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A4 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 19 February 2020

Bloomberg would sell business interests if elected president

By KATHLEEN RONAYNE company is not currently
Associated Press for sale. He retained owner-
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) ship in the company when
— Mike Bloomberg would he served as New York City
sell the financial data and mayor from 2002 to 2013,
media company he cre- but gave up his title of chief
ated in the 1980s — which executive.
bears his name and made O'Brien's comment comes
him a multibillionaire — if he amid increasing scrutiny of
is elected U.S. president, a Bloomberg's wealth and
top adviser said Tuesday. business holdings from his
Bloomberg would put rivals for the Democratic
Bloomberg LP into a blind presidential nomination.
trust, and the trustee would He'll face them on the de-
then sell the company, ad- bate stage for the first time
viser Tim O'Brien said. Pro- on Wednesday in Las Ve-
ceeds from the sale would gas.
go to Bloomberg Philan- If he won the White House,
thropies, the charitable giv- the exact timeline for a
ing arm that funds causes sale isn't clear, O'Brien said.
from climate change to There's also been no deci-
public health and grants sion on what would hap-
for American cities. pen to Bloomberg Philan-
The only restriction Bloom- Democratic presidential candidate and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks thropies.
berg would put on the sale during a campaign rally at the Buffalo Soldier Museum in Houston, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020. Hous- Bloomberg created his
is that it not be sold to a for- ton Mayor Sylvester Turner stands at right. own company in 1981, af-
eign buyer or a private eq- Associated Press ter he was fired from the
uity company, O'Brien said. investment bank Salomon
Bloomberg, a Democrat, is dency, and Trump's record Bloomberg would have an assets in a trust controlled Brothers with a $10 mil-
currently chief executive of is his refusal to disengage extraordinarily complicat- by his two adult sons and a lion severance payment.
the company. himself in his own financial ed financial picture to un- senior company executive. His new venture created
"We want to be 180 de- interests. And we want to tangle if he wins the presi- He has continued to make the Bloomberg Terminal, a
grees apart from Donald be very transparent and dency. His commitment to money from his properties. dedicated computer with
Trump around financial clean and clear with vot- selling the company stands Bloomberg said in 2018, proprietary software that
conflicts of interest," O'Brien ers about where Mike is on in stark contrast to the Re- when he was consider- allowed Wall Street traders,
told The Associated Press. these things." publican Trump, who re- ing a presidential run, that buyers and sellers to see fi-
"We think it's one of the Indeed, as one of the fused to fully divest from his he would consider selling nancial transaction data in
biggest stains on the presi- world's wealthiest people, business, instead putting his his business if elected. The real time.q

Veterans group: Pentagon broke agreement to reopen database

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) — The to upgrade a less-than- ually assaulted while in the A few weeks later, Stich- Military officials said they
Pentagon has reneged on honorable discharge. Vet- military. man said, the Pentagon regret that the personal in-
its agreement to reopen erans' lawyers study those Bart Stichman, executive had agreed to a timeline formation precluded them
a vast records database past decisions in hopes of director for the veterans for releasing most of the from meeting the dead-
that helps service members building successful argu- group, said the Pentagon records. But on Tuesday, lines they had agreed
who are appealing a less- ments for their clients. continues to break federal the veterans group said upon, their attorneys wrote
than-honorable discharge, Appeals are being made law and is harming "veter- access "continues to be se- in the court filing.
a veterans group said Tues- at a time of growing recog- an advocates who rely on verely limited." The U.S. Mili- A court hearing to review
day. nition that a less-than-hon- access to these decisions tarysaid that some of the the matter is scheduled for
The National Veterans Le- orable discharge can stem to help them represent and records had been made March 6 in federal court in
gal Services Program said from behaviors brought on secure critical benefits for available, according to a Alexandria, Virginia.
the Defense Department by post-traumatic stress veterans and their families." recent court filing. But offi- The lawsuit over the records
has failed to make public disorder or traumatic brain Stichman's organization cials discovered that "some has already drawn the at-
the "vast majority" of deci- injuries. had sued the Pentagon of the decisions still con- tention of 11 Democratic
sions made by military re- Liberal consideration is sup- over the matter in early tained personal identifying U.S. senators. They wrote a
view boards over the last posed to be given to vet- January, alleging that hun- information," which could letter to military leaders in
several years. erans with combat-related dreds of thousands of de- not be made public under January asking when the
Military review boards grant mental health conditions cisions have been publicly federal law and needed to records would become
or deny a veteran's request and to those who were sex- unavailable since April. be redacted. available again.q