GOP Senate.
12
Sadly, this column fails to shock. The behavior described has been both obvious and tolerated for so long that even I (who turn off any broadcast when our leader makes an appearance) am not shocked by the list. Perhaps it would have been helpful to point out how different the reactions would have been if such behaviors had been found in President Obama and his administration. But, alas, even this contrast has been tried and gotten nowhere. How can truth and the decent people in this country be so powerless?? Please don't say that the answer must be to adopt the tactics of the other side.
8
While this comprehensive list is very useful, and yes, a bit frightening -- I didn't really need it to understand the scope and depth of Donald Trump's questionable business and financial dealings.
But it does make me wonder why the Congress fails to recognize these infringements with regard to the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution, and why they are content to sit back and let American taxpayers get stuck with the bill.
6
Normally, I would be enraged by this article. But, having been enraged throughout the corrupt Trumpian rule, and already knowing about his, his family's and administration's abuse of taxpayer dollars, their ignoring the Constitution and the law, I simply felt resigned.
I can bluster all I want, but my letters, emails and calls to my representatives (Democrats) and to elected Republicans do nothing to turn this tide. If enough voters turn out, who haven't been removed from voter rolls in their gerrymandered districts, and whose voting machines don't change their votes, at least the Left (moderate Republicans, too), would have a fighting chance to stop some of this abuse.
Normally, when a population (say, U.S. citizens), faces a criminal empire, (say, the Mafia), there are mechanisms in place from the DOJ to investigate them,vpolice to arrest them, and juries to send them to jail.
But at the moment, there is no one in government, no department, who can, or wishes to, stop the corruption -- their ride on the gravy train.
With a lawless Republican lock on the three branches of government, now melded into one branch, with no checks, balances or decency, Americans literally have no one in government to turn to for help.
493
@Lilou
VOTE! Help Dems retake the House so there is at least one check on total Republican rule that is destroying the country.
20
@Lilou
As I mentioned before, whatever happened to the FBI investigation by Mr. Mueller? Everyone seems to have forgotten about it. I haven't, and everyone should call, write, email etc. their congressman and senator; specifically, what is the status of Mueller's FBI investigation? Also, it is absolutely imperative that all Democrats (and fed up Republicans) vote against these criminals and their cohorts. This is positive action. If all this fails, it's anyone's guess what will happen next.
21
@Lilou We are leaderless and being milked.
8
The definitive list as far as you know. It's rather juvenile to even think that you have the 'key' to Trump's corruptions. The depth of Trump's will to enjoy corruption has never been sounded. His desire to corrupt is immeasurable.Unless there was some report of the translator's work at the Helsinki meeting, we are clueless as to the depths of his betrayal.
7
It's up to the democrats if they take the house and any honest republicans left to do something at this after Nov.
The extreme left obsesses about impeachment. Instead they should be concentrating on censure, discipline and breaking of the emolument clause in the Constitution.
4
We now know if we have a corrupt administration and a Congress in a comatose state (otherwise referred to as the dead branch of government) that are existing laws and presumed protections are close to useless. Another note, however, is that when people around Trump get caught stealing, or doing something close to stealing, they go down, he does not. Anyone and everyone can be sacrificed to save the Trumpster. No one matters but him. To be "on the bus" or, more appropriately, to be one the jet with Trump is to be prepared constantly for the eject button to be pushed at any time.
3
And my conservative friends lived in fear and anxiety believing that if elected, Hillary Clinton and her husband would monetize the White House. But with the House of Trump, they could care less.
11
In the Tax “Reform” Act of 2018, there were special provisions benefiting real estate investors and golf course owners.
9
This is what Trump and his supporters refer to as "fake news." Not because the information is incorrect, but because the NYT reports the information. It's the reporting that makes Trump so angry. He never attempts to deny the allegations themselves. He just objects to the media printing the allegations.
13
@Ms. Pea Yes, he already told a reporter in 2016 that his goal was to denigrate the media so that his followers would believe only him...
