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Govt. of Qatar paying Trump $135K a year for unused office in SF, emoluments clause violated
The Qatari government is paying @realDonaldTrump $135,000 a year for an unused office in a San Francisco skyscraper, an apparent violation of the Constitution's emoluments clause, according to a new book by @DanAlexander21
Link to tweet
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/09/how-everyone-is-quietly-lining-trumps-pockets
In the heart of San Francisco’s Financial District, a few blocks from the Transamerica Pyramid Center that defines the city’s skyline, sits a 52-story tower, the kind you might find in any major city. Its name, 555 California Street, is as forgettable as its appearance, all brown and black and boring. Inside, a team of security guards watches over the elevator banks in the lobby, checking IDs.
To get past them and into the heart of the building, I signed up for a desk in a coworking space on the 49th floor. Once there, I rode down to a different floor, the 43rd, and walked off the elevator. Before me stood a pristine office with shiny concrete floors, subdued gray couches, empty chairs, and a sign that read, “Qatar Investment Authority Advisory (USA) Inc.” and, in smaller type, “A subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.” Nothing inside the place looked as if it had been touched. There was a marble welcome desk but no one to welcome visitors. On top of the counter sat a plant that looked like it had been dead for months.
I rapped my knuckles on the glass doors. No one answered, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. The next day, in the morning, I returned. Again I knocked. And again no one answered.
Why would anyone, much less an entity that serves as an arm of the Qatari government, bother outfitting an empty office space in an expensive San Francisco skyscraper? Consider who owns the building. The lobby features signs for Vornado Realty Trust, the publicly traded firm, with innumerable shareholders, that has a 70% stake in the tower. The other 30% belongs to a single man: Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States. His interest here is worth an estimated $442 million after debt—making it the most valuable holding in his entire portfolio. It’s worth more than twice as much as Trump Tower, more than seven times as much as Trump’s property in Vegas, 16 times as much as his Doral golf resort in Miami.
To get past them and into the heart of the building, I signed up for a desk in a coworking space on the 49th floor. Once there, I rode down to a different floor, the 43rd, and walked off the elevator. Before me stood a pristine office with shiny concrete floors, subdued gray couches, empty chairs, and a sign that read, “Qatar Investment Authority Advisory (USA) Inc.” and, in smaller type, “A subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority.” Nothing inside the place looked as if it had been touched. There was a marble welcome desk but no one to welcome visitors. On top of the counter sat a plant that looked like it had been dead for months.
I rapped my knuckles on the glass doors. No one answered, even though it was the middle of the afternoon. The next day, in the morning, I returned. Again I knocked. And again no one answered.
Why would anyone, much less an entity that serves as an arm of the Qatari government, bother outfitting an empty office space in an expensive San Francisco skyscraper? Consider who owns the building. The lobby features signs for Vornado Realty Trust, the publicly traded firm, with innumerable shareholders, that has a 70% stake in the tower. The other 30% belongs to a single man: Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States. His interest here is worth an estimated $442 million after debt—making it the most valuable holding in his entire portfolio. It’s worth more than twice as much as Trump Tower, more than seven times as much as Trump’s property in Vegas, 16 times as much as his Doral golf resort in Miami.
DRAIN THE SWAMP ! FLUSH TRUMP DOWN THE ELECTORAL TOILET !
7 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
A bribe, payola, protection money?
