Throughout American history, corporations have sought to influence government. Corruption is nothing new. What makes this moment different is the president’s direct role in raising enormous sums of money from companies with business before the federal government while exercising extraordinary influence over many of the decisions affecting those same companies.
A recent Wall Street Journal investigation provides a detailed look at how that system operates, but the larger question extends well beyond one newspaper’s reporting. If corporations conclude that multimillion-dollar donations are simply another cost of doing business because the financial rewards can be enormous, what does that mean for public trust, accountability, and the presidency itself?
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