Public Citizen on Tuesday launched a new project aimed at documenting President Donald Trump’s vast entanglement of business interests and highlighting « the urgent need for the president to disclose his tax returns so Americans can determine the extent of his business holdings and how they may be affecting his policy decisions. »
« Our current president has two jobs: leader of the free world and owner of hundreds of business entities worldwide. That combination is toxic for democracy, » Michael Tanglis, a senior researcher for Public Citizen’s Congress Watch division who coordinated the project, said in a statement.
In a report accompanying the launch of the project—titled « President Trump Inc. »—Tanglis notes that despite Trump’s persistent refusal to release his tax returns, there is abundant evidence of « a massive conflict problem based on what we already know from his 278e financial disclosures. »
Public Citizen’s analysis of available documents found that « Trump has created at least 49 business entities since he announced his bid for the Republican nomination on June 16, 2015. »
« Roughly half of the entities were related to projects in foreign countries, including Argentina, India, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia, » the report notes.
Furthermore, just « [s]even days after he announced his candidacy for president, Trump formed more businesses than he had on any previous day. The businesses were related to projects in Indonesia. »
The report goes on to argue that Trump’s moves to distance himself from his business empire following the presidential election were « cosmetic at best. »
Public Citizen explained in a video:
« The risk of self-dealing, conflicts, and corruption is just as great as if there were no separation at all, » Tanglis notes.
An interactive map and a downloadable dataset, both released alongside the new report, show the complexity of Trump’s business ties, revealing the vast number of potential conflicts of interest.
« The knowledge that [Trump] is still ultimately in control of his businesses alone is enough to invite corruption, » Tanglis adds. « It’s a recipe for disaster. »
In refusing to distance himself from this sprawling business empire, « Trump has made a mockery of the public trust, » said Lisa Gilbert, vice president of legislative affairs at Public Citizen. « The information in this report should provide a clarion call to Congress to require him to disclose his taxes and to establish prohibitions on Trump using his office to enrich himself. »
As Common Dreams has reported, Trump is currently facing several lawsuits that allege he has used the office of the presidency to turn a profit.
Tanglis observes at the close of his report that while Trump may be an « unprecedented » case as the first president with « a global business empire, » he is nonetheless a « natural culmination of the decades-long stranglehold wealthy individuals and corporations have had on public policy. »
« For far too long, they have achieved an outsized influence on public policy by filling the coffers of elected officials who in turn craft policy to their benefit, » Tanglis concludes.
Read the full report, ‘President Trump Inc’, by Public Citizen:
https://www.mintpressnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/president_trump_inc.pdf
Top photo | Donald Trump speaks to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP/Evan Vucci)
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