1
Surely Trump's ceaseless campaigning instead of governing, flying all over the country in Air Force One to attend rally after rally, is a huge waste of taxpayer money in transportation costs, Secret Service protection etc?
7
There is nothing new or surprising in any of this. It is immeasurably pitiful that nearly half of American voters think so little of their ethics, integrity, or money that they continue to wink, nod, and look the other way at Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and their minions so long as they are told what their gut feelings want to hear.
The moral fiber of America and our institutions has long been decaying, it's only more blatant than ever now. If a sufficient number of voters fail again in 2018 and 2020 to put partisanship in the rear view mirror and concentrate on our country's best interests in their windshields, we'll have only ourselves to blame for the loss of the priceless gift that our forebears have handed us at great cost to themselves, and with it our inherited freedom and way of life.
We have no excuse to tolerate continued gerrymandering, voter exclusions, corrupt politicians and administrative staff, and gross incompetence, negligence, and malfeasance in office. The responsibility and accountability for maintaining an effective, representative government ultimately lie with the people, not the politicians. If the people insist that they know better, and continue to allow themselves to be hoodwinked and pushed around by those with less than honorable intentions, they no longer will be self-governing but will be governed by the crooks they put in power. It matters not a whit whether they believe such action serves their own interests, it most assuredly does not.
11
And through all of this money falling into pockets, and Congress doing nothing, nothing, and nothing,,,, they cannot formulate a budget.
Congress does not plan a budget, can't pass a budget, and the Republicans have had full control of Congress for 4 years now.
They confuse themselves with conservatives,,, but there is nothing conservative about a constant budget deficit. They are not conservatives,,, just 'wanna be's.
Republicans must think it a good idea to make our children and grandchildren pay their bills. They must hate grand babies. They just line their own pockets.
Pass a balanced budget.
5
Trump will make as much money as possible while in power. To stay in power, he spent his time on social media to identify sound bites and it repeat them to the delight of his supporters. He may get away with it.
4
Another article where the ultimate conclusion ends with: Vote on November 6th. Restore the checks and balances!
4
This is definitely NOT the definitive list. These are only the obvious corrupt practices that bubble to the top. I assure you that there are more examples of corruption that will be coming out. Without question be watching when the Democrats gain control of a house of congress and have investigations, and when the Mueller probe releases more information.
8
It is both unbelievable and unbearable that the sum of all government entities could not protect us from this corrupt man. As I write this, he is still there. Checks and Balances did not work because no one considered the corruption that was so easily and eagerly shared by the House Republicans in order to protect and defend: not we the people, but a Republican moral deficient. What comes after Checks and Balances -- I don't know either.
And for what? A stacked Supreme Court that was
shy one conservative perjurer? Brett and Bart Kavanaugh was so necessary to appease the ossified
hearts, souls, minds and desires of post-geriatric
Republican Senators?
And for what? Decades and decades of salivating for the Laws to be changed whereupon women, young and old, will have the right to make choices for their
own bodies taken away? How thrilling for these men who have little else to live for but the right to tell women and other lessers 'no.'
And as I write this HE is still there. Rally as governance. Well, let me say this with all that's in me: These are not rallies, these are Putsches.
7
The annul U.S. budget is 3.8 trillion dollars, I have no doubt Trump views that as a pile of money ripe for the picking. The Wall would be a giant boondoggle rife with cost over runs, design changes and kickbacks. As always “follow the money.”
4
In Germany, the scandals involving a mortgage loan and a vacation payment of about $600 created the backdrop for the President’s resignation about 6 years ago. Of course, everything is bigger in the USA. Even boiled frog syndrome.
8
It's clear by now that we may expect no Republicans to lift their voices in protest at the Trumpian loot & pillage-fest going on. We have one resort. Voting. Turn the GOP out of office and we have a chance to stop Mr. Trump's gravy train and to force him and his cohorts to make restitution to the American people.
Vote, people! Vote while we're still permitted to vote. And no, I'm not kidding in that last sentence. If that doesn't chill your heart, you've not been paying attention to what's going on in this country.
7
“The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them. “ Article 2, section 1, para 7 of the US Constitution.
