Democrats asking whether Trump golf club members got Air Force One tours

[Borealis]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-trump-golf-club-members-air-force-tours/story?id=56986786

A group of Democratic senators is asking the Pentagon to investigate whether President Donald Trump and his family gave improper access and tours of Air Force One to members of
the president’s golf clubs, which they believe could be a violation of government ethics laws.

“If true, these reports could mean that the President or his family have used government property for private gain - giving tours of Air Force One as a perk for club membership - or that
some citizens have potentially been able to buy access to Air Force One via their personal payments to the President's private club,” the senators wrote in a letter directed to the
inspector generals of the Air Force and Department of Defense on Wednesday.

Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tom Carper of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said their concerns
were raised after a Buzzfeed News report alleged that two separate tours were scheduled in February but they were “recorded differently compared to all other Air Force One tours …
unlike the other records, they don’t list an agency name or title of the official in charge of the tour.”

The White House told Buzzfeed News at the time that “it is common for friends/family of the president to receive tours of Air Force One,” and suggested that it was nothing out of the
ordinary as it's something previous administrations had done “going back years.” The White House also said those who had been invited were “most likely longtime friends of the
president.”

In their letter, the senators say the reports that members of the president’s private club may have received tours are “troubling” because their “relationship to the president arises out of
an ongoing business relationship with the president.”

“This use of Air Force One would not only raise questions about readiness, security, and taxpayer cost, but it also violates the basic principle against using public office for private gain,
and could constitute a violation of federal ethics rules,” the senators wrote.

[Orpheus]

“Running the government like a business” is nothing more than a euphemism for thinly-veiled corruption.

[Borealis]

And authoritarianism.