McCormick Prof. of Jurisprudence and Director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals & Institutions, Princeton U. + Banjo Picker. unWoke/uncancellable
So, an oligarch who controls major Russian gambling and automotive assets paid a six figure sum for a post-wedding party in the Bahamas as a gift to the son and daughter-in-law of the President of the United States. Do I have that right? If so, do the President and his family not see how bad this looks? Republicans (I'm one) would be up in arms if a gift like this were accepted by the immediate family of a Democrat serving as President of the United States. Even if we were to accept for the sake of argument the unlikely proposition that Umar Krelev is not buying influence, the appearance of impropriety is glaring. Is there no one in or near the President's family who will say, "no, this kind of thing is not appropriate--we'll pay for our own post-wedding party"?