8/27/20
President Trump has engaged in flagrant corruption by retaining control of his private business empire while holding public office and refusing to disclose his financial information. Washington Post reporter David Fahrenthold has spent years patiently ferreting out one of the most blatant conflicts of interest: Trump having the government line his own pockets by visiting his properties with his retinue in tow. In response to Fahrentholt’s latest report, which examines records of federal government expenditures at Trump-owned properties, White House spokesman Judd Deere issued the following response:
“The Washington Post is blatantly interfering with the business relationships of the Trump Organization, and it must stop. Please be advised that we are building up a very large ‘dossier’ on the many false David Fahrenthold and others stories as they are a disgrace to journalism and the American people.”
What’s actually astonishing about this line is its assumption that Trump is entitled to absolute privacy in the operation of his business. Of course, no businesses — certainly not large ones — are entitled to operate free of any scrutiny from reporters. Certainly a business run by the president has no such right. And a business run by the president that is collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars out of taxpayer pockets has the weakest imaginable claim to privacy. Fahrenthold is documenting systematic corruption by Trump. The corruption is so ingrained that the administration’s attempt to deny it provides even more evidence of misconduct.
