Comments by "Voix de la raison" (@voixdelaraison593) on "Rod Blagojevich on the failures of modern-day politics | Rooftop Revelations" video.
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@texaskippen
As president, Donald Trump has flouted all kinds of norms, starting with his decision not to divest from his business interests while in office. That set the stage for an administration marked by self-interest, profiteering at the highest levels and more than 3,700 conflicts of interest.
Trump’s Administration had 215 indictments of his administration, Nixon only 63, Reagan 26, Obama 0, Carter 1.
Public corruption was out in the open during Trump's administration, with people looking to reach into the government’s wallet staying at Trump’s hotel in Washington. Trump even proposed having the government pay for a summit of international leaders at his resort in Miami.That flaunting of government power for personal and political gain led to Trump’s first impeachment.
Giuliani now faces possible criminal charges over his dealings in Ukraine. Giuliani’s home and law office were raided earlier this year by the FBI in a search for cellphones and other evidence.
One of the few constants throughout the Donald J. Trump administration has been corruption. Since his first day as president, when Trump took the wholly unprecedented step of refusing to divest1 from his private businesses, his administration has been characterized by an unending effort by him, his family, and his senior advisers to abuse their political power for personal gain.
Of course, those efforts started long before Trump was elected; in just one example, Trump had the federal government pay him more than $1.5 million2 for the Secret Services’ use of his private plane during the campaign. These efforts to enrich himself and those around him continued through the inauguration, in which Trump abandoned past practice to allow for unlimited donations from wealthy individuals and corporations so he could raise record sums—reportedly more than $107 million. He then used that money to help his friends, including paying a company owned by Melania Trump’s friend and senior advisor, $26 million3 to help plan the event. To this day, some of the money raised still has not been accounted for.
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@texaskippen
Trump Corruption creates national security risks
Trump’s culture of corruption poses serious risks to the nation’s security. The president and his senior advisers deal with issues that have effects across the globe—in making those decisions, it is critical that they do so based on America’s national interests. But the Trump administration—has on numerous occasions—seemed to do the opposite; shaping foreign policy based on what is in their personal interests, or those of foreign benefactors.
Take the Trump administration’s response to Russia’s attack on the U.S. electoral system. The American intelligence community unequivocally determined25 that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to aid Donald Trump. In response, then-President Barack Obama issued26 sweeping sanctions to punish Russia for its interference.
Trump, however, has continually sought to roll back Russian sanctions. In the immediate aftermath of Obama’s sanctions, while still president-elect, Trump’s designee for national security adviser, Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, contacted Russia and told them not to escalate27 in response to the sanctions. Senior U.S. officials viewed that effort as a signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from the Obama imposed punishment. Flynn later pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI28 about his conversations with Russia.
Shortly after Trump became president, the White House sought29 to lift sanctions against Russia for its illegal annexation of Crimea and invasion of Eastern Ukraine. Later, Trump fought30 congressional efforts to codify and expand the Obama sanctions and prevent him from weakening them. After Congress nearly unanimously passed the sanctions legislation, the Trump administration repeatedly undermined31 the bill’s implementation, before finally moving forward32 with a delayed and incomplete sanctions package against a select group of Russians who interfered in the election. Even after taking this legally required action, Trump later walked back33 further Russian sanctions that his own U.N. ambassador said would be issued and declared that there would be no further sanctions levied against Russia without a triggering event.
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@texaskippen
Trump is not the only government official who has appeared to let personal interests cloud his judgment when it comes to national security affairs. After Flynn was forced to resign as national security adviser, it came to light that he had been paid more than $500,00037 to secretly advocate for the interests of Turkey, including while he was on the Trump campaign. He seemingly continued to advocate for positions beneficial to Turkey during the presidential transition and into Trump’s presidency; case in point, Flynn blocked38 an effort to arm Syrian Kurds in order to combat the Islamic State group (IS), a decision that was in line with the Turkish government’s strong opposition to arming the Kurds. Apparently, others in the administration thought the effort would be important to combatting IS, since after Flynn was forced out of the White House, the administration moved forward with the plan.39
White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner—the president’s son-in-law—has raised similar concerns about where his loyalties lie. In one striking instance, his real estate business interests may have influenced his foreign policy positions, threatening to destabilize an already challenging situation in the Middle East. As widely reported, Kushner’s real estate company is facing a $1.2 billion debt40 for a Manhattan building it owns, and he has been meeting with potential foreign sources of funding to try and make the payment. Reportedly, Kushner’s real estate company had sought a $1 billion investment from Qatar’s minister of finance, funding that was not provided.41 Just weeks after declining the funding request, Trump unexpectedly sided with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in a blockade of Qatar, contrary to the views42 of his own departments of State and Defense. Kushner was reportedly43 a major supporter of the blockade, raising questions as to whether his push to ignore Middle East experts and foster tension in the volatile region—potentially putting U.S. troops at risk44—was a product of his policy views or payback for Qatar’s business decisions. Subsequently, the Qatari government considered sharing information with Department of Justice (DOJ) special counsel Robert Mueller about Kushner’s actions,45 but decided not to given the fact that talks with the United States had been productive, meaning that they too could potentially have leverage over Kushner in the future.
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