Corruption as Corruption Gets
This edition covers a controversial $400 million jet gift that violates the emoluments clause.
What is making the news all over social media on this Sunday morning is that the convicted felon is set to receive a $400 million dollar luxury jet as a gift from the Qatari prime minister. Rather than the gifted plane, I’ve opted to go with a photo of the real Air Force One to accompany this piece. Anyway, the problem with the gift is that such a gift is a clear violation of the emoluments clause in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Good luck getting this one through Congress. The Department of Justice isn’t doing their due diligence here and they probably won’t, not with how they are defending just about every illegal act during the past several months as a way to justify the committing of those acts.
As ABC News points out, the DOJ reached the conclusion that an illegal act is legal because of course they did:
Anticipating those questions, sources told ABC News that lawyers for the White House counsel's office and the Department of Justice drafted an analysis for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth concluding that is legal for the Department of Defense to accept the aircraft as a gift and later turn it over to the Trump library, and that it does not violate laws against bribery or the Constitution's prohibition (the emoluments clause) of any U.S. government official accepting gifts "from any King, Prince or foreign State."
Sources told ABC News that Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump's top White House lawyer David Warrington concluded it would be "legally permissible" for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump's presidential library before the end of his term, according to sources familiar with their determination.
The sources said Bondi provided a legal memorandum addressed to the White House counsel's office last week after Warrington asked her for advice on the legality of the Pentagon accepting such a donation. […]
Both the White House and DOJ concluded that because the gift is not conditioned on any official act, it does not constitute bribery, the sources said. Bondi's legal analysis also says it does not run afoul of the Constitution's prohibition on foreign gifts because the plane is not being given to an individual, but rather to the United States Air Force and, eventually, to the presidential library foundation, the sources said.
It’s complete BS. We know it’s a presidential gift from a foreign state, even if it’s being turned over to the USAF. There are two Boeing jets currently in operation as Air Force One. The felon would take this jet and use it as the new Air Force One until just before the next presidential inauguration. At this point, the United States Air Force would turn the jet over to the felon’s presidential library.
The constitutional loopholes are a feature, not a bug. You and I both know that it’s being given as a gift to the felon. There’s no denying this. It’s time for Congress to step up and start doing some serious investigating. It’s bad enough that too many Republicans are just sitting there while the admin is looking to conduct the largest peacetime tax increase on American citizens. If they haven’t figured out what tariffs are and that Congress has the authority to undo the damage, maybe those members should resign. They are clearly not doing their job.
I wish we could focus on the serious things that require our attention. Unfortunately, the felon’s admin is taking an unfortunate anti-science view and it’s going to end up destroying both the climate and environment in the long-term. The US needs to be a leader in fighting climate change as we are facing a climate crisis.
Other articles worthy of attention:
Kash Patel's new way of leading the FBI: Fewer morning intel briefings, more pro sports events
Pentagon directs military to pull library books that address diversity, anti-racism, gender issues
Up to 1,000 transgender troops are being moved out of the military in new Pentagon order
Global sea levels are rising faster and faster. It spells catastrophe for coastal towns and cities
North America is 'dripping' down into Earth's mantle, scientists discover
Judges warn Trump’s mass deportations could lay groundwork to ensnare Americans
In baseball news, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has unveiled the 2025 Inductees Exhibit.
Jewish American Heritage Month programming continues on SATM this week with what I am calling Comedy Week. The plan for next week is to spotlight composers and musicians.
I was hoping that I would be able to rewatch The First Basket for the first time in several years. Unfortunately, the documentary is not available through digital retailers, streaming services, the library, and the DVD appears to be out of print. Making matters worse, the contact information has resulted in one of those fun “your message is delayed” email. Fun times.