.
“I believe the simplest explanation is, there is no God. No one created the universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization that there probably is no heaven and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the universe and for that, I am extremely grateful.”
Stephen Hawking
FPS'S DAILY POST
No wonder he don't care if appointing his son in law as top advisor is in violation of fed. law.WHAT’S AN ATTORNEY GENERAL TO DO?
The Attorney General is expected to maintain an arm’s-length distance from the President, providing him and his cabinet secretaries with independent legal advice while enforcing the laws of the United States.
Jeff Sessions seems an unlikely pick if that’s the kind of AG Trump has in mind.
Sessions was the first U.S. Senator to back Trump in his bid for the presidency and bought into the campaign whole hog. He served as a close advisor, coached Trump on his VP pick, used a top aide to help craft Trump’s stance on immigration, and took the public position that grabbing a woman’s genitals is not sexual assault.
Session’s political loyalty to Trump and his insider status with the campaign raise serious questions about whether he can faithfully serve as “the people’s lawyer,” not Trump’s, in the face of thorny and inevitable ethics issues.
WILL SESSIONS BE UP TO THE JOB?
As Attorney General, Sessions would have to set aside his loyalties to Trump to enforce the laws of the United States impartially. Laughable
CONFLICTS FROM DAY ONE
The DOJ will have to grapple with a number of conflicts issue from the day Trump is sworn into office, including:
The obvious conflict between Trump’s business interests and the interests of the nation, and what type of blind trust or other arrangement is adequate to cure that conflict. Ethics experts are clear that Trump must divest himself from the Trump Organization, using a trustee to liquidate the assets and place funds in a blind trust, something Trump is unlikely to do. Trump had planned to announce his decision on how to handle his business conflict on December 15, but has now delayed the announcement until January.
Trump has development projects in 20+ countries that could benefit from preferential treatment or have connections to foreign governments, not to mention US developments financed or leased by foreign interests. Most legal experts believe that the U.S. Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, barring federal officials from accepting gifts or benefits from foreign governments, applies to the President. But how will the Attorney General interpret it? Sessions will need to advise Trump early on about this thorny problem.
Trump will be in violation of his lease with the GSA for the old Post Office Pavilion hotel development in DC from day one, and he gets to appoint the head of the GSA. The contract states that: “No … elected official of the Government of the United States … shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom…” Will Sessions advise the President that he needs to sell the hotel, or dance on a pin and find a legalistic loophole? (The hotel, just down Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House, raises other influence issues, as foreign delegations and domestic groups line up to reserve space there in order to curry favor with the leader of the free world.)
The DOJ is in the midst of settlement talks with Deutsche Bank, one of the Trump Organization’s biggest creditors. How the department handles the case could have a significant impact on Trump’s business, and raise questions about whether enforcement decisions are influenced by the terms on the $364 million the Trump Organization owes the bank.
Trump will be appointing an IRS Commissioner at the very same time that he is being audited and his foundation has admitted self-dealing on its 2015 tax filings. Any findings of criminal violations would be referred to the DOJ’s Tax Division.
There are FEC complaints against Trump’s campaign for coordinating with super PACs and accepting foreign contributions, as well as an FEC request for Trump to resolve $1.3 million in contributions in violation of the legal limits. Issues may also arise around Trump’s use of corporate resources for his campaign, or preferential payments by his campaign to his corporation. Trump will get to appoint new FEC commissioners, and criminal violations are referred to the DOJ for prosecution.
That’s just a partial list. There are many more conflicts that will likely arise in the course of a Trump Administration:
The STOCK Act bars the president, or any other executive branch employee, from using “nonpublic information derived from [or acquired through] their position as an executive branch employee as a means for making a private profit.” The Office of Government Ethics can make findings of a violation, but any enforcement of criminal violations will be up the DOJ.
The DOJ and SEC are charged with enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), which prohibits bribery of foreign governments by corporations, but Trump has called the FCPA a “terrible law” that should be changed.
There are 75 pending lawsuits against Trump, which could raise conflicts with judicial appointments, and Sessions as AG will be responsible for advising Trump on nominations.
The Federal Trade Commission fined Trump $750,000 in 1987 for antitrust violations. Will the FTC and DOJ enforce the law if Trump’s corporate empire runs afoul of the law again?
Trump has run afoul of the nation’s labor laws multiple times, thinks the minimum wage is too high, and has nominated a fast-food CEO opposed to increasing it to run the Labor Department. Just days before the November election, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Trump had illegally refused to bargain with workers at his Las Vegas hotel. If Trump’s corporation violates wage and hour laws while he is President, will Labor and the DOJ take enforcement action?
ABUSES OF POWER
Given Trump’s thin skin, temper, and extreme statements on (and after) the campaign trail, conflicts of interest won’t be the only challenge facing Sessions as AG. There is a major risk that a President Trump will abuse the power of his office to punish his enemies and disfavored press, or misuse government powers in violation of civil liberties. Sessions will also have to advise the president on the legality, or lack thereof, of establishing a registry for anyone of Muslim faith, domestic surveillance of government critics, and the use of torture.
