Ivanka takes in $4 million from hotel
Ivanka Trump took in nearly $4 million in revenue last year from her stake in President Donald Trump’s Washington hotel, up slightly from a year earlier, according to her financial disclosure released Friday.
The report also shows that a trust that holds her fashion line of handbags, shoes and dresses and other assets generated at least $1 million in revenue in 2018, down from at least $5 million the year before. Ms. Trump announced in July of last year that she planned to close her fashion company to focus on her work as a White House adviser for her father.
Ms. Trump’s stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington took in $3.95 million in 2018, an increase of $60,000 from a year earlier. The president reported in his own financial disclosure last month that he took in $41 million from the hotel last year, also largely unchanged.
The hotel has drawn criticism for hosting foreign diplomats and lobbyists looking to curry favor with the Trump administration. It is at the center of two federal lawsuits claiming Mr. Trump is violating the Constitution’s ban on foreign government payments to the president without congressional approval.
Trump: Conway stays
President Donald Trump says he won’t fire White House counselor Kellyanne Conway after a federal watchdog agency recommended her removal for repeatedly violating a law that limits political activity by government workers.
Mr. Trump told “Fox & Friends” that he was briefed on the Office of Special Counsel investigation Thursday and said “it looks to me like they’re trying to take away her right of free speech and that’s just not fair.”
OSC, which is unrelated to special counsel Robert Mueller’s office, said in a letter to Mr. Trump that Ms. Conway has been a “repeat offender” of the Hatch Act by disparaging Democratic presidential candidates while speaking in her official capacity during television interviews and on social media.
Sanctuary bill passes
Fulfilling a controversial campaign promise popular with his Republican base, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday to ban socalled “sanctuary cities” in Florida, though the policy is expected to draw a legal skirmish over its constitutionality as it goes into effect next month.
The bill requires local and state law enforcement officials and entities to honor federal “immigration detainer” requests, which ask a law enforcement agency to detain someone on probable cause that they are “removable” under federal immigration laws. It also prohibits local officials from implementing “sanctuary” policies, which previously hadn’t been defined in state law. Florida has no “sanctuary cities.”
Mr. DeSantis said the bill “is about the rule of law” and “public safety.”
Advocates contend the bill would affect only hose who had been charged with a crime and ensure compliance with federal laws. Opponents argued that it would have the unintended consequences of splitting immigrant families and hurting minority communities.