Drain the Swamp
Our Boy Donnie famously promised to Drain The Swamp. No longer would former Federal employees be able to lobby their former departments to receive favorable treatment. “I still have video of that wild office Christmas party. Your wife would love to see it. How about you give me a juicy consultant contract?”
In fact, when he took office, Donnie set a five year moratorium on lobbying by former Federal employees. Of course, this actually screwed over Obama folks. Just before he left office, Donnie rescinded the rule so his people could feed at the trough.
And feed they did. Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin initiated a hedge fund with a whole pile of money from Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This is after Mnuchin’s Treasury Department financed nearly $100 billion in weapons sales to (you guessed it) Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It’s not like twelve of the sixteen 9/11 hijackers were Saudis and their financing came from Islamic Fundamentalists there. “Thanks for the weapons, Steve. Here’s a few billion to get you started on your post government career.”
Financing Mnuchin kind of makes sense. The guy was a very successful Wall Street investor before his stint at Treasury. What makes no sense is Saudi Arabia handing Jared Kushner a cool $2 billion (with a b) for his new private equity fund. Jared’s financial track record is spotty. Just before the the commercial real estate market crashed in 2006, Jared went into hock to purchase a NYC office skyscraper that today is worth about one quarter of what he paid for it. Thanks to “work from home”, Jared’s skyscraper will never fill up with office workers.
The Saudi Sovereign Wealth Panel reviews potential investments. It didn’t think much of putting money into Jared’s pocket. It cited the “inexperience” of Jared’s management team and found its financial records “unsatisfactory in all aspects.” The Panel was overruled by the Saudi Royal Family. Insiders claim that the Saudi Royals view that $2 billion to Jared “as a wager on future access not as a profitable investment in the present.”
In other words, Jared’s father-in-law remains the leading Republican presidential contender for 2024. Let’s stay on his good side.
Way to Drain That Swamp, Donnie.
By Ed Dufton