Trump’s treatment of Boeing provides a good example. Less than half an hour after Boeing’s CEO published a column critical of Trump, Trump went up on Twitter to call for cancellation of the company’s Air Force One contract. One day earlier, Boeing ponied up $1 million for Trump’s inauguration. What if the pledge came one day later, or if Boeing made another move financially benefitting the Trump Organization and then Trump dropped his objection to the contract?
Will Sessions appoint a special prosecutor when that happens or look the other way?
Either way, pressure on Sessions will likely be intense and post-Watergate reforms intended to ensure prosecutorial independence after President Nixon’s “Saturday Night Massacre” have been watered down, handing the final say on such matters back to the Attorney General.
CABINET-LEVEL CONFLICTS
As if Trump’s conflicts weren’t enough, the president-elect is packing his cabinet with billionaires who come with their own suitcases full of financial conflicts.
Trump’s pick for Secretary of State, ExxonMobil CEO Chairman Rex Tillerson, provides a prime example. Exxon signed a $300 billion deal with Rosneft, a Russian state-controlled oil company, to drill under the Arctic Ocean that was suspended by U.S. sanctions after Russia invaded the Crimea. The conflicts of interest are obvious—and enormous—if Tillerson as Secretary of State negotiates or advocates for the lifting of those sanctions.
Sessions, as Attorney General, would be responsible for overseeing the enforcement of multiple governmental ethics and anti-corruption laws, including the Ethics in Government Act, anti-bribery laws, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and more.
SPOTLIGHT ON SESSIONS
Reince Priebus, the incoming White House Chief of Staff, assured the public that Trump’s conflicts will be managed by Trump’s pick as White House Counsel, Don McGahn, but that’s cold comfort.
[B]McGahn acted as apologist-in-chief for Rep. Tom DeLay as his lawyer during the congressman’s Abramoff and corporate money-laundering scandals and showed precious little respect for anti-corruption laws while serving as a member of the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). “I’m not enforcing the law as Congress passed it,” McGahn infamously stated in 2011, when accused of blocking enforcement at the FEC. “I plead guilty as charged.”
Without any meaningful check on conflicts of interest and abuse of power inside the White House, Sessions will bear the ultimate responsibility of signing off on whatever steps Trump takes or insisting on additional measures.
When the swamp is in the White House, not just around it, it’s a lot to expect a close Trump ally like Jeff Sessions to be the one to pull the plug.
WTF Trump just shook down the Boeing CEO for a Million.
Everyone knows he's going to try to get that $364 million dollar loan cancelled.
All those Goldman Sachs guys, corporate raiders, Koch bros people in his cabinet, wow.
The very first Senator to get behind Trump's campaign and top advisor as AG.
Cenk was right this is a fucking robbery!
Edit: The incredible timing of pissgate.
Nobody even noticed the smoking gun was released on Hillary.
Donna Brazile is reprouping team Hillary in the DNC. I swear to God I'll vote for Trump or 3rd party over Hillary or any her people. They just don't get it, Hillary's the nut low. Lol @ Cory Booker trying to be the next Obama, gl with that chump.
Last edited by FPS_Russia; 01-11-2017 at 06:41 AM.
Oh my there's corruption in politics? The rich always wanna get richer?? Wow what revelations! I never knew that corruption in politics existed and that we're all stupid for trusting the people we vote for to have our best interest in mind.
Thank you fps you really have enlightened me.
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
If those libtard factions of the intelligence community think their going to get away with this bullshit, boyyyyyy they are really as retarded as the old guard says they are.
Trump is seriously the wrong guy to fuck with, hes not one of these pussy ass politicians that folds at the hint of controversy, or gets bitch slapped like harry reid.
Seriously folks, you don't want PRESIDENT Pence, Pence with dictatorial powers is not what you want.
But who knows, kek is a god of chaos so who the fuck knows what his will shall be.
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
i voted for Trump but I really want pissgate to be true, politics is just a big show anyways.
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
Is rubio a republican or a democrat?
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
Wait wth is going on, I've been blacked out for 20 hrs. Ppl still didn't know trump was a sleazeball?? Ummm HELLOOOOOOOOO!!
It's pretty goddamn funny watching Trump supporters getting outraged that someone could make unsubstantiated claims against their boy.
#PizzaGate
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
These neo cons are just a bad as libtards.
Emperor Trump FTW!
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
Trump press conference is god. I am actually laughing as he smashes different reporters.
OMFG TRUMP IS GOD!
Wow he's bitch slapping reporters like a boss!
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
I just witnessed a live mass execution. Trump just put every fucking reporter in a bodybag. They might want to put the warnings up when they replay that one. Holy shit.
Lol at the young jerks, pivot much?!!
"Druff would suck his own dick if it were long enough"- Brandon "drexel" Gerson
"ann coulter literally has more common sense than pfa."-Sonatine
"Real grinders supports poker fraud"- Ray Davis
"DRILLED HER GOOD"- HONGKONGER
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