Politics
Haunted by legacy of police misconduct, Oakland grapples for answers to street crime surge
Along gracious, leafy College Avenue, you can luxuriate with a traditional Thai massage, slip into an artisanal cocktail at an Italian spot or claim a grain-free treat for your canine companion at a charming Mediterranean cafe.
Privileged Rockridge hardly seems the sort of neighborhood that would generate grist for the crime blotter. But that changed last year, when one of Oakland’s more upscale enclaves suffered a string of retail break-ins and armed robberies and, most spectacularly, a series of full-frontal assaults on a neighborhood liquor store.
David Shrestha has shored up defenses outside his Oakland liquor store after a series of burglaries in which thieves rammed through its glass front doors.
(Paul Kuroda/For The Times)
Eddie’s Drive In Liquors, sadly, came to embody its name when thieves plowed a truck through its glass front doors — on four separate occasions in just four months — plundering tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of cigarettes, cognac and other high-end liquor.
In the decade leading up to the pandemic, Oakland was making national headlines because so much was going right: Rockridge and other North Oakland neighborhoods had a high-energy nightlife that offered a chic, soulful alternative to San Francisco. Downtown bustled with people and commerce, and housing was affordable by Bay Area standards.
The city’s distressed east and west ends remained more dangerous terrain, particularly at night, but violent crime rates were nowhere near the highs of the 1980s and ’90s.
That all changed last year, when Oakland found itself in a far harsher spotlight. Crime surged across multiple categories in 2023, including armed assaults and brazen property crimes like the Eddie’s smash-throughs.
In-N-Out Burger and Denny’s were among the high-profile chains to announce they were closing outlets in the city, citing the risks to employees and customers. Kaiser Permanente, a major employer, sent a memo to its downtown workers urging them to stay inside for lunch due to rising daytime street robberies.
In-N-Out plans to close down a location for the first time this month, citing concerns for the safety of customers and employees at its lone Oakland site.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
The first two months of 2024 have brought some relief. Crime rates have fallen in several categories, including homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. But robberies continue to climb upward, and there is a shared sense in large swaths of Oakland that something has changed. The crimes feel more routine and more brazen. And the crime scenes have shifted into wealthier areas.
Oaklanders and their city leaders agree on the need for a better path forward. But because no one can say definitively what went wrong in 2023, there is heartfelt disagreement over how to fix the problem.
City leaders, haunted by a legacy of police scandals, are hesitant to embrace heightened enforcement as the primary remedy. But addressing what they see as the roots of the problem — pandemic job losses and the stubbornly high rates of poverty and homelessness in some neighborhoods — takes time and sustained attention.
“Everything moves so fast here in Oakland. I feel we need to slow things down and take the time to really repair things,” said Viviana Montano, who works with young people at the social services nonprofit Homies Empowerment. “It will take the whole barrio to uplift our community, to unite as one, to fix our community, to save our city.”
Oakland Police Officer J. Yuen patrols an In-N-Out Burger location in Oakland set to close because of crime concerns.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
The harshest critics describe Oakland as a “ghost town” of failing businesses and rampant crime. Recall campaigns have been launched against Mayor Sheng Thao and Alameda County Dist. Atty. Pamela Price, both in their first terms in office. John Bigs, who initiated an online petition opposing Thao, blamed the recent crime wave on a lack of funding for police and a delay in filling the empty office of police chief. The introduction to his petition describes a “sense of fear and insecurity that now permeates our neighborhoods.”
Others in the city say it’s too soon to throw out relatively new leaders. They appeal for more time to show how expanding access to housing, jobs and social programs can enhance public safety.
David Muhammad, executive director of the Oakland-based National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform, rejects the bleakest depictions of the city where he grew up. He sees many neighborhoods still bustling. Yet his car has been broken into three times in two years, and he acknowledges he is “much more vigilant than [he] ever was before.”
