Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

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