Yeah, I liked the movie though I could understand why most wouldn't. HBO doesn't tend to fuck things up so I have high hopes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...9056a0-07fa-11ea-8ac0-0810ed197c7e_story.html Trump’s Doral resort was a last-minute addition in search for G-7 site, newly released email shows Secret Service agents had identified four U.S. sites as finalists for next year’s Group of Seven summit — but then they were told to add a new finalist: President Trump’s Doral resort, according to an internal Secret Service email released late Friday. “Our original itinerary included Hawaii, Utah, California and North Carolina,” a Secret Service official wrote, describing a trip that a team of Secret Service personnel took in July to examine the finalists. “By departure, they had already cut two (California and North Carolina) and added Miami on the back end.” “Miami” meant President Trump’s resort near the Miami airport, which hadn’t been among the original 10 sites that the Secret Service team had vetted. Although vetting of possible sites had begun in late May, the official wrote on July 12 that “yesterday was the first time we put eyes on this [Doral] property.” The official’s email was released to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which made a public-records request and then sued when government agencies did not comply. It sheds light on the process that led to Trump’s short-lived decision last month to award the Group of Seven summit — a gathering of top world leaders — to his own business. The official was identified in the email as serving in the dignitary protective division, but the official’s name was redacted. The email does not make clear what the agents thought of Doral as a possible site. It includes the phrase “Although the property does present some challenges.” The remainder of the evaluation is also redacted. The Secret Service planned to present Trump with the results of its examinations in mid-July and then let him make the final decision, the email said. Doral was announced as the site of the summit on Oct. 17. Trump canceled that plan two days later, after a bipartisan outcry. At the time, acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said the Doral site had been selected after a thorough search process. “It became apparent at the end of that process that Doral was, by far and away — far and away — the best physical facility for this meeting,” Mulvaney said. In a news conference, Mulvaney described a long search process that began with 12 sites, then whittled the list down to four, including Doral. He said Trump had been the one to suggest his own resort: “What about Doral?” But Mulvaney gave no indication that this addition had come so late in the process. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A Secret Service spokeswoman declined to answer questions about the vetting process, saying the service “does not discuss our protectees or our protective means and methods.” The Doral resort has fallen into financial decline since Trump got into politics, according to documents that the Trump Organization submitted to Miami-Dade County in an effort to lower their property tax valuations. The resort’s profits fell 69 percent in two years, from 2015 to 2017. Jordan Libowitz, a spokesman for the watchdog group that obtained the email, said it appeared Trump had intervened in the process to steer business to himself. “We now know that Doral was added for consideration at the last minute and the Secret Service had reluctance about holding it there,” Libowitz said. No new site has been announced for next year’s Group of Seven summit, a massive event that involves many world leaders and hundreds of diplomats, media and security personnel. One official close to the search, who was not authorized to speak about it publicly, described it as a “mad scramble” to find another site.
Buying your way into the NYT best seller's list. Getting Forbe's billionaire list deja vu https://www.rawstory.com/2019/11/tr...st-but-his-campaign-bought-it-in-bulk-report/
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doug-m...sador-role-in-trump-administration-uncovered/ Possible pay-to-play scheme for ambassador role in Trump administration uncovered by CBS News A CBS News investigation has uncovered a possible pay-for-play scheme involving the Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump's nominee for ambassador to the Bahamas. Emails obtained by CBS News show the nominee, San Diego billionaire Doug Manchester, was asked by the RNC to donate half a million dollars as his confirmation in the Senate hung in the balance, chief investigative correspondent Jim Axelrod reports. When Hurricane Dorian ravaged the Bahamas in September, Manchester wanted to help. So the San Diego real estate developer, who prefers the nickname "Papa Doug," loaded up his private jet with supplies and headed for the hard-hit Caribbean country where he owned a home – and hoped to soon be serving as U.S. ambassador. A Trump supporter, Manchester donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration fund. He was offered the Bahamas post the day after Mr. Trump was sworn in. Manchester said Trump told him, "I should probably be the ambassador to the Bahamas and you should be president." Then, for two and a half years, Manchester's nomination stalled in the Senate. His Bahamas relief trip caught the attention of the President. Trump tweeted, "I would also like to thank 'Papa' Doug Manchester, hopefully the next Ambassador to the Bahamas, for the incredible amount of time, money and passion he has spent on helping to bring safety to the Bahamas." Three days after the tweet, RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel hit up Manchester for a donation. It was no small sum. In an email, obtained exclusively by CBS News, she asked Manchester, "Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?" "Did you feel like they were putting the arm on you?" Axelrod asked. "No, I didn't. That's part of politics. It's unbelievable. You give and you give and you give and you give some more and more and more," Manchester said. "Does any part of you feel if you had just cut the check for $500,000 that you would