Politics - News Analysis

Trump Suggests That Daughter Ivanka is the Shining Example of How Not to be Corrupt

Donald Trump on Thursday gave a speech to celebrate that the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of two charges following a bitter impeachment trial.

And it was full of lies and pure hypocrisy.

Trump was all over the place, talking about everything under the sun.

But of course he had to get his digs into Hunter Biden, the son of former VP Joe Biden and current 2020 Presidential candidate.

Trump said that the US and Ukraine have a treaty “that we will work together to root out corruption in Ukraine” and said:

“I probably have a legal obligation, Mr. Attorney, to report corruption. But they don’t think it’s corrupt when a son that made no money, that got thrown out of the military, that had no money at all, is working for $3 million up front, $83,000 a month — and that’s only Ukraine — then goes to China, picks up $1.5 billion, then goes to Romania, I hear, and many other countries.”

Trump was referring to Hunter Biden’s employment on the board of the Ukrainian natural-gas company Burisma Holdings. While ethics experts have said the younger Biden’s work for the company could have posed conflicts of interest, there is no evidence that Hunter or Joe Biden engaged in any corrupt activities related to Burisma.

Trump then had the nerve to use his daughter Ivanka as an example of someone who isn’t corrupt.

Let’s take a look at that.

Donald Trump’s three oldest children are all making money off of his presidency.

Eric Trump and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., run the Trump Organization, which conducts business — and takes in tens of millions of dollars annually — around the globe and is still owned by the president. The company is forging ahead with projects in Ireland, India, Indonesia and Uruguay, and is licensing the Trump name in such turbulent areas as Turkey and the Philippines.

Their sister Ivanka is a senior advisor to the president. She kept her international fashion business going for 18 months after she was given a loosely defined White House portfolio that includes interacting with heads of state and working with domestic and international corporate chiefs on economic programs.

On the same day Trump and his daughter dined with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago in Florida in April 2017, China awarded her three preliminary trademark approvals for jewelry, handbags and spa services. In all, she has obtained more than a dozen Chinese trademarks since entering the White House, ensuring her access to the world’s second-largest economy if she goes back into business.

Time and again, Trump’s children have blurred the lines of family, nation and business — essentially the charge the president makes against the Bidens.

Trump’s children “appear to people all over the world to be his bagmen,” said Richard Painter, who served as White House ethics czar under President George W. Bush. “This is the Trump business empire. It’s owned by Donald Trump, the president, and they are managing it for him and collecting business on his behalf.”

While Hunter Biden’s overseas deals may have embarrassed his father, now a Democratic presidential candidate, no evidence has emerged to suggest wrongdoing by the former vice president.

“There’s no substantiated or credible allegation that I know of that Hunter Biden’s work was personally financially benefiting Joe Biden,” said Robert Maguire, research director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit that is suing Trump and alleges he is illegally profiting from the presidency.

“With President Trump, we know his two adult sons are going around the country and the world to make money for a company that President Trump himself personally profits from, that he also personally promotes using the White House,” he added.

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