Muhammad meets monthly for a dinner with community leaders from a range of professions, whose first instinct is not to blame crime on the reforms that aimed to reduce incarceration rates for certain offenses — such as Proposition 47, the 2014 measure that changed certain lower-level drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and invested in drug and mental health treatment.
“Still, the group is wondering, ‘What is going on?’“ he said. “Certainly, there is something that needs to improve. We love Oakland and want to see it thrive.”
Many activists trace the crime wave to the COVID-19 lockdowns. Along with job losses, the enduring shift to remote work has emptied out downtown streets. The prolonged closure of schools created another problem, pushing teenagers out of classrooms and into the community, often without positive alternatives.
Crucially, the pandemic also saw a key anti-violence program, Ceasefire, begin to unwind after it was credited by city officials for a 43% reduction in homicides from 2012 to 2017.
The program operates on the principle that a relatively small number of people, between 250 and 400, are most likely to be the perpetrators — and the victims — of violence. Ceasefire pairs people in this target population with life coaches, and also offers them therapy, drug rehabilitation, job training and other services.
Oakland’s homicides dropped to 75 in 2018 — its second-lowest total in more than half a century. One of the nonprofits that helped run Ceasefire estimated that 140 lives were saved over five years.
But in-person visits with the program’s participants stopped during the pandemic. Ceasefire withered. By 2021, reported homicides had spiked to 134, followed by more than 120 each of the next two years.
Mayor Thao declined to be interviewed, but said in a statement that her top priority is “promoting a safer and more prosperous Oakland.” She called restoration of the Ceasefire program a crucial strategy in bringing down crime.
Bruce Vuong says he was threatened outside his Oakland auto shop with a shotgun pressed to his head.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
Late last year, Thao named Holly Joshi, a former Oakland Police Department official and nonprofit executive, as chief of the city’s Department of Violence Prevention. Joshi agreed that intervening with people identified as most at risk for and of violence will be key to cutting crime.
“The message to them is, ‘You’re on the police’s radar, our street-level intelligence says you are on your enemy’s radar … and, at this moment, you are at high risk of going to prison or being killed,’“ Joshi said. She added that they are then told: “We love you. We believe in you. There are other options.”
The question of how much faith, and money, to put in the Police Department remains contentious. As a city councilwoman, Thao supported some efforts to rein in police spending, including reducing the number of police academy classes, but she has reversed course. As mayor, her office has touted that she is “investing in a robust Police Department.”
The department had 711 sworn officers in January, up from the 693 when she took office a year earlier, her staff reported. That’s still below the 749 officers it had in 2019.
Thao’s office also said it is working to shift some duties previously handled by police to nonuniformed city workers — for example, directing thousands of mental-health-related calls that are not emergencies to EMTs and community intervention specialists. The city recently announced it would use a state grant to hire at least six more safety “ambassadors” for Chinatown and downtown to respond to less-threatening situations.
Vehicle break-ins are pervasive across Oakland — and some thieves are now attempting the smash-and-grabs while cars are occupied.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
Still, the traditional response of adding more police is a hard sell in this city. The Oakland Police Department has been under federal supervision for more than 20 years, stemming from a scandal in which four officers known as “the Riders” were accused of assaulting and framing West Oakland residents, most of them Black.
Scandals — along with a rotating roster of police chiefs — continued through last year, when Thao fired then-Chief LeRonne Armstrong after an outside investigation found problems in the department’s handling of two officer misconduct cases. An independent arbitrator later sided with the chief, saying in a nonbinding ruling that his firing should be reversed.
“We have a history we can look back on of relying on apprehension and punishment,” said Councilwoman Carroll Fife, a progressive who represents downtown. “That hasn’t worked. Data show that communities with more access to services have less crime.”
The Rev. Harry Williams, a street minister who works with young people, echoed those sentiments.
“Adding more police without more mental health, more school programs, more jobs is like putting a top on a boiling pot,” he said. “Eventually it’s going to boil over.”
The Rev. Harry Williams is among the longtime Oaklanders who believe the city’s crime problem calls for more investment in schools and social programs. Otherwise, he says, “adding more police … is like putting a top on a boiling pot.”
