Special Interest Groups Have Held 100+ Lavish Events At Trump Properties: Private Prisons, Big Oil, And More

Just in from the watchdog group CREW:

Private prisons, payday lenders, fossil fuel companies, and dozens of other special interests have learned one important truth about influence in the age of Trump: If you want to gain favor with the president and his administration, it doesn’t hurt to hold lavish events at the properties he still owns and profits from. In the past, special interests have tried to ingratiate themselves with administrations by making large political donations, but in the Trump era, they can do so by personally enriching the president.

The evidence is overwhelming. According to CREW’s tracking of Trump’s conflicts of interest, special-interest groups—many of which are trying to secure favorable policy decisions from various agencies in the Trump administration—have hosted or sponsored at least 100 events at Trump properties. That amounts to roughly one special-interest event at a Trump property every 10 days he has been in office.

Upon entering the White House, President Trump took the unprecedented step of refusing to divest from his businesses. As a result, within days, his hotels and resorts across the world became centers for corruption and influence-buying. Almost immediately, the president whose campaign was buoyed by chants of “Drain the Swamp” became one of the Swamp’s primary beneficiaries.

Read the full article.