He shall receive no profit from the government, while in office, other than his set compensation.
So when a federal employee stays at a property he owns, it is a clear violation of this clause. When a property he owns is compensated for being used by a government official to have a meeting, it is a violation.
How many times has this happened?
7
And yet 42.4% of Americans, in the most recent polling, do not care. That's 4 out of 10 of us.
Almost half. That's the real story here.
7
I wonder how many realize our country is actually being run by a genuine criminal enterprise as we speak? Don't think this will quietly just "go away" regardless of elections
5
Trump has always had someone protecting him from facing consequences of his many illegal acts. Now, it's the Republican congress, who are all too willing to turn a blind eye to his criminality as long as he signs their bills into law. The Mueller investigation, effective in prosecuting Trump's minions, will ultimately be thwarted if Mueller brings criminal charges. Why? Again, Trump is fortunate to have the two other branches running interference for him. Even if the House is recaptured by the Democrats and they bring impeachment charges, the Republican senate will acquit him. And now that Kavanaugh is on SCOTUS, he will protect Trump should Mueller opt for an indictment. Trump leads a charmed life. The constitutional bed rock of checks and balances has been turned on its head. The executive (Trump), legislative (Republican controlled Senate) and judicial (Kavanaugh tips the scale) branches are operating not as a check and balance system but as a corrupt unit.
7
I applaud the NYT for this investigation, great work! My thoughts and prayers revolve around locking up the president and his corrupt associates and returning this country to sanity and balance. And that means voting Democratic. God help us all.
8
An article like this leaves me seething. It's bad enough that all this is happening.
It is worse that Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan, who are constitutionally mandated to serve as a check and balance against this kind of behavior, are doing nothing to stop it, to rein it in, and to hold the so-called administration accountable for it. Nothing!
Americans, vote Democratic. Your country is calling. It may be among the last times that you can effectively do anything about it. Without a House or Senate (or both!) that will hold the corrupt accountable, it may be lost forever.
6
Excellent information.
Besides the corruption aspect of all of this, what grinds my goat is that regardless of how the lawsuit plays out in court, the Trumps will never have to pay back all this money.
How long will it take Trump minions to realize that he is laughing at them behind their backs and all the way to the bank.
5
Wow, really stretching with these examples. The Democratic House will have very little to work with to smear the Administration in hearings. Trump travels to, stays, eats, and even gives discounts at his properties, and that about sums up the most egregious behavior. Oh, and there are still plans and talks about potentially expanding to other countries his branding effort. Plus, many of his cabinet officials are capitalists who favor private business over government. Yep, we are talking Uranium One, Foundation, renting rooms at the White House, big time corruption.
1
Why is any of it ok?
It was a scandal when Clinton rented out the Lincoln bedroom. But note well: he didn’t collect the rent. The Democratic Party did. Even so, he was forced to stop the practice, as he should have been.
Trump is lining his pockets and possibly selling national policy at our expense. How do prior scandals make that ok?
You forgot....
Benghazi!!!
I am an independent centrist who thinks Obama was and is the best thing since sliced bread. I definitely don’t like having Trump in the Oval. Your list demonstrates numerous examples of atrocious behavior. However, when you go after Shulkin, the way you did, I become concerned about partisanship harming your credibility.
2
As a citizen, how may I share in the profits Trump and the others are making at my expense? Oh - that would happen if Trump (and others) paid their fair share of taxes. Hmm ... we are already pretty certain that Kushner does not. Trump? Until we see his tax returns, we'll never know.
4
The true scandal is not what the are doing, but that no one seems to care.
10
And so, children, the moral of this story is, if you're going to do corruption, go all the way. If it is widespread, it will look so normal that anyone questioning it will be the one who is out of line.
7
I am really surprised at the level of graft and corruption. Said no one.
Trump has been described as a transactional President. Millions of Americans could be described in the same manner. They new they were getting a corrupt CEO (is there another kind?) as their leader. They were willing to deal with that in exchange for an expanding economy, tax cuts and putting an end to quasi open borders.