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
Many retailers, particularly small-business owners, find themselves torn. They are committed to Oakland, they say, but are worn down by a sense of lawlessness. A growing chorus is pressing for a stronger police presence, wanting to see criminals held accountable.
“There are a lot of jobs out there. Everybody is hiring. There are classes out there. So get a job. Get an education,” said Brenda Grisham, who owns tax preparation and beauty supply businesses and helped organize the recall effort against Price. “We have to stop making excuses for people who do not excel.”
Perhaps no crime has become as universally endured in Oakland as “bipping.” That’s the street term for the practice of breaking car windows, usually followed by stealing whatever is inside. In an alarming twist, some thieves are committing the smash-and-grabs while drivers are still at the wheel.
Car burglary reports in 2023 came in at the rate of more than 37 a day — a one-third increase over the daily average from the most recent five years. In the first eight weeks of this year, the rate had fallen to less than half of that. City leaders struggle to explain either trend.
Adding to a sense of unease is a policy that means suspects often get away, even when they are spotted at the crime scene.
Since 2014, Oakland has barred officers from pursuing suspects who are not armed with a gun or involved in a forcible or violent crime. The policy says that “protection of human life shall be the primary consideration” in deciding whether to pursue a suspect.
Late last month, video cameras caught robbers making off with $100,000 worth of jade collectibles from a store on upscale Piedmont Avenue. Responding officers spotted four suspects jumping into a car, but did not follow.
Though “scared and sad,” the store owners pledged to persevere.
Calling conditions in the city “alarming and unacceptable,” Gov. Gavin Newsom in February ordered a “surge” of 120 California Highway Patrol officers into Oakland, a deployment that was repeated this month. Officials said the temporary escalations led to the recovery of 360 stolen vehicles and the arrest of 168 people.
More CHP reinforcements will come as needed, the governor’s office said. And Caltrans plans to install cameras at more locations along highways and to clean up homeless encampments deemed a risk to public safety.
Some businesses in Oakland have installed tall chain-link fencing around employee parking areas to prevent break-ins of workers’ cars.
(Paul Kuroda / For The Times)
Thao called the state support “a game-changer in helping us hold more criminals accountable.” But some saw the CHP deployments as a media stunt by a governor positioning himself to look tough on crime as he contemplates a run for national office.
“You’re not going to solve decades of oppression and systemic inequality with four days of over-policing,” said Robert Symens-Bucher, a lifelong Oakland resident who works for a nonprofit that mentors young men. “Those resources could be put into programs that would serve the community and actually help people in a sustained way.”
Back at Eddie’s Liquors, owner David Shrestha said he still considers Rockridge a “great neighborhood.” He described how neighbors rallied around the store, showing support by making extra purchases after the last incursion in January.
Shrestha has installed a line of concrete posts along the front of Eddie’s, making another vehicle drive-through less likely. Asked whether the crime spree might drive him out, he said he couldn’t just ignore his deep investment in the store.
“It has been 14 to 18 hours a day that we have been here,” he said. “We have done so much. We can’t just walk away.”
The incoming Trump administration is eyeing immigration arrests of illegal immigrants across the country as soon as day one, as top officials say they are ready to “take the handcuffs off” Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration is planning a large-scale raid in Chicago on Tuesday, targeting those with criminal backgrounds in particular.
Incoming border czar Tom Homan was asked by Fox News’ Jesse Watters about the media reports of a “big raid” on Tuesday in Chicago, but Homan said ICE will be working across the country.
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“There’s going to be a big raid across the country. Chicago is just one of many places. We’ve got 24 field offices across the country. On Tuesday, ICE is finally going to go out and do their job. We’re going to take the handcuffs off ICE and let them go arrest criminal aliens, that’s what’s going to happen,” he said.
“What we’re telling ICE, you’re going to enforce the immigration law without apology. You’re going to concentrate on the worst first, public safety threats first, but no one is off the table. If they’re in the country illegally, they got a problem,” he said.
