These Companies Are Under Federal Investigation — And Paying Trump Millions in Rent

Is it OK for the president of the United States to use his office for personal profit? According to a Transparency International poll released in December 2017, many Americans are not pleased with the situation.

In fact, an alarming number (44%) said Donald Trump and his staff were the most corrupt thing going in U.S. society. That number represented a 36% increase from the last year of the Obama White House.

Clearly, the first “businessman president” has not settled his conflicts of interest. A February 2018 report by Forbes revealed just how deep Trump’s ties to the Chinese government ($2 million in annual payments) and other foreign entities go. In a word, it comes down to the tens of millions in rent Trump companies charge tenants around the world.

Yet foreign governments aren’t the only concern here. American corporations who have business in Washington D.C. also happen to be Trump tenants — and several faced charges for civil and criminal violations in 2017. Here are the companies that paid millions to Trump while defending themselves against federal investigations.

1. State Street Corp. 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: $2.2 million

While hardly a household name, you may have seen State Street Corp. in the news in 2017. The bank, which is based in Boston, admitted to defrauding clients and agreed to pay $64.6 million to settle criminal charges and pay SEC fines.

Forbes tracked down the bank’s rent payments to Trump properties, estimating the annual tab at $2.2 million. The building is located in New York on Sixth Avenue just below 52nd Street, a few blocks away from Trump Tower. 

2. Verizon 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: Undisclosed

Most Americans got to know Ajit Pai, Trump’s FCC Chair, for his 2017 effort to end net neutrality. Before that, Pai worked as one of Verizon’s top lawyers. You can’t blame anyone for wondering how that affected the investigation Verizon settled with the FCC in October of the same year.

The connection becomes more questionable when you notice Verizon is one of Trump’s major tenants at 40 Wall St. and spent 2017 lobbying the federal government. Since the FCC Inspector General launched an investigation into Pai into collusion with Sinclair Broadcasting, it only got worse. 

3. JPMorgan Chase

  

• Annual rent to Trump properties: $1.5 million

2017 was a busy year for JPMorgan Chase in Washington. CEO Jamie Dimon served on one of Trump’s economic councils and popped up regularly in the White House. Meanwhile, the bank was busy lobbying the federal government to get the corporate tax rate slashed.

All the while, Chase was a major tenant of Trump’s at 1290 Avenue of the Americas in New York, where the bank pays an annual $1.5 million for its space. The bank also had to pay a $4.6 million fine for checking account violations to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in August 2017.

It’s probably just a coincidence that Trump sent Mick Mulvaney, his budget director, to head the CFPB a few months later. Mulvaney said he wanted to halt funding for similar enforcements in January 2018. 

4. Merrill Lynch 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: Undisclosed

Many Americans know Merrill Lynch as the Wall St. bank that paid out billions in bonuses just before getting a taxpayer bailout. Merrill also was under investigation for securities violations during the 2016 campaign and into 2017.

While Forbes does not know the exact amount Merrill Wealth Management pays Trump to rent space in San Francisco building, the outlet has confirmed there’s a deal in place. 

5. Wells Fargo 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: $600,000

Before finishing her term as Federal Reserve Chair, Janet Yellen hit Wells Fargo with the harshest penalty a bank had seen in years: Yellen said the bank couldn’t get any bigger.

After decades of conning customers in a lengthy sting of scams, the penalty still seemed on the light side. Wells Fargo remained a tenant of Trump’s at 555 California St. in San Francisco. 

6. U.S. Postal Service 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: $1,000

 The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is part of the executive branch of the government and also a tenant of the president’s. So, in this case, Trump is renting (for a minor fee) space to a government entity under his control.

For most of 2017, a Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs subcommittee investigated the USPS for illegal shipments of opioids going to Americans via China. 

7. UBS Financial Services 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: $1.4 million

It’s been a wild few years for UBS Financial Services, the firm that became a main player in the Puerto Rico debt crisis and was investigated for securities manipulation in 2017.

The firm also rents a pricey piece of real estate from Trump in San Francisco. Forbes quoted the annual rent UBS pays at $1.4 million. 

8. Morgan Stanley 

• Annual rent to Trump properties: Undisclosed

Morgan Stanley, another financial company under federal investigation in 2017, rents space in a Trump building in San Francisco. (Forbes could not confirm the annual lease terms at 555 California St.)

As many taxpayers may recall, Morgan Stanley also received a massive bailout ($107 billion) in 2008. Later, the firm paid $2.6 billion in fines for violations that contributed to the Great Recession.

In 2017, Trump’s tenant settled another investigation into its business practices, this time at a cost of $13 million.

Proceed With Caution: America’s 15 Most Dangerous Roads

Though automotive technology and self-driving cars should make U.S. roads safer one day, we’re a long ways from escaping human error on the highway. In fact, the rise in traffic deaths reported in 2015 was a warning shot for drivers everywhere. The only thing scarier was 2016, when another spike in crashes led to thousands more dead.

According to U.S. Department of Transportation data, the 37,461 fatalities recorded in ’16 marked the highest total in America since 2007. A rebounded economy and boom in new car sales got drivers into their cars again. Cheap gas prices kept them driving a record number of miles.

