US Democrats to Trump: Disclose Saudi ties

US SENATORS on Wednesday urged Donald Trump and his company to publicly disclose a ny f i na ncia l t ies to Saud i Arabia, as speculation grows over possible “con f l ic t s of i nterest” a mid a probe i nto the disappearance of a Saudi journa list.

The US president has been on the defensive after Jamal Khashoggi – a US resident and columnist for the Washington Post who had been critical of Saudi leadership – vanished on October 2 after visiting the Istanbul consulate.

Saudi Arabia is one of Wash- ington’s closest allies and the Khashoggi disappearance is putting the administration in an awkward position.

Open letters signed by 11 Democratic senators request the US president and his sons Donald Jr and Eric provide “documents pertaining to financial transfers from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the Trump Organisation over the last 10 years.”

A f ter his i naug urat ion to the White House in Januar y 2017, the billionaire real estate mag nate-t u r ne d-pre sident ent r usted his sons wit h t he management of t he Tr ump Organisation, but t he president retained his shares.

The senators pressed t he Republ ica n leader a nd h is sons to release “information about discussions surrounding potentia l business deals i nvolv i ng Saudi A rabia a nd the Trump Organisation; and information about any potentia l gifts provided to the president by Saudi nationa ls.”

Trump tweeted Tuesday that “for the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter). Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!”

Senators reca lled in t he letter t hat at a r a l ly i n 2015 Trump, then a candidate, had boasted of his relat ionsh ip with the Gulf k ingdom: “I get along with all of them. They buy apartments from me. They spend $50 million.”

The senators cite the “emoluments clause” of the US const it ut ion t hat prevents a ny publ ic of f ic e holder f rom a c c e pt i n g “a n y pr e s e nt , Emolument, Off ice, or Tit le, of a ny k ind whatever, f rom a ny King, Prince, or foreig n State” without the approval of t he legislature.

Trump is accused by Washi ng ton of accept i ng i l le ga l pay ments from foreign of f icia ls t hrough his hotel in t he US capita l.

He had threatened Saudi Arabia with “severe punishment” i f i t is shown that Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul mission.

But he later backpedalled on the possibility of action against the kingdom, which he has repeatedly praised as a customer for the US weapons industry.