February 22, 2019
THE PRESIDENCY AS CASH COW:
A Swamp Story: Trump Encouraged a Foreign Official to Back a Donor's Business Deal (DAN FRIEDMAN, FEBRUARY 22, 2019, Mother jones)
Here's a new scandal for Donald Trump: The president personally encouraged the Qatari government to finance a nuclear power plant project pursued by a top Trump donor. And shortly after Trump's intervention, this big-money donor, Franklin Haney, a Memphis-based real estate developer who contributed $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee, hired Michael Cohen, the president's longtime personal lawyer, to help land this Qatari investment. This wheeling and dealing was occurring as the Gulf nation was eagerly seeking to gain influence with Trump. It's a tale of how the Trump swamp works: Trump's personal and political connections overlap with private business interests that are linked to foreign policy matters.
Posted by Orrin Judd at February 22, 2019 5:36 PM