1/ One of the key promises that Donald Trump’s team made before he took office was that an outside ethics advisor was going to review all of his new business deals while in office. That didn’t happen. vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/h…
2/ In fact, no one from the Trump team reviewed leases in properties where the president held an interest of less than 50%, as a lawyer inside the Trump Organization explained to me.
3/ The problem with this arrangement is that about half of all the rent flowing into Trump’s coffers comes from two buildings in which he holds minority stakes, 1290 Avenue of the Americas in NYC and 555 California St in SF.
4/ In other words, about half of the rent flowing into Trump's empire is not subject to any internal ethics review. It isn’t subject to an external one either, because the president won’t release a list of his tenants.
5/ No wonder that some recent rental agreements, like one with the Qatar Investment Authority for this empty space inside 555 California St, managed to slip under the radar for so long. Lots of other tenant relationships have remained hidden as well.
6/ In my new book, White House Inc., I identified over 150 different Trump tenants, accounting for an estimated $177M in annual rent. It’s the most complete list of the president’s tenants anywhere. The book comes out Tuesday. You can pre-order here: penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623950/w…
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1/ "I WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY," Donald Trump says in an all-caps statement posted on his social-media platform, Truth Social.
He'd been slated to retake the stand in his fraud trial against the New York attorney general.
I have a lot of thoughts on this development.
2/ The likelihood that Trump was going to say anything that would help his case was close to zero. He admitted as much in his statement.
3/ There was, however, significant risk in getting on the stand again because, after all, committing perjury comes with consequences. Let's examine Trump's previous testimony. forbes.com/sites/danalexa…
1/ Donald Trump Jr. enters the New York City courthouse where he and his father on in the midst of a fraud trial. Follow along for an account of the day, including a detailed blow-by-blow on the Forbes website: forbes.com/sites/danalexa…
2/ Don Jr. is on the stand. He talks about how his family limited its international licensing business after his father became president. “In retrospect, that was probably a mistake,” he says, noting that his family did not get much credit for it.
3/ So far, Don Jr. has spent most of his time on the stand praising his father's assets. His lawyer is going through the assets one-by-one with a PowerPoint-style presentation. Now we're on Mar-a-Lago, which Don Jr. calls “one of the few sort of American castles.”
1/ Ivanka Trump just made the long walk up the stairs of the Lower Manhattan courthouse where she will face questioning this morning from the New York attorney general’s office as part of her father’s 250 million fraud suit. I’m headed inside now. Follow along here for updates.
2/ "All rise!" Judge Engoron walks into the courtroom. Other major players are mostly here, too: Trump's lawyers, the attorney general. Not here yet: Ivanka Trump, who was just called to the witness stand.
3/ "Witness entering," announces an officer. Ivanka Trump walks in smiling and approaches the witness stand. "Raise your right hand," instructs another officer. Ivanka is now under oath. She gives her name and address, on a billionaire-loaded island in Miami.
2/ First observation: There are far more people here today than we've seen in the last several weeks. The courtroom is packed. Same with the overflow room, which generally has only a handful of people. Same with a 2nd overflow room, where I'm watching.
3/ The attorney general's team arrived a little while ago, climbing up the steps for a monumental day. Trump is at the defense table in the courtroom, wearing what has become something of a uniform for him this trial--blue tie on blue shirt on dark suit.
1/ I’m back in Lower Manhattan, where Donald Trump and his associates are facing fraud allegations. Eric Trump returns to the stand this morning after tense testimony yesterday.
2/ Eric strolls into the courtroom, wearing a dark suit and blue tie. He stands at the defense table, with his hands in his pockets. The attorney general is here as well, seated in her usual front-row spot. When the judge arrives in about 5 minutes, things should start rolling.
3/ "All rise!" Judge Engoron walks in and scampers up to his perch, as he usually does. "As the day goes on, I go slower and slower," he jokes.
1/ I’m back at the courthouse in Lower Manhattan for Donald Trump’s fraud case.
His two oldest sons, Eric and Don Jr., are both expected to testify today. The security lines are longer than anything I’ve seen yet.
Should be an exciting day. Follow along for updates.
2/ Donald Trump Jr. enters the courtroom, wearing a Navy blue suit, pink shirt and light blue tie. Like yesterday, he has his hair slicked back and is sporting a beard.