This sort of thing will get old fast, but these things have to be documented. It is, of course, a requirement that I point out here what would have happened had Obama done anything so blatant.
A source tells ThinkProgress that the Kuwaiti embassy, which has regularly held the event at the Four Seasons in Georgetown, abruptly canceled its reservation after members of the Trump Organization pressured the ambassador to hold the event at the hotel owned by the president-elect. The source, who has direct knowledge of the arrangements between the hotels and the embassy, spoke to ThinkProgress on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak publicly. ThinkProgress was also able to review documentary evidence confirming the source’s account.
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Donald Trump and the businesses he owns and controls do not seem concerned about mixing his business and official activities. “The law is totally on my side, meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest,” Trump told the New York Times.
Although the president is exempt from some conflict-of-interest laws, the Congressional Research Service recently identified nine federal conflict of interest and ethics provisions that could apply to the president.
One looms large over the apparent hotel deal with the Kuwaitis: The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the president from receiving money from a foreign government or head of state.
According to Democratic and Republican legal experts, such a payment is not only unconstitutional, it’s an impeachable offense.
via Thinkprogress
The amazing thing about this is that while it’s totally unprecedented and truly outrageous, it will likely passed almost unnoticed in the press. Weeks and weeks of stories about emails, but obvious corruption? Hell, that’s just Trump being Trump.
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