This Mike Pence scandal is even uglier than we thought
In a previous Palmer Report article, we disclosed that Vice President Mike Pence had spent time 180 miles away from his Dublin meetings to stay at one of President Donald Trump’s properties. Now, it turns out, the funding of the Trump Organization is worse than believed.
Trump has a property in Scotland, Turnberry, that has lost money for years. (Most of his money appears to come from licensing deals.) The airport near Turnberry, Prestwick Airport, is financially troubled but necessary for Trump because of his property. Turns out, the Air Force, rather than stopping at one of the bases that the United States has in Europe to refuel, stopped at Prestwick to gas up, paying full commercial rates for the fuel, and the crew stayed at Turnberry. Politico broke the bizarre story on Friday night, making it clear that the House Oversight Committee has been investigating this matter for months, with no cooperation or information being provided by the Pentagon. Politico reported:
“The Defense Department has not produced a single document in this investigation,” said a senior Democratic aide on the oversight panel. “The committee will be forced to consider alternative steps if the Pentagon does not begin complying voluntarily in the coming days.”
As has been noted, this action by the Pentagon would not have been done without influence from someone higher up, because the Pentagon is under heavy scrutiny for every expenditure. While Donald Trump brags that he donates his presidential paycheck back to the government, which may or may not be true (take a look at his Trump Foundation kickbacks), a full accounting must be completed at some point to see how much the family and his organization have taken the United States, you and me, for. We likely will learn of many more instances of Trump directing the government to use his properties.
Daniel is a lawyer writing and teaching about SCOTUS, and is the author of the book “The Chief Justices” about the SCOTUS as seen through the center seat.