As a report by Teletrac Navman points out, some roads they’ve traveled are more dangerous than others. Using traffic fatality data from 2011 until 2015, the telematics and fleet management company identified the places across the country with the most accidents per mile this decade. Here are the 15 most dangerous roads in America.

15. Interstate 85, Charlotte

Google Maps

The deadly Interstate 85 spans an eerie 666 miles from Virginia to Alabama, passing through North Carolina on the way. During the five years of this study, this relatively short road claimed 378 lives. The stretch of I-78 that passes through Charlotte was the deadliest of all. Of all the dangers you’ll face on this road, other drivers present the biggest threat.

Next: This scary road stretches from Texas to South Carolina.

14. Interstate 20, Dallas

Google Maps

Interstate 20 runs from the Texas town of Scroggins Draw all the way to Florence, South Carolina. That distance amounts to 1,539 miles, but I-20’s deadliest stretch comes in Dallas. Altogether, this road claimed 876 lives in the five years of the study, or some 0.569 deaths per mile. Multiple rollover accidents were reported on this highway.

Next: Going to California never felt so dangerous.

13. Route 199, Grants Pass (Oregon)

Route 99 only runs a total of 80 miles from the Oregon town of Grants Pass to Crescent City, California. However, 46 people died on this stretch of road over the five years in question. That amounts to 0.575 deaths per mile, making it a risky proposition for anyone traveling through the Pacific Northwest.

Next: The trip from Tennessee to South Carolina can be fraught with peril.

12. Interstate 26, Charleston

Interstate 26 runs from Kingsport, Tennessee to Charleston, covering 349 miles along the way. Over the course of five years, this road claimed 206 lives. The most dangerous stretch of all was at the end of the road in Charleston. Between 2011 and 2015, 10 people lost their lives there.

Next: This road begins at the Great Lakes and end in a dangerous stretch of the South.

11. Interstate 75, Atlanta

If you want to see an impressive road, try Interstate 75, which begins just off Lake Superior and runs 1,786 miles to Miami Lakes, Florida. This road is as deadly as it is endless. According to transit data, I-75 claimed 1,070 lives in five years. The Atlanta area proved to be the worst stretch for drivers, with 33 fatalities reported there.

Next: Drivers find the most dangerous stretch of this road just before it reaches New York.

10. Interstate 78, Jersey City

Interstate 78 runs from Union Township in Western Pennsylvania to New York City, passing through New Jersey along the way. Right before it reaches the Big Apple, I-78 hits its most dangerous patch in Jersey City. Of the 90 lives claimed on this road over five years, seven died there. Christmas Day was the deadliest day.

Next: This road reaches its most dangerous point on the way to Houston.

9. Route 290, Austin

Texas is America’s deadliest state for automobile travel, and the Lone Star State also claimed five of America’s 10 most dangerous roads. Route 290, which spans 261 miles from Junction to Houston, was the site of 165 deaths between 2011-15. The most dangerous stretch of all was within the Austin city limits, where 22 people died during that time.

Next: This road through southern Texas is even deadlier that Rt. 290.

8. Interstate 37, San Antonio

Google Maps

In the 143 miles between San Antonio and Corpus Christi, 93 drivers lost their lives over a five-year span. This stretch of highway proved deadly for cars rolling over, pedestrians, and collisions with other cars. I-37 in San Antonio proved to be the most dangerous stretch of road of all.

Next: A brief stretch of road in eastern Texas also made the top 10.

7. Route 175, Dallas

Google Maps

In Dallas’s second appearance on this list, a 111-mile stretch of highway toward Jacksonville in eastern Texas turned out to be exceptionally dangerous for drivers. Traffic safety data showed 76 deaths (0.685 per mile) on this road over the five years in question, with the highest count (37) within the Dallas city limits. Other drivers presented the most danger.

Next: This epic American highway connects Southern California to the East Coast.

6. Interstate 10, Houston

Google Maps

You’ll struggle to find a longer highway than Interstate 10, which spans 2,460 miles from the beaches of Los Angeles to Jacksonville, Florida. Along that stretch, 1,730 people died between 2011 and 2015. Crashes with multiple vehicles and single-car rollover wrecks led to the most accidents on I-10. The stretch in Houston claimed 55 lives over this period.

Next: This East Coast highway connects South Florida with Massachusetts.

5. Interstate 95, Jacksonville

Google Maps

You can hardly take a road trip on the East Coast without spending time on Interstate 95. It runs 1,920 miles from Miami to Weston, Massachusetts. In that span of road, 1,402 people died by car accident in the five-year period studied. The stretch of I-95 inside Jacksonville claimed the most deaths (40) over that time frame.

Next: The deadliest road in the West

4. Interstate 17, Phoenix

Google Maps

Interstate 17, which runs from Flagstaff to Phoenix, connects I-40 to I-10. In that 146-mile stretch, 123 people died as a result of car crashes in the five years under consideration. According to the available data, the highest number of fatalities resulted from multi-vehicle wrecks. Phoenix, where 59 deaths occurred, was I-17’s most dangerous stop.