The administration has promised a mass deportation operation, as well as increased border security. Officials have said they intend to target those with criminal histories and convictions, but have also stressed that they will potentially arrest anyone in the U.S. illegally. There are currently more than 7 million individuals on ICE’s non-detained docket.
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“The administration has been clear that we’re going to start arresting people on day one, and Chicago’s probably not going to be the only place that arrests are going to be made,” a source familiar told Fox News Digital.
The administration is expected to see significant pushback from “sanctuary” cities that refuse to allow state and local law enforcement to honor ICE detainers – requests that ICE be notified when illegal immigrants in custody are being released.
Some Democratic officials in Chicago, as well as Massachusetts and Arizona have said they will not co-operate with the administration.
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But New York City Mayor Eric Adams has met with Homan about how they can work together on removing illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes.
DHS nominee Kristi Noem testified to Congress on Friday, and threw her support behind the mass deportation operation and increasing border security. She also said the administration will immediately end the use of the CBP One app, which currently allows migrants to be paroled into the U.S.
Politics
Supreme Court will decide if parents have a religious liberty right to reject LGBTQ+ lessons for their kids
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to take up a culture wars dispute and decide whether parents have a religious liberty right to have their children “opt out” of using school textbooks and lesson plans with LGBTQ+ themes.
The court voted to hear an appeal from a group of Muslim, Jewish and Christian parents in Montgomery County, Md., who objected to new storybooks for elementary school children that they said “celebrate gender transitioning, pride parades, and pronoun preferences with kids as young as three and four.”
At first, the school board reacted to the complaints by saying parents could have their children excused from the class when the new textbooks were being used or discussed.
But after seeing a “growing number of opt out requests,” the school district reversed course in 2023 and said no opt-outs would be granted “for any reason.”
The parents then sued in federal court, citing the 1st Amendment’s protection for the free exercise of religion.
They were represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. After failing to win a court order in favor of the parents, they urged the Supreme Court to hear the case and to give parents an “opt out” right for books that they say offend their religious beliefs.
They argued many of the new “inclusivity” books for students from kindergarten to fifth grade champion a progressive ideology about gender and sexuality.
They cited one book that told 3- and 4-year-olds to search for images from a word list that includes “intersex flag,” “drag queen,” “underwear,” “leather.” Another book advocated a child-knows-best approach to gender transitioning, they said.
Eric Baxter, senior counsel at Becket, welcomed the court’s intervention.
“Cramming down controversial gender ideology on three-year-olds without their parents’ permission is an affront to our nation’s traditions, parental rights, and basic human decency,” he said in a statement. “The court must make clear: parents, not the state, should be the ones deciding how and when to introduce their children to sensitive issues about gender and sexuality.”
Last month, the school district’s lawyers said there was no reason for the justices to take up the case.
“Every court of appeals that has considered the question has held that mere exposure to controversial issues in a public-school curriculum does not burden the free religious exercise of parents or students,” they said. “Parents who choose to send their children to public school are not deprived of their right to freely exercise their religion simply because their children are exposed to curricular materials the parents find offensive.”
The justices are likely to schedule the case of Mahmoud vs. Taylor for arguments in late April.
During his first administration, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s global business empire created an unprecedented number of conflicts of interest for a sitting president. Ethics experts worried that opportunists could try to curry favor by booking stays at Mr. Trump’s network of hotels, golf clubs and other properties.
Their predictions bore out: Foreign governments and lobbyists spent lavishly at his Washington hotel, which has since been sold, as well as at his Mar-a-Lago resort and other properties. The federal government itself also became an awkward customer by renting millions of dollars’ worth of rooms at his hotels and clubs.
Those concerns now seem almost quaint in light of some of Mr. Trump’s more recent business ventures. They include a publicly traded company, a cryptocurrency venture, new overseas real estate deals involving state-affiliated entities and numerous branding and licensing deals.
