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7 year oldThe documents provide a snapshot of what the employees’ finances looked like when they joined government service in January, but they do not give a full account of how those people are disentangling from business assets that could pose possible conflicts of interest.
President Donald Trump, a billionaire New York businessman, and Vice President Mike Pence, the former Indiana governor, are not legally required to file new financial disclosures until next year.
Here are some of the findings:
IVANKA TRUMP AND JARED KUSHNER
Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have reportedly attained a vast real estate and investment fortune worth as much as $US741 million ($970 million).
US President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter also has a stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC while she works in the White House as an assistant to the president, according to ethics filings released by the White House on Friday night and reported in The New York Times.
The New York Post reports that from the hotel alone, Ms Trump raked in somewhere between $US1 million and $US5 million between January 2016 and March 2017, the Times reported.
The value of her stake in the business is worth between $US5 million and $US25 million.
Mr Kushner, who serves as Mr Trump’s senior adviser, detailed in his filings that he and Ivanka collected about $US195 million in income last year.
Kushner and Trump resigned from all of their business entities and sold off 58 assets. But the couple held onto much of what they have built into a global and real estate-focused empire.
Kushner began selling off the most problematic pieces of his portfolio shortly after Trump won the election, and some of those business deals predate what is required to be captured in the financial disclosure forms. For example, Kushner sold his stake in a Manhattan skyscraper to a trust his mother oversees. Kushner organised much of his holdings into trusts for which he is the sole primary beneficiary.
STEVE BANNON
The filings also showed that Steve Bannon, the president’s combative chief strategist, made between $US1.3 million and $US2.3 million last year, the Times said.
The former head of Brietbart News disclosed $US191,000 in consulting fees from the news organisation, in addition to $US125,333 from the data firm Cambridge Analytica and a $US61,539 salary from the conservative non-profit Government Accountability Institute.
All three of those organisations are backed by Trump mega donors Robert Mercer and his daughter, Rebecca.
Cambridge was the main data provider for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who waged a bitter battle with Trump for the Republican nomination. Bannon’s consulting firm pulled in more than $US125,000 from Cambridge last year. He has stake in Cambridge somewhere between $US1 million and $US5 million, but the disclosure says he has an “agreement in principle” to sell his investment. Bannon also disclosed his ownership stake worth up to $US5 million in Bannon Film Industries Inc., the entertainment company that veered into political-themed documentaries, including last year’s anti-Hillary Clinton documentary “Clinton Cash.” He retains that investment even while selling off other arrangements, according to the filing.
REINCE PRIEBUS
White House chief of staff Reince Priebus earned $US1.4 million in 2016. Most of that came from his Milwaukee law firm at which he is a partner. He also earned more than $US500,000 for his work with the Republican National Committee.
KELLYANNE CONWAY
Counsellor to the president, Kellyanne Conway, said she made $US800,000 last year from her consulting firm. She has assets worth between $US10 million and $US39 million.
Conway, who became the first female campaign manager to successfully elect a president, is, not surprisingly, a successful woman herself. Even before being named counselor to the president, Conway was worth as much as $US40 million, derived mostly from her investments and her salary at her personal political consulting firm, “the polling company/WomanTrend.” Conway earned, through her company, slightly more than $US800,000 in business income for her work in 2016. The business is worth between $1 million and $5 million, according to her disclosure statement.
Most of Conway’s assets, more than $US31 million, are held in cash or money-market accounts — likely because she had to sell most of her investments before taking a job in the White House. She does still own stock in drug giant Pfizer, snack food companies Kraft Heinz and Mondelez, and tobacco companies Altria and Philip Morris. Those stock holdings are relatively minor — less than $200,000 — compared with her net worth.
Conway gave speeches or provided political consulting services to dozens of political interest groups, mostly advocating conservative causes. She also gave a paid speech to Point 72 Asset Management, the firm owned by billionaire hedge fund manager Steven Cohen.
SEAN SPICER
White House press secretary Sean Spicer made $US260,000 last year for his work as communications director and chief strategist for the Republican National Committee. He also raked in between $US50,000 and $165,000 in rent for four investment properties he owns in Northern Virginia.
Some of the disclosures raised concerns from ethics watchdogs such as the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington which pointed out that public officials are prohibited from making financial gains off their positions.
GARY COHN
One of the wealthiest members of the Trump administration — aside from the president himself — is Gary Cohn, who left a top position at Goldman Sachs to become Trump’s chief economic adviser. His financial disclosure shows he received at least $US40 million in income from Goldman Sachs-related dividends, interest, salary and bonuses, about half of which was in some form of stock compensation.
White House Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway, centre, and National Economic Council director Gary Cohn arrive for a meeting on Capitol Hill in Washington. Picture: APSource:AP
His investments range from prestigious venture capital fund Andreessen Horowitz to self-storages units in Ohio. Cohn also reported more than $US1 million in income from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China — something the White House has said he is in the process of divesting along with his Goldman holdings.
DON MCGAHN
Don McGahn, who served as Trump’s top campaign lawyer and is now White House counsel, made more than $US2.4 million last year for his work at Jones Day, a prominent Washington law firm with deep ties to the Republican Party.
McGahn listed legal services for more than 22 conservative and GOP-tied entities last year, including the National Rifle Association, the Citizens United Foundation, the Republican National Committee and Americans for Prosperity. A guitar player who often performs in public with an ‘80s cover band called Scott’s New Band, McGahn also disclosed that he earned $US4,900 last year from a music booking firm.
KEITH KELLOGG
Kellogg, the National Security Council chief of staff, reported earning $US96,000 in salary and severance for one month working for Cubic Corp., a defense contractor, plus ownership worth at least $US366,000 in various investment funds, bonds and a retirement account. He owed at least $US600,000 in loans, including a mortgage on his home.
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