be the ambassador to the Bahamas?" Axelrod asked. "No, because first of all, you have to get out of committee and you have to be voted on the floor," Manchester said. "It's a big process." The Senate confirmation process is exactly what Manchester quickly addressed. He wrote back to McDaniel's request for $500,000, "As you know I am not supposed to do any, but my wife is sending a contribution for $100,000. Assuming I get voted out of the [Foreign Relations Committee] on Wednesday to the floor we need you to have the majority leader bring it to a majority vote … Once confirmed, I our [sic] family will respond!" "You know what this looks like," Axelrod said. "Well -- it looks like it to you. But it's not the facts," Manchester said. "My wife gave out of separate funds and she in fact loves Donald Trump." In a statement, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee told us, "The Chairwoman did not suggest to Mr. Manchester in any way that it would more quickly advance his confirmation if members of his family made a political contribution." The RNC said, "Mr. Manchester's decision to link future contributions to an official action was totally inappropriate." They say they have cut ties with Manchester and returned the money his family donated this year. Former Ambassador Barbara Stephenson, who served presidents of both parties for more than three decades in postings around the world, said she has never encountered a nominee who needed to donate money to be confirmed. She expressed concerns about the email exchange between Manchester and McDaniel. "It is a serious erosion of the concept that my country doesn't sell public office," Stephenson said. "It's hard to believe that we're fully upholding our law, and our values and being a city on a hill that I always represented." It is a bipartisan tradition for presidents to give about a third of ambassadorships to political supporters. A CBS News investigation found political supporters made up nearly half of Trump's picks. The ambassador to the United Kingdom Woody Johnson and the ambassador to France Jamie McCourt have already donated hundreds of thousands to the president's reelection effort. Before he was nominated, Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland, who is at the heart of the impeachment inquiry, donated $1 million to Trump's inauguration. Robin Bernstein who serves in the Dominican Republic and Lana Marks in South Africa have both been members of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club where it costs $200,000 to join. Former Senator Bob Corker, who was the chair of the Senate's foreign relations committee before he retired in January, held up Manchester's nomination. "We had concerns about judgment, about demeanor, about just the whole reason for taking the job," Corker said. He found McDaniel's fundraising pitch problematic. "The timing of that request obviously was not appropriate," he said. Even worse, he said, was Manchester's response. His big mistake was copying staffers of two senators who controlled his nomination, Kentucky's Rand Paul and Idaho's Jim Risch, alerting them to his willingness to donate more after confirmation. "I can only tell you that if I received an email like that, there would have been a five-bell alarm that went off," Corker said. And that's exactly what happened. Risch alerted the White House, which then asked Manchester to withdraw. The White House did not immediately respond for comment. Manchester officially pulled out in October, citing personal reasons. "Sow how painful was it to have to withdraw?" Axelrod asked. "Hey, listen – politics is politics," Manchester said.
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Hunter Biden never was ordered by a court to undergo mandatory ethics training as a result of embezzling from charities. Trump's kids, on the other hand . . .
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/donald-trump-bribery-laws NOT A JOKE: TRUMP IS LOOKING INTO MAKING BRIBERY LEGAL “It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas. We’re going to change that.” The trouble with the Trump administration, beyond the moral bankruptcy, rampant nepotism, sheer incompetence, mass corruption, white nationalism, idiot children, assault on the concept of truth, and pure evil, is that oftentimes it’s beyond parody. For instance, we know Donald Trump is a wildly shady businessman who believes the purpose of the presidency is to enrich his family and friends, that he thinks the law is for suckers, and that he might be a tax cheat, but it would just be too much to learn that he was actively looking into making bribery legal. And yet! A forthcoming book called A Very Stable Genius: Donald J. Trump’s Testing of America, by Washington Post reporters Philip Rucker and Carol D. Leonnig, reports that Trump has complained about existing rules, and that he clashed with former secretary of state Rex Tillerson in 2017 when Trump pushed to scrap the FCPA. “It’s just so unfair that American companies aren’t allowed to pay bribes to get business overseas,” Trump said, according to a passage published by the Post. “We’re going to change that.” The law is designed to prevent individuals and businesses in the U.S. from paying money or offering gifts to foreign officials as a way to win business overseas. Critics of the law complain that it puts U.S. businesses at a disadvantage in places where bribes are customary. Lest anyone think this is some made-up, inflammatory anecdote designed to sell books, as the president will surely suggest, his own National Economic Council director has admitted that it’s totally true. “We are looking at it,” Larry Kudlow told reporters at the White House on Friday, responding to a question about the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. “I would just say: We are aware of it, we are looking at it, and we’ve heard complaints from some of our companies,” Kudlow said. “I don’t want to say anything definitive policy-wise, but we are looking at it.” Kudlow is, of course, beyond parody himself, having once praised the Trump administration for almost exclusively hiring millionaires, because, and we quote, “Wealthy folks have no need to steal or engage in corruption.”