Dems find Trump accepted money from foreign govs, but what does it mean for Black voters falling out with Biden?
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House Democrats held a press briefing detailing how “princes, prime ministers, and premiers paid off President Trump” during his time in the Oval Office and how the alleged findings could sway Black and brown voters in the 2024 presidential election.
U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, told theGrio, “If we have Black, brown or young men and women not vote for the president or say ‘I’m going to vote for the former president because of the current conflict,’ I think it’s important to recognize that we are talking about a national security issue.”
She added, “Who knows how far it goes, as it relates to not only destabilizing our safety here, but safety abroad.”
U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told theGrio that he thinks the report “underscores for people what’s really at stake” in the 2024 election on Nov. 5.
“Are we going to have a president who is committed to serving the public interest, or are we going to have a president who’s interested in lining his own pockets and willing to engage in deals with corrupt monarchs and governments all over the world?” the congressman inquired.
“This is an important frame for people to have as we enter into the conversation about the future of democracy in America,” Raskin continued.
On Thursday, House Oversight Committee members, Reps. Raskin, Crockett, and Robert Garcia, D-Calif., held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol to discuss how Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8, which forbids the sitting president from accepting money or gifts from foreign governments or monarchs unless Congress has given them consent.
The committee members drafted a 156-page report that uses evidence collected by the former president’s accounting firm and an undisclosed federal agency to demonstrate that Trump “illegally” accepted at least $7.8 million from foreign governments.
According to the report from House Oversight Dems, the government entities that hail from countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait paid money to several of Trump’s businesses, which include the Trump International Hotel in Washington, the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York and Trump World Tower located at the United Nations Plaza in New York.
Committee members said that the former president kept the funds without asking or receiving congressional approval.
This report is the latest showing of alleged misconduct at the hands of the former president. However, despite Trump’s reputation, polls show President Joe Biden is trailing behind Trump in the 2024 election. One of the issues likely driving Black and young voters away from Biden is due to the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Crockett told theGrio that it is important for members of Congress to help Americans “connect the dots and let them know that one of the reasons we may be facing the type of conflicts that we’re facing, whether we’re talking about Ukraine and Russia or whether we’re talking about what has taken place with Hamas…is because of Trump.”
“We’re talking about the national secrets that Trump mishandled,” she continued. “These are the type of things that put us into a situation potentially where we have these conflicts…occurring right now.”
Committee members emphasized that this report should have been released sooner; however, conservative Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., halted the investigation when he became chairman of the House Oversight Committee in January. The investigation was initially launched by the late former U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., in 2017.
“Chairman Cummings knew that this was going to be trouble. And alas, there was nothing that really could be done in the 115th Congress because the Republicans were in control,” Raskin told reporters.
Crockett said Comer “decided that he would choose obstruction over transparency” and to “stop the flow of information that had been agreed to under an actual court order.”
“[Comer] is an obstructionist as far as I’m concerned, as relates to this,” she continued.
In addition to the recent report on Trump’s ties to foreign governments, Raskin said the committee will soon release the results of another investigation into how Trump “illegally” received domestic emoluments.
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House Democrats held a press conference to discuss their findings that foreign governments paid off President Trump during his time in office, which would be a national security issue. The Colorado Supreme Court also declared Trump ineligible for the White House and removed him from the state’s presidential primary ballot. The committee members presented a report alleging that Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause by accepting money from foreign governments without congressional approval. The report detailed payments made to Trump’s businesses by countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. The investigation into Trump’s ties to foreign governments had initially been launched in 2017 by the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings. The committee plans to release the results of another investigation into how Trump illegally received domestic emoluments. The report from House Oversight Dems is the latest showing of alleged misconduct by Trump, which could sway Black and brown voters in the 2024 presidential election. Despite this, polls show that President Biden is trailing behind Trump in the election, likely due to issues such as the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas conflict, according to Rep. Crockett.