Next: The scariest 75 miles in America

3. Route 192, Melbourne (Florida)

Google Maps

Spanning from Florida’s Four Corners to Indialantic, drivers only have 75 miles to travel on Route 192. Nonetheless, there is no short highway quite as dangerous in America. What stands out most here is the higher percentage of pedestrian deaths on Rt. 192 compared to the other roads on this list. Overall, the road’s scariest stretch falls within Melbourne’s city limits.

Next: This stretch of road in Texas claimed more than one life per mile.

2. Interstate 45, Houston

Google Maps

In the 285 miles connecting Dallas to Galveston, 290 people lost their lives in a traffic accident in the five years studied on Interstate 45. The deadliest stretch of I-45 exists in Houston, where 83 people died during that time. Those statistics made I-45 one of two roads in America where more than one person (1.018) died per mile of highway.

Next: America’s deadliest road exists in one of the nation’s most popular vacation spots.

1. Interstate 4, Orlando

Google Maps

Florida’s Interstate 4 runs from Tampa on the Gulf Coast to Daytona Beach on the Atlantic side, covering 132 miles. This stretch of highway is easily America’s most dangerous. In the five years studied, 165 people lost their lives as a result of car crashes (1.25 deaths per mile). Whether folks imitating their favorite NASCAR drivers or families on the way to Disney World were to blame (likely the former), Orlando’s stretch of I-4 proved to be the deadliest road of all.

North Carolina officer shoots, kills man during traffic stop

A white North Carolina police officer shot and killed a black passenger who refused orders not to reach for a gun after a late-night traffic stop led to a physical struggle, authorities said Saturday.

The shooting happened after Officer D.E. McGuire stopped a car containing two men and a woman about 10:30 p.m. Friday during a routine patrol northeast of downtown, according to a Winston-Salem Police Department news release.

Edward Van McCrae, 60, was in the rear seat and began making suspicious movements, police say. McGuire told McCrae to stop reaching for concealed areas of the vehicle, but McCrae continued, according to the news release.

"After being removed from the vehicle, Mr. McCrae physically struggled with Officer McGuire and refused multiple verbal commands by Officer McGuire to 'stop reaching,'" the news release said. "As the struggle continued, a handgun became visible to Officer McGuire."

McGuire shot and killed McCrae when he refused commands not to reach for the gun, according to the release. A police report characterizes the exchange as an assault on the officer with a firearm.

The State Bureau of Investigation has been brought in to investigate the shooting, which happened in a residential area of modest homes. A spokesman for the state agency, Brent Culbertson, confirmed in an email that McGuire is white and McCrae was black.

McGuire, who has worked for the department since 2015, has been put on administrative duty pending the investigation.

The news release said that McCrae used his body camera from the beginning of the traffic stop, and he called for backup when he saw McCrae's suspicious movements. State law typically requires a judge to sign off on any public release of police body-camera footage.

Other officers arrived within seconds of the shooting and attempted to resuscitate McCrae, as did an emergency medical crew, according to authorities. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The other occupants of the car weren't injured.

Police said that McGuire had minor abrasions after the altercation.

A woman who lives near the scene of the shooting, Delphine Bias, told WGHP-TV that she heard gunshots before walking to her window to see McCrae lying on the ground.

"I heard about four or five shots, 'Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow! Pow!'" she said. "So when I jumped up to run to see what was going on, I saw a gentleman laying over there on the street."

Nurse Who Said Stephon Clark 'Deserved' to Be Shot by Police Is Fired From Job

A California nurse who said an unarmed black man “deserved” to be shot by police has been fired from her hospital job.

Faith Linthicum, of Sacramento, was a nurse at Kaiser Permanente's Roseville Medical Center at the time that she posted the controversial Facebook comments that Stephon Clark, who was gunned down by police in his grandmother’s backyard on March 18, "deserved it for being stupid," reports said.

Before Linthicum restricted access to her Facebook page, civil rights activist Christina Arechiga took a screengrab of the comments and shared it on her social media accounts, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

“This woman works in labor and delivery — how can [she] be trust[ed] her with our black and brown babies?” Arechiga wrote on a post that has since been widely circulated.

***update: This nurse is no longer with Kaiser....
Posted by Christina Arechiga on  Friday, March 23, 2018

Once officials at Linthicum’s job got wind of the post she’d made, she was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation, reports said.

On Thursday, it was announced that the nurse was no longer employed at Kaiser Permanente.

"Kaiser Permanente does not tolerate hate or discrimination… We want to emphasize that the comments expressed by this employee, who is no longer with the organization, do not in any way reflect Kaiser Permanente’s views or actions," a hospital spokesman said in a statement to the Sacramento Bee.

Officers fired 20 shots at Clark, 22, after they said they believed he had a gun.

They later discovered he was actually holding a cell phone.

Proof That Good People Still Exist (26 Pics)

The world needs more people like this. 

You Can Do Something Special With This Statue (7 Pics)

Most statues are untouchable but this one is the complete opposite.