Serious Ivanka Trump Nepotism will be a Political Bomb from Ang Moh Trump

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http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.3013556





Ivanka Trump's 'piggybacking' White House position raises questions over murky business interests

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MARCH 28, 2012 FILE PHOTO
With her father looking on, Ivanka Trump speaks to a New York audience prior to the presentation of her 2012 collection. (Mary Altaffer/AP)
BY Chris Sommerfeldt
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, March 30, 2017, 7:00 AM

Ivanka Trump officially became a government employee on Wednesday after coming under fire for exacerbating conflicts of interest by remaining off the federal payroll.

Government watchdog groups lauded the presidential daughter’s decision to go on the books rather than, as initially proposed, function as an informal adviser to her father. Ivanka Trump will have her own office in the West Wing and her formal title will be "assistant to the President."

“(The decision) recognizes that it would have been wrong for her to function as a White House employee and not be subject to the same rules that apply to other White House employees,” the nonpartisan Democracy 21 organization said in a joint statement with the Campaign Legal Center and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

But questions remain over just how Ivanka Trump will be able to comply with federal ethics standards, since she — like her father — is the sole beneficiary of a sprawling business operation.

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The fashion line

Trump is the owner and founder of the Ivanka Trump Collection, a lucrative fashion line available at a number of major retailers, including Bloomingdale’s, Lord & Taylor and Macy’s.

After announcing on Wednesday that she will serve as an unpaid White House employee, Trump said in a statement that she made her decision because “I have heard the concerns.”

In an apparent attempt to further minimize conflicts of interest, Trump has placed her brand assets in a trust controlled by siblings to her husband, Jared Kushner, who serves as President Trump’s senior White House adviser. She has also handed over the day-to-day executive operations of her fashion line to senior employee Abigal Klem.

But while the trust is overseen by relatives, Trump has the power to override any decisions and remains the trust’s sole beneficiary.

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As the President’s eldest daughter and a White House employee with security clearance, Trump could theoretically use her unusual authority to promote her own brand, which she evidently maintains a large stake in.
President Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner visit Saint Andrew Catholic School Principal Latrina Peters-Gipson in Orlando on March 3.
President Trump, Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner visit Saint Andrew Catholic School Principal Latrina Peters-Gipson in Orlando on March 3. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

And some critics suggest that might already be happening.

“President Donald J Trump and his individual and White House employees and agents have, since the election, promoted defendant Ivanka Trump brand by exploiting the power and prestige of the White House,” a recently filed lawsuit charges.

The suit, filed in San Francisco by the Modern Appealing Clothing brand, seeks class action status and claims that Trump’s sales have surged by an incredible amount since her father took office. The suit in part attributes the spike to the new White House administration’s alleged “piggy-backing promotion” of Ivanka Trump’s products.

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As a White House employee, Trump could engage in the same type of promotion — and since she has direct financial interests in her own brand, some wonder how the government will make sure that she complies with ethics standards.

Among the skeptics are Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Tom Carper, who sent a joint letter to the Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday, arguing that Ivanka Trump’s “increasing, albeit unspecified” White House role has resulted in “substantial confusion.”

“We write today to request information about the ethics rules that President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, will be required to comply with,” the senators wrote.

Others have accused the 35-year-old Trump daughter of using her meticulously crafted role as a White House advocate for women as a plug for her brand and its #womenwhowork hashtag.

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Piggybacking

As alleged in the lawsuit filed by Modern Appealing Clothing, Trump’s sales surged by 346% between January and February, as compared to the same period last year, according to data from retailing tracker Lyst.
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Women browse jewelry for sale at the "Ivanka Trump Collection" shop in the lobby at Trump Tower last month. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

In the same time period, President Trump’s senior adviser Kellyanne Conway came under severe scrutiny for going on live television and urging Americans to “go buy Ivanka Trump stuff” after the Trump daughter’s brand had been boycotted by several retailers protesting her father’s policies.

Those comments in turn mirrored ones made by the President himself over Twitter.

“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” President Trump, who has more than 27 million followers, said in a tweet. “She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”

Customarily, the tweet prompted tens of thousands of retweets and hundreds of thousands of likes.

Conway was rebuked by both Democrats and Republicans for her infomercial-like promotion, which blatantly violated federal ethics rules.

The Government Ethics Office subsequently recommended that President Trump himself formally punish Conway over the comments. However, the Trump administration declined to do so, claiming that it is “highly unlikely” that Conway would ever repeat the blunder.

If a similar play-by-play was to be repeated, but instead of Conway, the President’s own daughter would be under scrutiny, would the Trump administration act or argue any differently?
The Trump Organization

On her namesake website, Ivanka Trump boasts that she used to be the Executive Vice President of Acquisitions and Development at her father’s flagship company, the Trump Organization.
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Donald Jr. (left), Ivanka (center) and Eric Trump at the Republican National Convention last year in Cleveland. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Trump explains that her duties included developing Trump Hotels across the world together with her brothers, Eric and Donald Jr., while working closely with the founder of the extensive company — their own father.

President Trump handed over the reins of the Trump Organization to Eric and Donald Trump Jr. earlier this year, but refused to give up his financial stake in the company — a solution that was lambasted by government watchdogs who claimed it could pose a constitutional violation.

The President insists that even though he remains the company’s sole beneficiary, he will never discuss business with his sons for the duration of his presidential term, as that could evidently trigger a range of conflicts.

With Ivanka Trump now in the West Wing, questions arise over whether the President can discuss the family business with her without violating ethics regulations.

The Trump daughter stepped down from her role with the Trump Organization a few days before her father’s inauguration. Around the same time, reports began to surface that she might be in the running for a White House position.

But while Trump is no longer formally with the Trump Organization, she is in frequent contact with her two brothers and often posts Instagram pictures of the three of them traveling together.

She also regularly posts photos of herself sitting in on discussions between her presidential father and international leaders.




Ivanka-Gate on the way around the corner!


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