Trump Condos Worth $250 Million Pose Potential Conflict

“President Trump’s companies own more than 400 condo units and home lots whose sale could steer millions of dollars to Trump, a USA TODAY investigation has found. The volume of real estate creates an extraordinary and unprecedented potential for people, corporations or foreign interests to try to influence a president. Anyone who wanted to court favor with the president could snap up multiple properties or purposefully overpay. They could buy in the name of a shell company, making it impossible for the public to know who was behind the sales.” More.

Trump’s Ethics Lobbying Ban Up in Smoke; Mr. Peacock Flies Coop for Business Roundtable

“Senior White House budget adviser Marcus Peacock is leaving President Donald Trump’s administration to become the second in command at a high-profile business lobby group in Washington that’s looking to increase its influence…When he joined the Trump administration, Peacock signed an ethics pledge required by the president that would’ve banned him from lobbying his former office for five years. The White House granted him a waiver from that commitment.” More,,,

Carter Page: ‘Something may have come up in a conversation’ with Russians About Lifting US Sanctions

“Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, said that when he was in Moscow last summer, ‘something may have come up in a conversation’ with Russians about lifting U.S. sanctions. Page traveled to the Russian capital in July 2016 to give a speech at the New Economic School.” More.

Trump’s EPA Scott Pruitt Requests 24/7 Security Detail Amid Massive Budget Cuts

“The Trump administration has proposed whacking the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by nearly a third, eliminating thousands of employees and scrapping dozens of programs, including climate-change research and cleanup efforts in the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay. But a detailed budget plan includes a request to add positions within the agency’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance  ‘to provide 24/7 security detail’ for EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.” More.