Monday, January 23, 2017

Trump Doling Out Plum Adviser Jobs to Rich Friends

 
The arrangement has worried ethics experts, especially because the advisers may sidestep conflict-of-interest rules. 


Rudy Giuliani, one of Donald Trump's top political surrogates and a millionaire, is running point on the president-elect's cybersecurity policies. Carl Icahn, a billionaire friend in New York, is charged with cutting regulations. And, now, Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth, two of his top real-estate friends, are special advisers to build a $1 trillion infrastructure plan.

Trump has amassed a Cabinet of unheard-of wealth, filled with business executives and CEOs. But he has also quietly appointed a number of his richest friends and allies to unpaid jobs of importance, where their responsibilities are blurry but their power could prove immense. They will help set the administration's policies while also remaining in the private sector, where they could financially benefit from such policies through their own personal business interests.

LeFrak, however, said Trump is simply driven by a desire to tap people with proven track records.

"Without calling into question everyone's qualifications, he knows Mr. Roth and I know how to get things done," LeFrak said in an interview. "Maybe not in Washington. But in general. I think he just wants people who know how to get things done."

The arrangement has worried his critics, ethics experts and, privately, some Republicans. It remains unclear how these advisers will interact with his Cabinet members in charge of these areas, and whether they will listen to anyone except for Trump or communicate with Cabinet members traditionally in charge of such topics. They are not subject to the federal conflict-of-interest rules and other stringent ethics regulations that apply to members of the administration. 

Click here for the full article. 

Source: Politico (via The Empire Report) 

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