Trump corruption fail: Eric Trumps pre-inauguration pay-for-play scheme collapses [View all]

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Trump corruption fail: Eric Trump’s pre-inauguration pay-for-play scheme collapses

By SIMON MALOY - THURSDAY, DEC 22, 2016 01:00 PM EST

After getting caught trying to sell access to his father, Eric Trump is sad to learn that corruption exists

Donald Trump isn’t even president of the United States yet and already the people around him are scrambling to cash in on his electoral victory. This includes his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, who got caught by the Center for Public Integrity setting up a pay-to-play charity event for their father’s inauguration that would have provided donors access to the president in exchange for $1 million.

Once exposed, the scheme quickly fell apart as the transition team insisted that no final plans had been made and Trump’s sons disassociated themselves from the shady, week-old charity organization that would have collected the donations.

Now The New York Times reports that Eric Trump will cease his fundraising efforts for his charity the Eric Trump Foundation “because he now recognizes that his status as the president-elect’s son means that donors could try to use him to gain access to his father.” Per the Times, Trump’s son said “I understand the quagmire. . . . You do a good thing and it backfires.”

This is a positive development in that it mitigates one of the raging multitude of potential ethical breaches that the Trump presidency will usher in. But come on, let’s be real: Eric Trump is not doing this because it has suddenly dawned on him that wealthy people will try to buy access to his presidential pop by way of supposed charities. He’s doing this because he and his brother were caught trying to do precisely what he now says he understands is wrong, and he’s playing Pollyanna to protect his reputation.

Read more:
http://www.salon.com/2016/12/22/trump-corruption-fail-eric-trumps-pre-inauguration-pay-for-play-scheme-collapses/