The new additions to Mr. Trump’s portfolio could provide more direct avenues for those wishing to influence a sitting president or even to try to extort him, according to some outside ethics lawyers.
Some of the new international real estate deals are among the most potentially worrisome.
Several of Mr. Trump’s recent real estate projects have connections to foreign governments in the Middle East, raising concerns that Mr. Trump’s financial interests could influence foreign policy.
Many of the contracts that the Trump family has negotiated overseas since Mr. Trump left office are so-called branding deals. The Trump family sells its name to international developers that build residential and resort complexes and sell luxury units at a premium, they hope, based on Mr. Trump’s perceived star power.
One of the developments, a luxury hotel and golf course complex in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman, is being built on land owned by the country’s government. That project and three others are proceeding in partnership with a subsidiary of a Saudi-based real estate company, Dar Al Arkan, which has close ties with the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia has a long list of pressing matters before the United States, including requests to buy F-35 fighter jets and gain access to nuclear power technology.
Oman also plays an important role in the Middle East, often serving as a middleman between the United States and Iran.
It is extremely unusual, historians say, for any U.S. president to be involved in family business deals with a foreign government nexus at the same time as he is managing foreign policy matters that affect that same nation.
A new cryptocurrency business introduces an entirely different set of ethics concerns.
Last fall, the Trump family helped launch World Liberty Financial, a platform for investors to borrow and lend using cryptocurrencies. The Trump family members are not owners or officers in the company, but they have an agreement to be paid for helping promote it.
After getting off to a rocky start, the company got a boost in the form of a $30 million token purchase by Justin Sun, a cryptocurrency executive who has been targeted by the Securities and Exchange Commission on fraud claims unrelated to World Liberty Financial. Mr. Sun has moved to dismiss the case.
As of November, World Liberty claimed to have at least 20,000 token holders who have bought a stake in what the company calls a “platform inspired by Donald J. Trump.” These purchases were made even though the tokens — at least for now — cannot be resold, meaning they have no immediate value to the buyers.
But the purchases, made by individuals whose names are not public, should generate tens of millions of dollars in payments to the Trump family, according to company filings.
Mr. Trump has already seen the effect he can have on the cryptocurrency market. When he announced his pick for S.E.C. chairman, the crypto advocate and lawyer Paul Atkins, Bitcoin value surged above $100,000 for the first time in its history. Mr. Trump immediately moved to claim credit for the milestone. “CONGRATULATIONS BITCOINERS!!! $100,000!!! YOU’RE WELCOME!!! Together, we will Make America Great Again!,” he wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social.
Mr. Trump himself, according to his 2024 financial disclosure, owned as much as $5 million worth of Ethereum, a token second only to Bitcoin in popularity. That cryptocurrency has also surged in value since the election.
The new leadership at the S.E.C. is likely to decide on rules that could significantly increase the value of Ethereum, Bitcoin and tokens at World Liberty Financial. They could also pave the way for the company to market its coins to a wider swath of the public,, which would potentially generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional payouts to Mr. Trump and his family.
A publicly traded company presents another avenue for persuasion.
Last spring, Trump Media & Technology Group, which is the parent company of Truth Social and the president-elect’s single greatest source of wealth, went public. Buying company shares is another new way special interests could try to sway Mr. Trump, its largest shareholder.
For instance, corporations and others could buy shares in the company or advertise on Truth Social. And while foreigners are not allowed by law to make campaign contributions to Mr. Trump, there is no limit on their ability to buy large chunks of stock in his company, perhaps in an effort to intentionally push up the stock’s value and further enrich the Trump family. Mr. Trump did recently transfer his ownership stake in Trump Media to a trust controlled by his oldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
As president, Mr. Trump will also be in a unique position to drive traffic — and ultimately revenue — to Truth Social, whose parent company has been struggling to make money.
He has an agreement with Truth Social to post certain types of content on Truth Social first, before posting to other platforms, like Elon Musk’s X.
