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[rooster59]

Wealthy White House staffers' finances detailed in new disclosures

By Roberta Rampton and Ayesha Rascoe

 

Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner watch as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Jim Bourg/Files

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday released details of the personal finances of his staffers late on Friday, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka, confirming that he has surrounded himself with some very affluent advisers.

 

White House ethics officials said the legally required disclosure documents provided a snapshot of assets and positions held by personnel when they first entered their new jobs at the White House, and before they started selling stocks and other assets that could pose conflicts of interest.

 

The White House disclosed Gary Cohn, former Goldman Sachs president and now head of the White House National Economic Council, had assets worth at least $230 million, but possibly much more. Little information was given on several of his assets and only indicated they were worth more than $1 million.

 

Cohn had income ranging from $48 million to nearly $77 million in the year preceding his engagement in the White House, though it could be much higher.

 

Jared Kushner’s 54-page report – which included most of the assets and income of his wife Ivanka Trump - included scores of assets worth six- and seven-figures.

 

The New York Times reported that the couple’s real estate and investment empire was worth as much as $741 million. Kushner held executive positions with 266 LLCs, corporations, groups and non-profits, which he has resigned from since January.

 

Democratic lawmakers have expressed concern about potential conflicts of interest for Kushner, who like Trump is a New York real estate developer.

 

Trump this week officially added his daughter Ivanka to his staff. She had a fashion business and was involved in her father's global real estate development business, but stepped aside from managing the businesses when her father entered the White House.

 

Senior adviser Steve Bannon's pre-White House bank accounts, real estate and other holdings were valued at between $3.3 million and $12.6 million.

 

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had assets of between $604,000 and $1.16 million and income of $1.42 million. About $566,000 of his income came from the Republican National Committee and the rest from his partnership in a Milwaukee law firm.

 

Neither Trump nor Vice President Mike Pence's assets were included in the documents.

 

Trump has faced questions about conflicts of interest with his hotel and golf course businesses since his election in November. He has handed off control to his two oldest sons, but ethics watchdogs have complained that the arrangements do not go far enough to avoid conflicts, and have urged Trump to divest fully or set up a blind trust for his assets.

 

COMPLEX ASSETS

 

Trump, a real estate magnate and television celebrity with no political experience before he was elected president, has brought in some high-net-worth people to advise him.

 

For example, Reed Cordish, a Baltimore real estate developer before he become Trump's technology adviser, disclosed pre-White House assets of between $92 million and $798 million. He had income of between $48 million and $55 million.

 

"These are incredibly successful individuals, very high-net worth, very sophisticated complex asset structures, numerous sub LLCs, trusts and other items, all of which have to be worked through," a senior White House ethics official told reporters before the data was released.

 

Wealthy senior White House staff have to enter into ethics agreements where they agree to resign from positions and divest from assets. Copies of those agreements were not available.

 

The White House said the independent Office of Government Ethics, which reviews financial disclosures to help executive branch officials avoid conflicts of interest, has classified about 25 percent of Trump White House staffers as having "extremely complex" reports, meaning the filers are very wealthy.

 

In contrast, only a sliver of the staffers in former Democrat President Barack Obama's White House fell into the "extremely complex" category, according to pie charts released by the White House. No numbers accompanied the charts.

 

Almost three-quarters of the Obama White House filers had disclosure statements that were rated "simple" or "moderate" while only a third of the Trump filers were in those categories.

 

Not all of Trump's advisers were gold-plated before joining the government. Peter Navarro, Trump’s trade adviser, earned a relatively modest $240,000 from University of California-Irvine, with less than $1,000 in royalties from the book “Death by China” in the past year, and speaking fees from the Casket and Funeral Supply Association and other groups.

 

Omarosa Manigault, who rose to fame on Trump's reality show the Apprentice and now is a White House adviser, had a modest income under $100,000. The disclosures showed she is a beneficiary of a trust established by her late fiance, actor Michael Clarke Duncan, worth between $1 million and $5 million.