People knew what they were getting. They bet on Trump improving their lives even if ever so slightly. They knew Trump was going to get paid. A transactional public. This does not foretell a positive future for our nation. Money is the driving force for America. Sad.
3
This list, as outrageous as it is, is surely but the tip of the iceberg. No doubt Mueller's team, armed with subpoena powers, has amassed definitive evidence of long-standing corruption in this family business. It is my belief and fervent hope that Mueller's team now has essentially completed its investigation, and is only awaiting the results of the upcoming midterm election before presenting its findings to DOJ and Congress in the knowledge that if this report is presented beforehand while the thoroughly corrupt GOP retains control of both houses of congress it will never see the light of day. But even if the election does not bring change in at least the House I am confident that patriotic Americans with detailed knowledge of the investigation's findings will make those known to the American people. Now more than ever we need a Deep Throat, and I am certain that one will come forward. The question will then become whether the people will insist that the law be applied, and whether the institutions of our democracy still function. I have to believe that, ultimately, justice will be served. The alternative is simply too bleak to contemplate.
4
Obama - pushed for net neutrality laws put forward by Netflix. Leaves office, gets $30 million deal to produce shows and films for Netflix. Susan Rice gets a board gig at Netflix. As for Trump's hotels, commercial interests operated at arms length, should not be a disqualifier for for office. As much as the D.C. establishment wants to keep outsiders as donors and not have them enter the ring, the country is hurt when patriotic Americans are barred fro running because of their commercial success. Otherwise, I hope the NY Times takes it into account when Bloomberg runs. He's used his platform to bash Trump and would have an entire news organization backing his run. The establishment, especially Democrats, prefer their deep seated backers to operate in the shadows with big checks to a myriad of progressive front organizations like MoveOn. Obama said nobody in his administration was ever indicted - which is actually the point. Holder wasn't going to investigate himself for Fast and Furious, and Clinton was exonerated before she was even interviewed by Comey/Strzok's FBI. A wholly corrupt FBI leadership team, overseen by a Loretta Lynch who was said to be compromised by Comey, but who still to this day hasn't been investigated, made sure Obama's team got off free.
1
Let's call it The Definitive List, So Far.
3
Good but undoubtedly incomplete list. Remember, most of the corruption of the Harding administration was discovered during the Coolidge administration.
4
It's just so appalling that I can't read the entire list. I will, however, VOTE blue straight ticket from now until... ever? The republicans have shown who they are.
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Most the things listed here are just exaggerations like the so called list of Trump "lies" compiled by mainstream medias. However, it is good to keep an eye on their activities. The people who were involved in real thing, left already under pressure.
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It’s a lie to call the migrants in Mexico a “horde”. It’s a lie to call it a crisis, when a few thousand people is all in a day’s work for border protection. It’s a lie to say they are criminals. It’s a lie to say they’re funded by Democrats. It’s a lie to say Democrats want open borders.
Trump said all those things. Last week. No one need exaggerate what he says to call him a liar.
As for corruption, you can be sure we haven’t heard the last of it or the worst of it. The Chinese thing is especially troubling. It the opposite of a tariff: lifting sanctions on a company suspected of compromising national security.
Asked where they’d get the rope to hang the capitalists, Lenin famously said, “They’ll sell it to us”. It’s happening now, before our very eyes.
While this administration and this president are indeed demonstrably corrupt, it is also sadly true that this sort of corruption is now part of every administration. Trump is just much more blatant about it. We need a Democratic Congress to check this.
People vote for those like Trump, Orban, and Bolsonaro because they hope, to some degree, that things will improve for themselves, but even more so, are convinced that their choices will not make things worse.
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"History won't be kind about this". It's a meaningless platitude now. By the time this tragedy is undone none of us will be here to remember it.
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I would disagree that the present administration is the"most corrupt ... of our lifetimes" - Going back in time you ould be hard put to it to find any administration that even gets near. Corruption was previously something the US organised in other countries, such as the Central American "banana republics" while keeping the level down at home. Payments to corrupt governments in order to protect US interests were on a par with those made by other states, such as Russia, but were not generally intended to enrich the "royal" (i.e. presidential) dynasty.
