Political Money Report 3/28/17 - 1/3rd of Trump's days in office spent at Trump properties & Icahn's role as Trump adviser raises ethics concerns

After promising not to talk business with Trump, Eric says he'll give him financial reports.

March 28, 2017

A NOTE FROM FRED

Democracy 21, joined by CREW, sent a letter today to the Office of Congressional Ethics asking them to conduct an inquiry into whether Rep. Devin Nunes disclosed classified information to the public in violation of House ethics rules which explicitly prohibit such disclosures. Last week, Rep. Nunes said that “American intelligence agencies monitoring foreign officials may have ‘incidentally’ picked up communications of [President] Trump transition team members.” He also made a number of other related comments based on information he received. According to a report in The Washington Post, “Nunes said the information was classified, but he argued that disclosing the existence of the report and the nature of it did not reveal any classified information.” In our letter to OCE, we said "The question for OCE’s preliminary inquiry is whether there is reasonable basis to believe that the statements made by Rep. Nunes to the public, based on the classified information in the report he reviewed, publicly revealed classified information in violation of Rule 23, Clause 13."

"Trump puts a presidential-size spotlight on his brand," says the New York Times. Last Saturday, Trump took a trip to his golf club in Sterling, VA. That night, he dined at the restaurant inside his DC hotel. On Sunday, he was back on his golf course in Sterling. Trump's son Eric recently said at a press conference touting an upcoming golf tournament at the company's Sterling golf club, "The stars have all aligned...I think our brand is the hottest it has ever been.” Read more

As both an investor and Trump adviser, Icahn raises ethics concerns, says the New York Times. Icahn, since being named as Trump's special adviser on regulatory matters, has been pushing to change an EPA rule that regulates how corn-based ethanol can be mixed with gasoline. Icahn is a majority investor in CVR Energy, an oil refinery in Texas that would have saved over $200 million last year if the rule change Icahn is pushing for was in place. Read more

Republican mega-donors fund climate change skeptics, says the Washington Post. Robert and Rebekah Mercer's foundation has given more than $5 million to The Heartland Institute since 2008 and both of the Mercers attended the group's recent conference. The Heartland Institute challenges the "scientific consensus on human causation of global warming" through sponsoring gatherings of climate change skeptics. Read more

"After promising not to talk business with father, Eric Trump says he'll give him financial reports," says Forbes. In an interview, Eric Trump said, "I do not talk about the government with him, and he does not talk about the business with us. That’s kind of a steadfast pact we made, and it’s something that we honor.” But later, Eric admitted he will likely share business reports with his father quarterly, “Yeah, on the bottom line, profitability reports and stuff like that, but you know, that’s about it.” Read more

Democratic senators introduce the "MAR-A-LAGO Act." The "Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act" would require the publication of White House visitor logs, something that the Obama administration did regularly, but has not been done since Trump took office. The bill would also require visitor logs to be released at places where Trump does business - like Mar-a-Lago. Read more

FACT OF THE DAY

Trump has visited a Trump owned property nearly 1 out of every 3 days he has been president, says the Washington Post.

IN THE STATES

ME: The Maine Senate is debating a proposed bill that would eliminate the state requirement that candidates and PACs must quickly report campaign contributions in the two weeks before an election. Read more

GA: The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with GOP House leadership, has spent $2.2 million in the GA House race to fill the seat vacated by now HHS Secretary Tom Price. Read more

By: Fred Wertheimer (@FredWertheimer) & Kathryn Beard (@KathrynBeard)

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