In a scathing critique, Maryland’s Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin slammed Eric Trump for allegedly pocketing millions in foreign funds. Appearing on CNN with host John Berman, Raskin discussed the findings of a report he co-authored with fellow Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. The report claims that Trump’s presidency was seen by him as “the greatest infomercial in political history,” turning it into a lucrative venture.
When confronted with Eric Trump’s defense that all foreign government profits were voluntarily donated to the U.S. Treasury, Raskin scoffed, stating, “Yes, I love that excuse because he’s saying, ‘Well, trust us. We will go through all the numbers,’ and they put in, I think, half a million dollars which kind of gives the game away.”
“They know they’re taking millions of dollars in unlawful, unconstitutional foreign government payments, but he says, ‘Trust us, we will do our own accounting. We are not going to show it to you, but we will give some money back,'” he added.
Raskin didn’t hold back, asserting, “while the Constitution doesn’t say that you can’t keep profits from foreign governments, the Constitution says you can’t keep any payments at all without going to Congress to have it accepted.”
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Highlighting a departure from tradition, Raskin pointed out that unlike past presidents who presented gifts from foreign governments to Congress for scrutiny, Donald Trump decided to keep the money and, at his discretion, return what he wants.”
“It’s an outrage,” Raskin declared. “It’s absurd and he has to give the entire $7.8 million back to the American people.”
The controversy adds another layer to the ongoing scrutiny of financial dealings during the Trump administration.
Watch the segment below from CNN.
