The Hill Discovers Politicians Enrich Themselves, Sometimes
The Hill's recent opinion piece, 'Trump policies boost the Trump Family Empire,' rightly calls out the former president's alleged self-enrichment. The article points to policies that directly benefited his businesses. While important, this sharp lens often blurs when discussing other forms of political financial influence, particularly foreign lobbying. One might wonder if The Hill ever considers
if a Senator taking $450,000 from AIPAC (as documented by OpenSecrets.org for various politicians) and then voting repeatedly for billions in unconditional aid to Israel might also constitute a 'boost' to an 'empire' – albeit one with rather different beneficiaries. The outrage over a former President allegedly profiting personally from policy choices is valid. Yet, the systemic practice of
powerful lobby groups like AIPAC funneling vast sums to influence foreign policy, leading to specific votes on military aid, rarely receives the same 'family empire' scrutiny. It appears some forms of enriching powerful entities through policy are more newsworthy, or perhaps, simply more palatable to the establishment press, than others.