Most news releases about cabinet picks and other appointments during the Trump-Vance transition have provided links to a corresponding Truth Social post.
Mr. Trump’s name is on an array of new items, some quite expensive.
Then there are the numerous new merchandise licensing deals, which may not give purchasers a direct line to attempt to influence geopolitics but certainly line Mr. Trump’s own pockets. Since leaving the White House, Mr. Trump has lent his name and image to dozens of products.
- Bibles and other books. A version of the Bible with Mr. Trump’s signature is available for $1,000.
- fragrances. Several of these licensed perfumes and colognes bear golden likenesses of Mr. Trump.
- Trump digital trading cards. Mr. Trump reported making more than $7 million for these “nonfungible tokens,” or NFTs, which depict Trump as a superhero, an astronaut and other characters
- sneakers. “Trump 47 Crypto President Low Tops” and “Inauguration High-Tops” are among the dozens of styles for sale
- watches. One model of watch bearing Mr. Trump’s name costs $100,000.
- guitars. Prices start at $1,000 and go as high as $11,500 for an autographed guitar
The list of such products seems to be growing. It includes three recent books, the first of which relied largely on photos taken by White House photographers, which Mr. Trump repackaged and is now selling for as much as $500 a copy. Mr. Trump more recently has moved to selling Trump Digital Trading Cards, which brought in more than $7 million, according to his latest financial disclosure. He also has helped sell Bibles, earning a cut of the profits. It remains unclear if these merchandise sales benefiting Mr. Trump will continue while he is president.
Almost all of the real estate holdings and deals from Mr. Trump’s first term remain active.
Mr. Trump has an extensive network of assets that he held during his previous term and is carrying into his second, excluding several properties that have been sold since 2017.
In the United States, there are golf clubs and resorts …
- Mar-a-Lago. A membership at Mar-a-Lago currently costs $1 million, triple the price from 2017
- Trump International West Palm Beach
- Trump National Bedminster
- Trump National Charlotte
- Trump National Colts Neck
- Trump National Doral. During his last term, Mr. Trump proposed hosting the Group of 7 summit at Doral.
- Trump National Hudson Valley
- Trump National Jupiter
- Trump National Los Angeles
- Trump National Washington, D.C.
- Trump National Westchester
- Trump National Philadelphia
… and hotels and residential and commercial properties. Mr. Trump owns some in full or part; others use his name in exchange for a fee.
- 40 Wall Street
- Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago
- 6 East 57th Street
- Trump Park Residences
- Trump Tower. A three-story penthouse in Trump Tower was Mr. Trump’s primary residence for decades.
- Trump Palace
- Albemarle Estate
- Estates at Trump National
- 555 California Street
- Trump International Hotel & Tower Las Vegas. Trump International Hotel & Tower, New York City
- Trump Grande
- 1290 Avenue of the Americas
- Trump Towers Sunny Isles
- Trump Park Avenue
- Trump Plaza, New Rochelle, N.Y.
- Park Tower Stamford
- 610 Park Ave.
- Trump Parc
- Trump Parc East.
Overseas, Mr. Trump owns or has branding deals with more than a dozen properties that were also in play during his first administration.
- Trump Tower Philippines
- Trump Tower Kolkata
- Several properties in South Korea
- Trump Turnberry
- Château des Palmiers
- Trump International Golf Links & Hotel
- Trump International Scotland
- Trump Tower Punte Del Este
- Trump International Golf Club & Resort, Lido, Indonesia
- Trump International Golf Club & Resort, Bali, Indonesia
- Trump World Golf Club
- Trump International Golf Club Dubai
- Trump Tower Mumbai
- Trump Towers Delhi NCR
- Trump Towers Pune
- Trump Towers
And he continues to hold a stake in about half a dozen other assets.
- Online store. The official retail website of the Trump Organization sells hundreds of Trump-branded products, from hats to wine glasses.
- Retail store. The store is located in Trump Tower.
