Remarkable use of our tax dollars
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More ethically questionable activity:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show that he or his investment advisers made more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter, a flurry totaling tens of millions of dollars and involving major companies that have dealings with his administration.
The transactions, spelled out in more than 100 pages of documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, list purchases and sales in broad ranges, making it hard to calculate an exact value. But the volume of trading — more than 40 per day over a three-month period — stands out as much as the potential dollar value.
“This is an insane amount of trades,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive officer of Tuttle Capital Management, in an interview, adding that it looks more like something done by “a hedge fund with massive algo trades” that buys and shorts securities than a personal account.
In the first quarter, the president bought at least $1 million each in companies including Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft, Boeing and Costco Wholesale, according to the documents. Other trades involved eBay, Abbott Laboratories, Uber Technologies, AT&T and discount store Dollar Tree.
The disclosure reignites conflict-of-interest concerns that have shadowed Trump’s terms in the White House. Critics have regularly accused him of mixing his official duties with his business interests. Unlike his predecessors, Trump didn’t divest or move his assets into a blind trust with an independent overseer. His sprawling business empire is managed by two of his sons and operates in several areas that intersect with presidential policy.
At the same time, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner helps manage billions in investments for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while simultaneously serving as a “volunteer” envoy for the president on issues affecting the war in Iran and the Middle East in general.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/05/18/markets/trump-3700-trades-wall-street/
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It just keeps getting better.
The Justice Department on Tuesday expanded the just-announced settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over the leaking of his tax returns to include a pledge that the IRS will no longer pursue any claims it may have against Trump, his family members and his companies over unpaid taxes.
The nine-page settlement agreement DOJ released Monday, setting up a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of alleged weaponization of law enforcement, did not mention any resolution of disputes over Trump’s tax returns, which he has repeatedly claimed were under protracted audits by the IRS.
However, a one-page document posted on the DOJ website early Tuesday includes a sweeping release under which the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing “examinations” of Trump, “related or affiliated individuals,” and related trusts and businesses.
The waiver specifically encompasses “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed the addendum, dated Tuesday. It does not bear the signature of any representative of the IRS or any current Trump lawyers. Metadata attached to the document indicates it was prepared or scanned at 7:50 a.m.
Tuesday.https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/19/trump-irs-settlement-tax-returns-00927911
It just keeps getting better.
The Justice Department on Tuesday expanded the just-announced settlement of President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over the leaking of his tax returns to include a pledge that the IRS will no longer pursue any claims it may have against Trump, his family members and his companies over unpaid taxes.
The nine-page settlement agreement DOJ released Monday, setting up a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate victims of alleged weaponization of law enforcement, did not mention any resolution of disputes over Trump’s tax returns, which he has repeatedly claimed were under protracted audits by the IRS.
However, a one-page document posted on the DOJ website early Tuesday includes a sweeping release under which the IRS is “forever barred and precluded” from pursuing “examinations” of Trump, “related or affiliated individuals,” and related trusts and businesses.
The waiver specifically encompasses “tax returns filed before the effective date” of the settlement, which was Monday.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche signed the addendum, dated Tuesday. It does not bear the signature of any representative of the IRS or any current Trump lawyers. Metadata attached to the document indicates it was prepared or scanned at 7:50 a.m.
Tuesday.https://www.politico.com/news/2026/05/19/trump-irs-settlement-tax-returns-00927911
Wow.
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More ethically questionable activity:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show that he or his investment advisers made more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter, a flurry totaling tens of millions of dollars and involving major companies that have dealings with his administration.
The transactions, spelled out in more than 100 pages of documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, list purchases and sales in broad ranges, making it hard to calculate an exact value. But the volume of trading — more than 40 per day over a three-month period — stands out as much as the potential dollar value.
“This is an insane amount of trades,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive officer of Tuttle Capital Management, in an interview, adding that it looks more like something done by “a hedge fund with massive algo trades” that buys and shorts securities than a personal account.
In the first quarter, the president bought at least $1 million each in companies including Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft, Boeing and Costco Wholesale, according to the documents. Other trades involved eBay, Abbott Laboratories, Uber Technologies, AT&T and discount store Dollar Tree.
The disclosure reignites conflict-of-interest concerns that have shadowed Trump’s terms in the White House. Critics have regularly accused him of mixing his official duties with his business interests. Unlike his predecessors, Trump didn’t divest or move his assets into a blind trust with an independent overseer. His sprawling business empire is managed by two of his sons and operates in several areas that intersect with presidential policy.
