By Trump has been in office 213 days, 3 hours, and 33 minutes as of this writing. Somehow, we’ve all managed to survive to the solar eclipse today. Yet all is definitely not looking auspicious – not in any sense, including monetarily for the Trump administration. News today reveals the Secret Service has already been bankrupted due to Trump’s frequent travel and large family, as revealed in this Tweet from John Kelly, Editor at USA Today.
“Secret Service is out of money to pay agents because of Trump’s frequent travel and large family https://usat.ly/2xinDsM via @USATODAY”
From the USA exclusive:
Secret Service Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, in an interview with USA TODAY, said more than 1,000 agents have already hit the federally mandated caps for salary and overtime allowances that were meant to last the entire year.
Exorbitant costs have taken quickly added up, such as $60K spent on Golf carts, weekly travels by Trump to his properties along the East coast, and trips by his 18 protected family members, such as one trip to Uruguay by Eric Trump which cost the Secret Service roughly $100K in Hotel rooms. In all, 42 people require Secret Service protection compared to 31 during Obama’s administration. These costs are only projected to increase, of course.
Business Insider correspondent Natasha Bertrand noted a relevant Tweet from Trump on this very matter from the October 2017:
“A past tweet for every occasion. Trump’s travel nearly every weekend to his golf clubs has nearly bankrupt the Secret Service for 2017”
Novelist, screenwriter, blogger, and game designer, Chuck Wendig, made an astonishing observation:
“Just to clarify, it would seem that not only did our president bankrupt the Secret Service, but funneled that money to his own businesses.”
Wendig continued:
Do I have that wrong? He’s taking trips constantly to his own properties. Renting space, equipment, fucking golf-carts.
And do we actually know he’s truly separate from that income stream? Is his family? This is all one big con, and we are the mark
Marjorie Cohn, Professor Emerita at Thomas Jefferson School of Law detailed the many ways that Trump’s reprehensible behavior requires action now to bring articles of impeachment against Trump for his abuses of power and obstruction of justice. Included in the now long list of reasons to impeach is his ongoing violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. The Emoluments Clause has been cited from the beginning as a violation by Trump because he continues to be able to accept payments from foreign governments to his businesses, including from Russian sources. Is he, as Chuck Wendig pointed out, also able to funnel government money to his businesses as well? (His ongoing charges for use of golf carts at his golf clubs being one example today.)
Democratic state attorneys general have brought a first of its kind lawsuit to remedy the violation of the Emoluments Clause, but in the meantime, can America stand by and wait as Trump and his family bankrupt agencies like the Secret Service? It appears that Trump is off to a great start that should have been completely predictable: running the government like one of his bankrupted business ventures, only who is on the hook this time? –American taxpayers.
Worse yet, just a cursory glance to follow the money reveals some extremely sketchy and incriminating information about Trump.
For example, MSNBC showcased on a report about Trump three decades of Russian mafia money connected to Trump properties, with reportedly 13 oligarch or mobster-connected people owning, living in, or even running criminal activities from Trump Tower and other Trump properties.
“Without the Russian mafia, it is fair to say, Donald Trump would not be president of the United States,” quoted MSNBC from an article by The New Republic.
See the short video below:
We are approaching what many people are claiming will be the final hours of the Trump administration. Trump’s ghostwriter, Tony Schwartz, believes he will resign and claim victory before the trail of Trump money leads to impeachment.
“The circle is closing at blinding speed,” Schwartz tweeted. “Trump is going to resign and declare victory before Mueller and congress leave him no choice.”
Featured image: Secret Service and Trump via Wikimedia Commons.