- Aviation: private aircraft
- Royalties. Mr. Trump still pulls in royalties from “The Apprentice” and books like “The Art of the Deal”
- Trump International Realty
- a real estate company.
Before the start of his first term, Mr. Trump made some attempts to distance himself from his businesses.
He said he would place his business holdings in a trust, but the trust was controlled by his two oldest sons instead of an independent entity, which is more the norm. He pledged that there would be “no new deals” by his company involving international real estate projects while he was in the White House.
This month, the Trump family issued an updated ethics pledge that revived many of the earlier promises with one key distinction: The Trump family intends to continue to do new international real estate deals, as long as the counterparties are not foreign governments themselves.
Eric Trump, the family member most responsible for overseeing the Trump Organization and its new deals, said the family is committed to avoiding any transactions that exploit connections to the White House. The company has appointed a well-known outside ethics lawyer, a former federal prosecutor and corporate lawyer named William A. Burck, to review any new contracts worth more than $10 million. “The Trump Organization is dedicated to not just meeting but vastly exceeding its legal and ethical obligations during my father’s presidency,” Eric Trump said in a statement.
Legal questions loom.
Certain ethics lawyers have argued that some of Mr. Trump’s conflicts of interest are not only a problem, but that they also represent a violation of the so-called emoluments clause in the Constitution, which prohibits a president from certain payments from any foreign government. The president and vice president are not exempt from this provision, as they are from conflict of interest laws that require other senior federal officials to divest from companies that might benefit from their official actions.
Several lawsuits filed against Mr. Trump during his first term argued that he had violated the emoluments clause by accepting payments at the Trump hotel he then owned in Washington, among other business operations.
His first term ended before the federal court system could definitively rule on questions related to emoluments, although the courts did ultimately allow the cases to proceed, suggesting that it remained possible that the outcome could have been against Mr. Trump.
But the clock ran out and the Supreme Court ruled that the cases were moot as soon as he left office. The legal fight would have to start all over again, but there is likely to be an allegation that the Trump Organization’s continued business deals through some of its subsidiaries with foreign governments is unconstitutional or illegal, these ethics lawyers said.
In the past 50 years, incoming U.S. presidents have voluntarily taken steps to disentangle themselves from any activities that could be perceived as a conflict of interest or moneymaking venture during their time in office.
Jimmy Carter turned over his peanut farm to a trust, which he learned after he left the White House was deeply in debt. Ronald Reagan announced within two weeks of his inauguration that he had sold off all of his investments, other than his ranch and another home, converting these holdings to cash that was then managed by an independent trustee. Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife put her Texas radio and television holdings in a trust.
But these issues have created questions before — a point Mr. Trump’s family and lawyer raised this month when they laid out Mr. Trump’s own ethics plan. When George Washington was president, the Trump lawyers noted, he continued to own a business that exported flour and cornmeal to Europe and the Caribbean. In the 1970s, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller maintained a stake in Standard Oil, which his grandfather founded.
In Mr. Trump’s case, questions about real or potential conflicts extend beyond the president-elect.
His oldest son, Donald Trump Jr., announced recently that he is joining the venture capital firm 1789 Capital, which focuses on investing in conservative companies and could see its business boosted as a result of its ties to the first family. Mr. Trump’s son Barron is playing a role in World Liberty Financial, as are Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, according to disclosure documents.
And Jared Kushner, the president-elect’s son-in-law, runs a private equity firm called Affinity Partners that has raised $4.5 billion, mostly from sovereign wealth funds of the oil-rich nations of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, based on relationships he built while in the White House during Mr. Trump’s first term. Mr. Kushner does not plan to return to the White House. But his ties to Mr. Trump will create new ethics concerns as he continues to make investments over the next four years, including luxury hotel deals in Albania and Serbia, where the governments there are his partners.
Most of these potential conflicts did not exist the first time Mr. Trump was in office. It all means these kinds of questions are only going to be more intense this White House term.
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/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23935558/acastro_STK103__01.jpg "Amazon Prime will shut down its clothing try-on program")
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