Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:48 pm
That big stack of papers and folders that Trump claimed were the documents he used to turn his business over to his sons turned out to be empty fakes.
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Trump said, “So this is all — just so you understand, these papers — because I’m not sure that was explained properly. But these papers are all just a piece of the many, many companies that are being put into trust to be run by my two sons that I hope at the end of eight years, I’ll come back and say, oh, you did a good job. Otherwise, if they do a bad job, I’ll say, “You’re fired.â€
The Trump transition team wouldn’t let reporters see inside the folders or examine the papers, and CNN found out why:
Update: The Trump team did not allow the press to see the contents of the folders. Photo by Noah Gray/CNN pic.twitter.com/zKc9fv3Sba
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 11, 2017
It turns out that the papers were blank, and the folders were empty.
The whole plan to avoid conflicts of interest was another empty Trump scam.
Speaking of Trump’s plan not to set up a blind trust or divest himself of his interests, the head of the Office of Government Ethics hammered Trump’s plan for being meaningless. OGE Director Walter Shaub said, “The plan the president-elect has announced doesn’t meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the last four decades have met. Stepping back from running his business is meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective.”
Trump tried to scam America, but the low-level con was quickly smelled out and caught. Trump could put his assets in a blind trust. He also could divest his interests. The Trump team claims that it would too hard for Trump to divest, but divestiture would be a small price to pay in exchange for being president.
The president-elect is holding on to his business interests for a reason. Donald Trump’s presidency is going to be a family money making operation. By flaunting the ethical precedents, Trump is setting up a potential for corruption in the White House that this country hasn’t seen in decades.
Just like the folders at his press conference, Trump’s plan to resolve his conflicts of interest is totally blank and empty.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
