Thursday, May 25, 2017

House of Crooks

Heather Rinkus, the guest reception manager at Trump's "Winter White House," is working with the president's advance and logistics team, while Trump's exclusive club, Mar-a-Lago, closes for the summer. She has an official White House email and government-issued phone, two sources familiar with Rinkus’s trip told BuzzFeed News.


[...]

[Rinkus, who has no prior government experience,] is married to a twice-convicted felon, Ari Rinkus.

[...]

Ari Rinkus, who is still on probation for pleading guilty to wire fraud as part of a Ponzi scheme, has told a foreign company, Securablinds, he can use Heather's access to the president to secure government and Trump Organization contracts.

[...]

Rinkus pleaded guilty in 2006 to conducting a criminal enterprise — specifically, the “illegal possession and resale of stolen motor vehicles,” in Michigan, and in 2011, he again pleaded guilty in federal court to felony wire fraud for a Ponzi scheme. He was released from prison in 2014.

[...]

Rinkus presented himself to [UK-based Securablinds company] executives as "well-connected with the Trump family," claiming he could get a contract for the company to put its blinds in Trump Tower. "He told us he discussed it with Eric Trump,” he said, referring to one of Trump's sons.

[...]

"Someone who has access to the Trump family would have been quite effective to us,” [Securablinds CEO Gavin] Richardson said, adding he terminated his involvement with Rinkus after reading BuzzFeed News’ story about his background.

[...]

Heather Rinkus started working for Mar-a-Lago in 2015. She had previously worked for the Amway Hotel Corporation, which is owned by the family of Trump's education secretary, Betsy DeVos, as a front desk supervisor and later as a nanny.

[...]

Her dual role is the latest example of how closely intertwined the president's inner circle is between his business and government, despite Trump's claims of a firewall.

It also raises questions of whether other Trump Organization employees are quietly employed by the White House, as the administration struggles to staff up amid a chaotic few weeks. Trump, who likes to be surrounded by aides who are loyal to him, has already brought in senior adviser Hope Hicks, his longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller, and his social media director Dan Scavino from the Trump Organization.
  Buzzfeed
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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