Free Republic

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez pushed back against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's rejection of a ban on members of Congress from trading and holding individual stock while in office. In a series of tweets on Friday evening, Ocasio-Cortez reiterated her prior opposition to members trading individual stock while in office, writing that the practice is inappropriate when members "write major policy and have access to sensitive information."

But the biggest Trump fans and "Never Trumpers" alike should be concerned about something we haven't yet quite experienced on such a serious scale in American politics, and that is having a President of the United States who's also the owner of dozens of iconic and eponymous businesses. Oh, and so far that incoming president says he intends to continue owning and running them. It's not just that Mr. Trump is a businessperson, it's the fact that he has so many varied and well-known business interests that the potential for conflict of interest is almost infinite. This is a far...

Nearly every morning since their father's stunning victory on Election Day, three of Donald Trump's grown children walk through the Trump Tower lobby and board an elevator. But are Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric going to the campaign office on the fifth floor? Their business offices on the 25th floor? The president-elect's penthouse on the 56th floor? That uncertainty highlights the multiple roles the children play for their father. For the past year, the lines were constantly blurred between political campaign and business empire, raising questions about a possible conflict of interest between Trump's White House and his sprawling business...

A question I have not heard asked or obviously answered is, What does Trump do vis a vis his empire if he becomes president? COO of a ten Billion dollar empire stretching across several continents and countries is quite a responsibility to pass off to a blind trust. Just wondering.

Running for office in 1994, Romney called blind trusts "an age old ruse." Mitt's Blind Trust Bluff

Thank God for youtube or Romney would be able to lie about everything.

When Mitt Romney faced questions on the campaign trail four years ago about investments in firms engaged in embryonic stem cell research, the presidential candidate had a ready explanation -- he was unaware because his vast financial portfolio was under the control of an independent trustee. Last week, Romney's campaign pulled out the same explanation when ABC News sought details about the candidate's holdings in the Cayman Islands, a notorious offshore tax haven. "We remind you that Gov. Romney does not choose anything; these are BLIND TRUSTS," a campaign official wrote in an email. But government ethics experts and election...

Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry has revoked the blind trust that holds the majority of his investments, revealing for the first time in 15 years where his money is invested. The Texas governor provided a range for the number of shares he holds in each of 25 different stocks that together are worth between $108,000 and $319,000. His portfolio was well-diversified, with holdings in major corporations from the United States and Europe. Perry also listed eight municipal bond holdings, all of them from outside of Texas. No value was given for those bonds. He also listed a money-market account worth...

Earlier this week, Eli Lake reported that the four-star Air Force general in charge of US Space Command told a Congressional panel that the White House pressured him to change his testimony to favor a company that shelled out donations for Democrats. LightSquared wants to press forward on a project that the military fears will create serious interference with GPS systems, and General William Shelton was going to address those concerns with Congress before the White House tried to push him into saying a few nice words on behalf of their sponsor. A reminder: The four-star Air Force general who...

Senator Boxer pushes book while crowds protest Senator Barbara Boxer at Book Passage Marin got a small dose of the health care protests on Wednesday evening when U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer made an appearance at Corte Madera's Book Passage to promote her newest work of fiction, Blind Trust. Holding hand-made signs, about two dozen protesters lined the entrance to the Book Passage's parking lot. Boxer protestor, Pam Silleman of Napa "She should be doing town hall meetings with her constituents instead of book tours," said Pam Silleman who was waving at cars and carrying a sign that read "Born Free...

The new chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board owns stocks in several oil, coal and utility firms, some of which are likely to be affected by rules the agency implements as part of the state's groundbreaking law to fight global warming, The Chronicle has learned. Mary Nichols' stock holdings include shares in oil giants Chevron Corp., BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell, as well as a stake in a Bermuda tanker company that transports crude oil, according to economic interest statements she filed this week. She also owns stock in the world's largest coal company, Peabody Energy Corp., along...

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are scheduled to spend part of today at a San Jose networking company in which the governor has an indirect financial stake. The company, Echelon Corp., manufacturers energy-saving control systems and will host the governor and the U.N. chief for a morning tour and press conference where both leaders are expected to praise California companies and their efforts to address global warming issues. But Schwarzenegger, who has a personal fortune estimated at more than $100 million, also has a holding of at least $1 million in an investment fund that...

WASHINGTON -- White House hopeful Barack Obama was on the defensive Wednesday over stock purchases from companies whose investors included his political donors. And Obama revealed that he terminated a "quasi-blind" trust he created for the stock purchases -- called the "Freedom Trust" -- after realizing that it wasn't blind after all. Obama's campaign team ramped up a rapid reaction defense after a story about his portfolio hit the front page of Wednesday's New York Times and was the subject of scrutiny Monday on thestreet.com. Denies any connection The political damage potential is high because one of the firms Obama...

WASHINGTON - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) said Wednesday he was not aware he had invested in two companies backed by some of his top donors and said he had done nothing to aid their business with the government. The Illinois senator faced questions about more than $50,000 in investments he made right after taking office in 2005 in two speculative companies, AVI Biopharma and Skyterra Communications. Obama said his broker bought the stocks as part of a quasi-blind trust in which he was not consulted when trades were made. "At no point did I know...

It took Senator Jon S. Corzine two decades to work his way to the top of Goldman Sachs and accumulate company shares that in 2001 were valued at $270 million. But now, all that he has left in the company is - well, nothing. On Tuesday, Mr. Corzine's campaign revealed that he had completed his divestiture of his Goldman Sachs holdings. And while it was not clear when the last of the holdings was sold, Tom Shea, a senior campaign adviser, said the sale was probably completed this year, because Mr. Corzine did not list it on his 2004 tax...

In August 2001, an audience got to see Arnold Schwarzenegger drive the M-47 Patton tank he originally drove during his short stint in the Austrian army when he was 18. Riding next to the turret was Paul Wachter. The photo op was part of a ceremony in which the tank went on permanent display at the Motts Military Museum in Groveport, Ohio. But, according to some of his critics, the tank ride with Arnold might be the perfect illustration of Wachter’s career. Wachter, one of the most powerful political insiders in the state, is the manager of the blind trust...