Posted on 11/29/2016 1:50:29 PM PST by Theoria
After Donald Trump is sworn in as president on Jan. 20, he will follow a time-honored tradition and make his way from the U.S. Capitol down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Along the way, just a few blocks before he reaches the White House, he'll pass the Trump International Hotel. The 263-room luxury hotel is becoming the focus of a debate over conflict of interest between Trump and his business dealings.
Trump doesn't actually own the landmark building, which was once the headquarters of the U.S. Post Office. In 2013, he signed a 60-year lease for the building with the General Services Administration, which helps manage and support federal agencies. The Trump Organization spent upwards of $200 million on renovations and reopened it as a hotel about a month before the Nov. 8 presidential election.
But there's a hitch, according to Steven Schooner, a government procurement expert who is also a law professor at the George Washington University School of Law. Schooner has studied the 100-plus-page contract and says there's a clause that clearly states elected officials should have no role in the lease.
"The contract between GSA and the Trump Organization specifically says that no elected official of the United States government shall be party to, share in, or benefit from the contract," he says, citing clause 37.19 of the contract.
Schooner says the GSA should terminate the lease before Trump becomes president.
(Excerpt) Read more at npr.org ...
Hand it off to the kids in a term trust. They’re going to wind up with it anyway.
find two lawyers who say that say he can.
I hate the media
Well, he’s actually effin wrong.
The exclusions are the President and V.P.
Besides, if he steps down from Trump Enterprises the point becomes moot.
wanna bet?
I hope the lease gives him the ability to assign yet to his kids. If not, yes, it will be quite a legal battle. They are going to spend four years trying to destroy his business.
Imagine them declaring the lease void and trying to take advantage of all the money he put into the building.
That’s.one GWU professor who won’t get any more grants.
He should just put it into the Trump Family Trust, and let his spouse run it while he is in office. She could give speeches for $1M, and set aside money for Barron’s wedding.
The MSM has no problem with that model based on what I’ve seen.
stop funding of NPR.
it is easy if you try.
Carping. Trump, Inc., will hold the lease, not Donald himself. For the interim, the operations of Trump, Inc., will be administered by the Trump children. Not exactly a blind trust, but then, what occupant of the White House has EVER had a completely blind trust?
Everybody familiar with the operation knows who the players are.
Excellent.
Executive order says he can do it!
Although government regs exempt the prez and VP, they may not apply here. If the guy is right, Trump agreed to those terms when he executed the lease and, as between the parties, will have to live with those terms. Yes, he needs to step down from his role. But what if he is not allowed to assign the contact to his kids or a trust? We will have to see the language regarding that.
He’s not talking about the law in general, but the terms of the lease on one specific federally owned property. He could be right,
Funny how foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation have almost completely ceased. The Trump International Hotel was shunned by the NBA and other politically correct liberals. Now it is being booked solid by foreign diplomats. These are the same foreigners who once donated to the Clinton Foundation. The Arabs are not terribly subtle.
Note that this #fakenews story leaves out the part of the indicated clause that makes it inapplicable to shareholders in a public corp. As long as the trump company signing the lease is a public corp, with DT a shareholder of that corp, the clause does not apply.
Just another example of the #fakenews media giving the public half truths.
If the contract says he can't hold the lease, then he can't hold the lease.
Hey, he will be the PRESIDENT...stuff like this didn’t stop Obama. All trump has to do is use his phone and his pen! Enjoy it Democrats!!!! You set the precedent.
It was only a $200 million reno, and $3 million a year lease. What’s the big deal? /s
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