John -
Pressure works, and refusing to stand for corruption works. Late last night, President Trump reversed his decision to hold the G-7 summit at his Doral golf resort, a sign that public outcry can have an effect on this administration’s actions.
This announcement does not change the stunning corruption of the original decision, which was a new low for even this shockingly corrupt administration. President Trump still has racked up more than 2,000 conflicts of interest, but this decision gives us energy for continuing the fight against his unprecedented corruption.
At CREW, we’ve been sounding the alarm about Trump’s corruption for 3 years, taking legal action, launching investigations, and changing the public conversation about Trump’s conflicts of interest. Your support today will help us continue our anti-corruption work for as long as it takes—will you consider making a contribution now?
Thank you for your support,
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
----Original Message----
John -
Holding the G-7 summit at President Trump’s Doral resort is absolutely outrageous and represents a historic new low for this administration. With this selection, President Trump is officially using the power of the presidency to prop up his struggling property, signaling that there is truly no limit to his corruption. Even as he faces the possibility of impeachment for abusing his office to advance his own personal political interests by pressuring Ukraine to investigate an opponent, he brazenly used his office to advance his own personal financial interests with the G-7.
I wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post about the G-7 announcement—click here to read it.
CREW has been working to address the president’s conflicts of interests since Day 1 of his presidency, and when he publicly announced his push for Doral to host the G-7 back in August, we immediately worked to respond. We sent FOIA requests to the Secret Service, as well as the city of Doral. President Trump had claimed that the Secret Service had vetted Doral and expressed a preference for hosting the summit there, and we requested documents to shed light on how much others in government really were involved in Trump’s efforts to profit off of the presidency. We also requested an investigation by the State Department’s Office of Inspector General into possible corruption related to Trump’s announcement, including potential violations of federal contracting laws, and the possibility that President Trump had exerted undue pressure on State Department procurement officials.
Earlier this week, Walter Shaub examined some of the ramifications of hosting the G-7 at Trump Doral, which would turn the Trump Organization into a federal contractor. Federal regulations around contractors would likely require the Trump Organization to loosen their non-disclosure agreements, which are notoriously restrictive. For more, read Walt’s piece on CREW’s site.
When we think that President Trump’s corruption cannot get more blatant, he never fails to take it to a new low. Here at CREW, we’ll never stop working to combat corruption and conflicts of interest—no matter how bad or outrageous it gets.
Thank you for your support of CREW and the fight for accountability.
Noah Bookbinder
Executive Director, CREW