However, in the present climate of "who-shouts-loudest-wins"
nothing is likely to change, until or unless the American taxpayer realizes he or she is being taken for one almighty ride in all departments (an eventuality which seems highly unlikely.
Hopefully after next weeks elections, this corruption will be handled by the congress. There are many investigations the should take place and the perpetrators punished. Vote!
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I love it when someone else does the research and lists all the things we know but can’t always keep track of, especially without the tax return. I hope the Trump supporters keep in mind how much “winning” they are having especially when they get to the bottom of the Trump list of “filling my pockets” while I empty yours.
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These are important facts. Trump has blatantly acted like he is above the law. When he says he has to contribute to both Democratic and Republican candidates to get what he wants, is he paying them off? And why do Americans accept that type of He has entered an already crooked system and made it much, much worse.
And much worse, both Trump and Republicans ignore the public’s desire for gun control. The tragedies in Pittsburg and Kentucky just in the last week should have been a final straw but they won’t be. People are starting to wonder where and when the next disturbed person with a gun will go on a shooting rampage. Our society is strained by these awful events.
Environmental degradation is accelerating on our planet and scientists now forecast a dismal future for humanity is action isn’t taken soon. They have been correct so far, except degradation is happening faster than anticipated. I could accept corruption if Trump and friends just cared about others and our planet. Of course, if they cared about anything or anyone other than themselves, they wouldn’t be as corrupt as they are.
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Folks, Congress is on the take, too. That is why Trump and Kushner and Fam are given a green light. They all profit from "green." We The People means nothing any longer. Our "government" could care less about us.
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" They have enabled the most corrupt administration of our lifetimes."
Why? Why? Why are these supposedly public servants turning a blind eye to this mind-boggling degree of corruption? Is it just plain cynicism? Their paymasters in the 1% have gotten their heart's desire in tax cuts, so "don't rock the boat?" Obviously some GOP congress people are hoping to get their own slice of the payoff pie, but so far there is no evidence of general payola for the majority. Given the surreality of the times, one would not be surprised by any sort of bizzare explanation. So how about this for a wild hypothesis: It turns out that the funneling of Russian funds into the election didn't stop with Facebook ads and Wikileaks, but included huge donations to the NRA which as we all know is one of the mainstays of GOP campaign funding. Sounds unlikely? Well yes, except that there are a suprising number of points of contact between Russians and the NRA, and we know the FBI is investigating donations from a Krelin banker and other Russians that may have been funneled to the Trump campaign. So what if the GOP has knowlingly taken Russian donations through the NRA? That would certainly make them much more likely to support this corrupt administration, because they are all in the same boat. If Trump goes down, they will likely be pulled down in the same dirty whirlpool of fraud and malfeasance. Just a thought.
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Teapot Dome was as nothing compared to the present corruption which is unprecedented at the highest levels of US government.
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On Nov 6, voters, the only ones who can ensure that corruption and nepotism in the white house, congress and supreme court is cleaned out, will get a chance to vote.
i have already voted for democrats across the board to check and balance the most corrupt white house, republican congress and supreme court in US history. it is clear that the trump family avoided tens of millions in taxes, and trump himself committed outright tax fraud in real estate, and when he ran predatory operations like trump university. if voters fail, we will all pay a heavy price. a brazenly corrupt, shady and unethical trump and GOP will cause a total collapse in public and global investor confidence in america's democratic institutions. it will inevitably cause a recession, severe drop in standards of living in america, and millions in the middle class will sink into poverty.we have seen total chaos in the white house, and non-performance from the GOP, whose only legislation has been a failed tax plan that benefits the ultrawealthy mostly, increased taxes on the middle class in many states by limiting the salt deduction, and increased the deficit by 2 trillion. the gdp growth rate is going to drop to below 2 percent very soon and we may slide into a recession. medicare, social security and affordable care are in imminent danger. trump's and the gop's is the worst government in a very long time.
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@observer: Trump is just funding another scam by charging it all to the national debt.
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