As a candidate in 2016, Donald Trump, suggesting his opponent was a dirty, transactional pol, offered himself as a man free of the entanglements of supposed Washington swamp creatures, an independent businessman who was free to do what was right for America.
He has delivered a presidency with more corrupt ties than any in memory, corrupting the honest workings of the federal government. It’s our 78th reason he must be denied a second term.
Begin with the fact that, despite 19 promises to divest himself from the private-sector enterprise he owns — a business with countless ambitions and obligations, here and overseas — Trump has failed to do so. His sons Don Jr. and Eric, ostensibly running the family business, pledged to separate stay away from government affairs. They didn’t. Meanwhile, White House staffer daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka and Jared Kushner, maintain their holdings.
For Trump himself, this isn’t just about foreign emoluments in violation of a clause of the Constitution (oh, that): It’s about clear and present tainting of the honest operation of the executive branch. The New York Times, which obtained two decades’ worth of Donald Trump’s tax records, this weekend mined those documents and found that “just 60 customers with interests at stake before the administration brought the Trump Organization nearly $12 million during the first two years of Mr. Trump’s presidency.”
“Almost all saw their interests advanced, in some fashion, by Mr. Trump or his government.”
Individuals, interest groups and profit-making enterprises — domestic and foreign alike — poured cash into Trump’s hotels, resorts and other concerns, and got something they wanted in return.
Corruption, thy name is Trump.
This is the Daily News Editorial Board’s reminder of 99 reasons Donald Trump ought to be disqualified from serving a second term as president. To read more, go here.
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