Ethan Explains Tangled Trump

The polls show a dead heat between Sec. Hillary Clinton and businessman Donald J. Trump, and I’ve spent plenty of time picking apart Clinton. Now we find out that the Trump Foundation, while not ethically challenged regarding our government, is deeply problematic.

The Washington Post editorial board goes as far as calling Trump a “scam artist” because of the problems with the Trump Foundation. From the article:

Mr. Trump does not appear to have given his own money to the Trump Foundation since 2008, and by then Trump funds had become a tiny slice of the organization’s revenue. Since then, the available records suggest, a charitable group that bears the billionaire’s name has been funded by others. That has not stopped Mr. Trump from claiming credit for doling out other people’s cash. He happily accepted an award from the Palm Beach Police Foundation in 2010 — then he cut the group off once the real source of the money, a New Jersey charity, stopped contributing to the Trump Foundation. Donations he promised on “The Celebrity Apprentice” would come out of his “own wallet” instead came from his foundation or a television production company. The story is the same with a 2009 TV contest called “Trump pays your bills!”, in which the Trump Foundation, not Mr. Trump, paid the winner’s bills.

Further, Newsweek‘s Kurt Eichenwald wrote a well researched piece documenting all of the conflicts of interest a President Trump will have due to his international business dealings. From his piece:

A close examination by Newsweek of the Trump Organization, including confidential interviews with business executives and some of its international partners, reveals an enterprise with deep ties to global financiers, foreign politicians and even criminals, although there is no evidence the Trump Organization has engaged in any illegal activities. It also reveals a web of contractual entanglements that could not be just canceled. If Trump moves into the White House and his family continues to receive any benefit from the company, during or even after his presidency, almost every foreign policy decision he makes will raise serious conflicts of interest and ethical quagmires.

Done with the broken duopoly yet? I suggest we need Governor Gary Johnson on the presidential debate stage to provide a third approach to running the United States of America.

You’ll want to listen to The Ethan Bearman Show weekdays noon to 2pm on KGO 810 and grab the podcasts at www.kgoradio.com