Page 28 - 072817

Groton Daily Independent
Friday, July 28, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 028 ~ 28 of 54
SkyBridge announced it struck a deal to sell to HNA Capital and RON Transatlantic in January. A call to SkyBridge’s spokesperson was not immediately returned.
Another issue raised by Scaramucci’s holdings involves the treatment of taxes on gains from the SkyBridge sale. Federal of cials are allowed to le a so-called certi cate of divestiture to defer paying taxes if they are being forced to sell an asset because of potential con icts with their public job.
Since Scaramucci announced the SkyBridge sale long before he took his job, that raises the possibility he will fail to qualify, putting in doubt perhaps millions of dollars of pro t for him.
Walter Shaub, the former head of the Of ce of Government Ethics and a big critic of the Trump admin- istration, has tweeted that Scaramucci should have waited for a ruling about whether he needed to sell before entering into a deal to do so.
He tweeted on Tuesday, “U don’t qualify for employee tax relief by entering into a deal & then go looking for a job that may or may not necessitate closing the deal.”
But Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, isn’t so sure. He said that Scaramucci may be able to qualify if owning SkyBridge is deemed a con ict before the sale is complete.
“They don’t take away the certi cate of divestiture because you thought about selling before,” Painter said.
Scaramucci’s lawyer, Elliot Berke, said in an email Thursday that his client had been advised to sell SkyBridge to avoid con icts before he stuck a deal to do so. “Throughout the review, career nonpartisan of cials have recommended he be granted a certi cate of divestiture, as has the White House Counsel’s of ce,” Berke wrote.
Scaramucci has vowed to shake up the administration in part by rooting out those who leak informa- tion to press, and the release of his personal nance report on Politico on Wednesday stoked his anger.
He took the Twitter with a vow to contact investigators.
“In light of the leak of my nancial disclosure info which is a felony,” he tweeted, “I will be contacting @ FBI and the @JusticeDept #swamp @Reince45.”
In fact, the report wasn’t leaked. It was released after a public records request by a Politico reporter to the Export-Import Bank, where Scaramucci had been employed at a senior level since mid-June.
The Associated Press subsequently obtained the same nancial disclosure Thursday. A reporter lled out a publicly available form, turned it in at the bank’s of ce and was emailed a copy of Scaramucci’s nancial disclosure about 30 minutes later.
The report shows that Scaramucci owns several residential properties and businesses. A stake in the New York Mets and property in the Hamptons on Long Island are each worth at least $1 million.
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AP writer Daniel Trielli contributed to this report from Washington.
Thrill ride was OK’d hours before deadly state fair accident By JULIE CARR SMYTH, Associated Press
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Inspectors repeatedly looked over a thrill ride while it was assembled at the Ohio State Fair and signed off on it hours before it ew apart in a deadly accident that ung passengers into the ground, according to authorities and records released Thursday.
Investigators worked to nd out what caused the opening day wreck, which killed a high school student who had just enlisted in the Marines. Seven other people were injured, including four teenagers.
The ride’s Dutch manufacturer told operators of the same attraction at fairs and festivals around the world to stop using it until more is learned about what caused the malfunction.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich shut down all rides at the state fair and ordered them inspected again. He said it was too early to say whether inspectors missed something that led to the tragedy Wednesday night.
“It’s a nightmare. It’s a terrible situation,” the Republican governor said.
Video taken by a bystander of the swinging, spinning Fire Ball ride in action captured a crashing sound. A section holding four riders came apart, and screams could be heard as at least two people were ejected