 

Manigault is currently engaged to a Florida pastor. Forms show she received a wedding dress, veil and accessories worth $25,000 for an appearance on the reality show "Say Yes to the Dress."

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-01

[darksidedog]

So this shows us that the Trump team is full of very rich people, who tend to have a habit of becoming richer while walking over small peoples interests.

The big question to me though, is where the hell are Donald's details? Why is he hiding this from us?

[jerojero]

So this shows us that the Trump team is full of very rich people, who tend to have a habit of becoming richer while walking over small peoples interests.
The big question to me though, is where the hell are Donald's details? Why is he hiding this from us?

Hiding because Donny won't be told what to do by anyone. He's the Big Boss who does as he pleases. Treats the Presidency as a CEO Owner of a corporation. Fortunately there's a Congress and Senate and Laws constraining him somewhat.

[klauskunkel]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

disclosed pre-White House assets of between $92 million and $798 million.

is this an a "bad day vs. good day" scenario?

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka, confirming that he has surrounded himself with some very affluent advisers.

Yes worth about $750 million give or take a mil.

[elgordo38]

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus had assets of between $604,000 and $1.16 million and income of $1.42 million

This guy seriously needs a raise. The most expensive group of swamp drainers I have ever seen. 

[Srikcir]

While Trump promised to drain the swamp, he never promised to drain the bank. Maybe that will be his next enterprise after serving as POTUS: Trump Bank. But with a difference. It only borrows money and does not lend money.

[darksidedog]

2 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

While Trump promised to drain the swamp, he never promised to drain the bank. Maybe that will be his next enterprise after serving as POTUS: Trump Bank. But with a difference. It only borrows money and does not lend money.

Then goes broke and doesn't pay anyone back.

[rudi49jr]

So a bunch of self-serving money grabbers, who probably cheated everybody and their uncle to get obscenely rich, are now running the country. Geez, whatever could go wrong there? Oh wait, the same has been going on in Russia, where a kleptocracy of billionaires have been in power for 10-15 years now, and they treat the country like their own little fiefdom. And they will stop at nothing to stay in power. Is this where America is headed?

[NanLaew]

8 minutes ago, rudi49jr said:

So a bunch of self-serving money grabbers, who probably cheated everybody and their uncle to get obscenely rich, are now running the country. Geez, whatever could go wrong there? Oh wait, the same has been going on in Russia, where a kleptocracy of billionaires have been in power for 10-15 years now, and they treat the country like their own little fiefdom. And they will stop at nothing to stay in power. Is this where America is headed?

A totally reasonable hypothesis. Neither House has the fortitude and neither the Republican party or the Democrats have any credible or viable opposition so with a 2-term presidency very much on the table, there's only one way it can go.

[boomerangutang]

Estimates of Trump's insiders' cumulative wealth are up to $14 billion.  That's a lot of mullah.

 

Now, I wonder why they're all so eager to lessen taxes for the very rich?   

 

Couldn't be because it would make them and their buddies all richer, could it?  Nawww, perish the thought.

[Panda13]

Gotta admit, its a great way to make sure that your families and buddies are in the nuclear bunker with you, when you push the red button sooner or later. Sorry poor people!

 

 

[Scott]

Off-topic post and reply removed.  

[Prbkk]

Being married to the dreadful Omarosa would be enough to send anyone to an early grave. Yet Trump seems to be thrilled to appoint these charlatans way, way, way above their competence( and despite the fact that ordinary people find them repulsive). Strange man.

[up-country_sinclair]

Americans should be far more concerned about his staffer's inexperience than their bank accounts.

[boomerangutang]

10 hours ago, up-country_sinclair said:

Americans should be far more concerned about his staffer's inexperience than their bank accounts.

We're concerned about both, and the boss man's mental deficiency.

[thaihome]

Trump's administration is a mix of the conservative entertainment industry and the right wing consulate class supported by a group of wealthy donors committed to opposition to campaign finance reform.

 

TH 

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/02/us/politics/trump-aides-disclosures-reveal-explosion-in-lucrative-political-work.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news