At the same time, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner helps manage billions in investments for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while simultaneously serving as a “volunteer” envoy for the president on issues affecting the war in Iran and the Middle East in general.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/05/18/markets/trump-3700-trades-wall-street/
More ethically questionable activity:
U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest financial disclosures show that he or his investment advisers made more than 3,700 trades in the first quarter, a flurry totaling tens of millions of dollars and involving major companies that have dealings with his administration.
The transactions, spelled out in more than 100 pages of documents filed Thursday with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, list purchases and sales in broad ranges, making it hard to calculate an exact value. But the volume of trading — more than 40 per day over a three-month period — stands out as much as the potential dollar value.
“This is an insane amount of trades,” said Matthew Tuttle, chief executive officer of Tuttle Capital Management, in an interview, adding that it looks more like something done by “a hedge fund with massive algo trades” that buys and shorts securities than a personal account.
In the first quarter, the president bought at least $1 million each in companies including Nvidia, Oracle, Microsoft, Boeing and Costco Wholesale, according to the documents. Other trades involved eBay, Abbott Laboratories, Uber Technologies, AT&T and discount store Dollar Tree.
The disclosure reignites conflict-of-interest concerns that have shadowed Trump’s terms in the White House. Critics have regularly accused him of mixing his official duties with his business interests. Unlike his predecessors, Trump didn’t divest or move his assets into a blind trust with an independent overseer. His sprawling business empire is managed by two of his sons and operates in several areas that intersect with presidential policy.
At the same time, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner helps manage billions in investments for Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates while simultaneously serving as a “volunteer” envoy for the president on issues affecting the war in Iran and the Middle East in general.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2026/05/18/markets/trump-3700-trades-wall-street/
Jared Kushner, aka Satan's representative on earth.
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Link to video
This is beyond the pale. It's easy to say but it's true.
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Yes, and the Senate is furious.
As I said in another thread, Republicans and the Acting Attorney General got into a shouting match and the Senate shut down with the House following suit.
Basically, Trump demanded everything he wanted, all at once; or, in other words, he wanted a rubber stamp.
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I wondered earlier if Comey, Powell, or Kelly might apply. Don’t know about them, but Michael Cohen says he will.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-anti-weaponization-fund-claim-trump-lawyer/
wtg said:
I wondered earlier if Comey, Powell, or Kelly might apply. Don’t know about them, but Michael Cohen says he will.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-anti-weaponization-fund-claim-trump-lawyer/
I was sort of kidding about Comey and Powell. But...
Former FBI Director James Comey, who the justice department indicted twice in the span of eight months in cases that criminal law experts have deemed legally dubious, told CNN he might apply for the fund.
"It appears that they're serious," said Comey, who has publicly sparred with Trump since the president fired him as FBI director in 2017. "It's to compensate people who have been targeted by the justice department for, they say, personal, political, or ideological reasons."
"So I'm guessing, I'll be in line," Comey said. "I hope I'll be ahead of those who savagely beat police officers and sacked the Capitol."
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wtg said:
I wondered earlier if Comey, Powell, or Kelly might apply. Don’t know about them, but Michael Cohen says he will.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michael-cohen-anti-weaponization-fund-claim-trump-lawyer/
I was sort of kidding about Comey and Powell. But...
Former FBI Director James Comey, who the justice department indicted twice in the span of eight months in cases that criminal law experts have deemed legally dubious, told CNN he might apply for the fund.
"It appears that they're serious," said Comey, who has publicly sparred with Trump since the president fired him as FBI director in 2017. "It's to compensate people who have been targeted by the justice department for, they say, personal, political, or ideological reasons."
"So I'm guessing, I'll be in line," Comey said. "I hope I'll be ahead of those who savagely beat police officers and sacked the Capitol."
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@Bernard Yes, I guess they would be.
I doubt that Comey is actually going to apply. I think he's just pointing out the unintended consequences and needling Trump about the lawfare he is exercising against Comey
Cohen falls in the camp with the rioters, at least theoretically. Lawfare by the Biden administration against him. And I'm guessing he's more desperate for money, which I doubt Comey is. I've never thought of him as someone acting on principle.
I would be totally surprised if Powell applied for compensation. as a matter of fact, I doubt he would ever even make any comments about the compensation fund, and certainly not while he's still a Fed governor.
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