Casey Michel: Tom Barrack suggests Trump's White House was even more vulnerable than we thought

… According to prosecutors, Barrack's efforts on behalf of the UAE ran the gamut. Barrack allegedly changed Trump's speeches in order to praise the Emirati dictatorship and lobbied for more pro-UAE policy and staffing decisions. He secretly passed internal White House discussions to the UAE government and gathered a so-called wish list of policy decisions from UAE officials that they wanted the Trump administration to implement, according to the indictment. Barrack also lobbied in more public ways, such as writing pro-UAE op-eds, it said...
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/tom-barrack-suggests-trump-s-white-house-was-even-more-ncna1274880

Homewreckers: How Wall Street, Banks & Trump’s Inner Circle Used the 2008 Housing Crash to Get Rich

We speak with investigative reporter Aaron Glantz about his new book “Homewreckers,” which looks at the devastating legacy of the foreclosure crisis and how much of the so-called recovery is a result of large private equity firms buying up hundreds of thousands of foreclosed homes. “Homewreckers: How a Gang of Wall Street Kingpins, Hedge Fund Magnates, Crooked Banks, and Vulture Capitalists Suckered Millions Out of Their Homes and Demolished the American Dream” reveals how the 2008 housing crash decimated millions of Americans’ family wealth but enriched President Donald Trump’s inner circle, including Trump Cabinet members Steven Mnuchin and Wilbur Ross, Trump’s longtime friend and confidant Tom Barrack, and billionaire Republican donor Stephen Schwarzman. Glantz writes, “Now, ensconced in power following Trump’s election, these capitalists are creating new financial products that threaten to make the wealth transfers of the [housing] bust permanent.” Aaron Glantzis a senior reporter at Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting. He was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize this year for his reporting on modern-day redlining.
https://youtu.be/OckBIl9N3TQ

There’s yet another Trump administration scandal brewing. And it’s a doozy - The Washington Post: Opinion |

Influence-peddling, shady business ties, Saudi connections and a potential threat to national security...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/02/20/theres-yet-another-trump-administration-scandal-brewing-its-doozy/