I mean I’m as anti-Trump as the next, but didn’t the bill say it could be delayed to finalize a sale to American owners?
You could make the case that this sale means the Trump admin actually didn’t break the rules here.
I mean I’m as anti-Trump as the next, but didn’t the bill say it could be delayed to finalize a sale to American owners?
You could make the case that this sale means the Trump admin actually didn’t break the rules here.
It said it could be delayed with some pretty specific parameters. Quoting the Congressional Research Service report on the bill:
"The President can grant a one-time extension of up to 90 additional days when a path to a qualified divestiture has been identified, there is evidence of 'significant' progress toward executing the divestiture, and there are legally binding agreements in place to enable the divestiture."
One could argue all day about whether or not there was an identified path or evidence of significant progress, but certainly there weren't legally binding agreements in place at any point, and the deadline has been extended far more than once.
Trump is ignoring the law. The DoJ has asserted that Trump can ignore the law because it would interfere with his duty to "take care of the national security and foreign affairs of the United States." It is unclear what, if any law, could not be ignored under this doctrine.
Only one extension was allowed.