Vice President Pence wanted to see his long lost relatives in Doonbeg, Ireland and find his roots.
However, the Vice President, being a considerate distant cousin did not want to inconvenience his distant family by asking them to put up his immediate relatives (who came with him) and the Secret Service Agents charged with protecting him.
He decided to stay at the Trump resort in Ireland which is located in (wait for it) Doonbeg.
Unfortunately for the American Taxpayer, the Vice President had official business to conduct for the United States in Dublin which is on the other side of Ireland. Because of the Vice Presidents choice of lodging, the American Taxpayer, according to Alternet, will have to pay about $600,000 for Mr. Pence’s extra cross country transportation costs.
It has not yet been released how much money the Trump Hotel in Doonbeg made with the Vice President’s stay.
More unfortunate for the American People is Mr. Pence’s choice of lodging at a Trump-owned hotel or resort is not an isolated incident.
In late August, several news outlets like the Washington Post reported that the Attorney General Robert Barr, the leading public service lawyer in the country, has decided to rent a room at the Trump Hotel in Washington D.C. for a 200 person holiday party that will bring the Trump Family $30,000.00.
Other outlets like Vox revealed that Air Force Personnel had, on multiple occasions, been booking rooms and dining at the Trump Resort in Turnberry, Scotland. According to the Vox piece, Trump business at this resort has improved, compared to 2015 figures, by 500 percent since the Popular Vote Loser became President.
The Air Force has announced they will launch a review of their decisions to rent rooms at the Trump-owned resort.
The New York Times has released a piece showing that elected and unelected Republican operatives, looking to ingratiate themselves with the Administration, has reserved rooms at Trump-owned properties for events and vacation destinations.
The problem with this pandering to the Liar in Chief is that it is corrupt, unethical, and unconstitutional.
According to the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, the Chief Executive Deadbeat can not profit from the Presidency.
Arizona Democratic Candidates for office also take issue with the Republicans enabling the Trump Family defying the Constitution for personal profit.
2020 Maricopa County Attorney Candidate and Constitutional Scholar Robert McWhirter
“To play, you have to stay.”
“The message is clear from this Trump’s administration/marketing team, “to play you have to stay” at one of Trump’s garish inns. Staying at Trump Lodge gets you heard – at least several conservative groups hoping to curry favor with the hotelier perceive. And, staying at the inn helps members of the administration keep their job. I guess they all forgot the ultimate “boss” is the American taxpayer.”
“Alexander Hamilton in the Federalist Papers wrote about the Constitution’s Emoluments Clauses:
One of the weak sides of republics, among their numerous advantages, is that they afford too easy an inlet to foreign corruption. To counter this “foreign corruption” the Constitution Convention worded the clause in such a way as to act as a catch-all for any attempts by foreign governments to influence state or municipal policies through gifts or titles.”
Federalist No. 22
“Our Constitution actually has two Emolument’s Clauses, The Foreign Emoluments Clause at Art. I, § 9, cl. 8 and the Domestic Emoluments Clause at Art. II, § 1, Cl. 7stating,”
“The President shall … receive Compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States or any of them…
“A public official, most especially the President of the United States, is not supposed to directly financially benefit from the office. That’s why all other Presidents have either liquidated any asset that could benefit from them being in the office or put them in a blind trust. Not only would they not benefit from their public decisions, but could know it.”
“Trump’s welcoming the extra business claiming his overblown, tacky, and tasteless lobbies “are the best” shows he never wanted to “drain the swamp,” he wanted to be Swamp King.”
“Conversely, we could look at the groups currying favor with this President as exercising suck-up stupidity. If you want to spend all your money to stay in an overpriced hotel to favor a President who cares less about your issue than his own ego and profit, then you get what you pay for. You are not effectively advancing your agenda. Given what most of the country thinks about these agendas, such as the Christian Right’s, that is actually a good thing.”
“Sucking-up is expensive and ineffective, especially with the Swamp King.”
2020 Congressional District Five Candidate Joan Greene
“The GOP, including my opponent (Andy Biggs,) have told us the Constitution and being ‘fiscally conservative’ is now meaningless to them.
1) Emolument Clause – Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution.
2) Using taxpayer-funded dollars to fund Trump’s domestic and foreign properties, especially by our military, is not only egregious but put our brave men and women in harm’s way
3) The spending of taxpayer dollars, not only lines Trump’s pockets but continues to add to our deficit.
It is time we replace the corrupt GOP with people who will work for our National Security and the taxpayers.
2020 Congressional District Six Candidate Stephanie Rimmer
“The White House not only fails to follow standard practices but no matter what Trump, Pence and their cohorts do, David Schweikert fails to speak out against corrupt and inappropriate actions by the White House. We all know it is common practice in the business, political and legal world to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Mr. Schweikert fails to represent our interests by using his position to support the White House rather than hold the President accountable under the checks and balances afforded within the Constitution.”
2020 Congressional District Eight Candidate Michael Muscato
“Self-dealing. Steering contracts to family and friends. Promoting your family business locations while on the taxpayer payroll. Staying at your family-owned properties while on the government payroll. Wanting to hold international diplomatic meetings at your properties. If you or I did any of these things, or worse yet, if President Obama did any of those things, there would be howls so loud for Impeachment from the Republicans in Washington you could hear them out here in Arizona. For those who wonder why there is such suspicion surrounding this administration, these actions are exactly what puts people at risk of being blackmailed by foreign governments.”
“The Emoluments Clause is in the Constitution for a reason. That reason is to make sure the president’s focus is on the national interests, not their own. Until this president, all previous ones have divested or put their investment in Blind Trusts. Until now, not once in my lifetime or anyone else’s lifetime has this country had to concern itself with the President enriching himself through his office. We do now.”
“So much for draining the swamp.”
“Sadly, but not surprisingly, Republican politicians like Debbie Lesko don’t believe in accountability. They believe in cheating as long as it benefits their party. They believe in disenfranchisement. They believe the Constitution doesn’t apply to them. In November 2020, it’s time to show them it does.”
2020 Congressional District Eight Candidate Bob Musselwhite
“As a member of the Litchfield Park City Council for four years, I had to recuse myself from any vote that might benefit me personally or financially. The idea is that in Arizona we take a public office to serve the public not our own personal interests. This Washington practice “looks like hell” to a stranger from Arizona.”
This latest snubbing of constitutional and political norms that have been solidified over the last 243 years by this President and his party is breathtaking.
In many ways, this new reality is the result of the rotting of the Party of Lincoln over the last 27 years.
Presidents should not profit from the Presidency while they hold the office.
As the Democratic Candidates stated, to allow this creates a situation where the influence to the Presidency is available to the highest bidder.
To let the Popular Vote Loser and his family continue to profit from the Presidency would truly create a situation where the phrase “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” no longer has meaning.
Republicans should stop enabling this defiance of the Constitution and start acting like patriots.
If they do not, voters have yet another reason to chart a different course for the country when voting in November 2020.
Democrats, in order to give the people something to believe in and turn out to vote for, would do well to further investigate this, and if necessary, launch impeachment proceedings if it is revealed high crimes and misdemeanors were indeed committed, to show that no one is above the law or the Constitution.
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