FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 19, 2018

CONTACT: Jordan Libowitz

202-408-5565 | [email protected] org

Profiting from the Presidency

Washington—In his first year in office, President Trump racked up more than 500 potential conflicts of interest, according to a report released today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

CREW researchers spent a year tracking every known interaction between the Trump administration and the Trump Organization in a daily timeline. Here’s what they found:

President Trump spent a full third of his first year in office—122 days—visiting his commercial properties.

Seventy executive branch officials, more than 30 members of Congress and more than a dozen state officials visited Trump Organization properties during the first year of the Trump administration.

President Trump and his White House staff promoted the Trump brand by mentioning or referring to one of the president’s private businesses on at least 35 different occasions during the president’s first year in office.

There have been more than 40 instances of special interest groups holding events at Trump properties since January 20, 2017.

At least eleven foreign governments paid Trump-owned entities during the president’s first year in office, and at least six foreign government officials have made appearances at Trump Organization properties.

Political groups spent more than $1.2 million at Trump properties during the president’s first year in office. Prior to President Trump’s 2016 campaign, annual spending by political committees at Trump properties had never exceeded $100,000 in any given year going back to at least 2002.

“Every decision President Trump makes in the course of his job is followed by the specter of corruption,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said. “Because of his steady stream of conflicts, we have to question whether each decision he makes was made in the best interest of the American people or the best interest of his bottom line.”

During President Trump’s first year in office, CREW worked to monitor, log and categorize every instance in which government and special interests interacted with the president’s private businesses on the Trump Inc. timeline. Taken together, the 500+ entries present a clear picture of a presidency being used to turn a profit and the president’s businesses serving as points of access to the corridors of power.

“Just as we feared, President Trump is not only making money in spite of his official position, in many cases, he’s making money because of it,” Bookbinder said. “This is the least ethical first year of any presidential administration in modern history.”

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REPORT

CLICK HERE FOR THE TIMELINE

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