Joe.My.God. LGBT News
New York Magazine reports:
About 72 hours before Trump developed a friendlier attitude toward Beijing, the Chinese government agreed to pump $500 million into an Indonesian theme park that will benefit the Trump Organization — and thus the president himself, since he refused to divest from his company when he took office.
The Chinese government just extended a loan to the state-owned construction firm Metallurgical Corporation of China. That company inked a deal with the Indonesian firm MNC Land last week to build a theme park outside Jakarta that will feature several Trump-branded properties.
Chinese companies will not be directly financing the Trump properties, but the theme park is a key part of the project. When asked to explain how this doesn’t violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah referred questions to the Trump Organization.
The Hill reports:
Norm Eisen, the top ethics official under former President Obama, is accusing President Trump of violating the Emoluments Clause. Eisen on Monday tweeted in response to a recent report that a major development project linked to Trump in Indonesia is expected to be supported by $500 million from the Chinese government.
The South China Morning Post reported that $500 million in Chinese government loans will support construction of MNC Lido City, a billion-dollar resort and theme park project that will feature Trump-branded hotels and a golf course.
Richard Painter, former President George W. Bush’s chief ethics lawyer, also told the South China Morning Post that the project could violate the emoluments clause, and said he “would have advised” Trump to sell his holdings in the project.
This is a violation of the Emoluments Clause. A big one. See you in court Mr. Trump https://t.co/JuSmCYChyh
— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) May 14, 2018