Damning Docs Show Kamala Appears to Have Violated Own Ethics Promise
Vice President Kamala Harris appears to have violated a campaign ethics pledge by keeping assets in a tax-advantaged family trust.
Harris’ financial disclosure form reveals that she has been a trustee of the KDH/DCE family trust since October 2017.
The assets “are not reportable,” according to the form, so some of her holdings are kept from public view.
These hidden assets are inconsistent with the pledge President Joe Biden and Harris made during their campaign to end the practice, according to Fox News.
In “The Biden Plan to Guarantee Government Works for the People,” the president promised to “eliminate the trust loophole in existing financial disclosure law.”
“This loophole has allowed many senior officials — including [former] President [Donald] Trump — to avoid disclosing significant financial interests,” the plan reads.
“Biden will work with Congress to close this loophole; and will meanwhile require that any member of his Administration who is a beneficiary of a discretionary trust disclose all of its holdings.”
The vice president appears to neither adhere to the pledge nor report the assets within the trust.
A family trust, also known as a living trust, is a legal document that allows married couples to maximize their federal tax exemption and are “ideal for people that own real estate in more than one state and an excellent method for asset protection,” according to California law firm Craton, Switzer & Tokar LLP.
[firefly_poll]
Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff used their family trust to purchase a condo in D.C.’s Georgetown neighborhood in 2017, Fox News reported, citing Washington, D.C., property records.
The trust is also tied to a San Francisco condo that Harris purchased in 2004 when she was elected as California attorney general.
The condo was sold in March for $860,000, according to Zillow.
The couple’s multimillion-dollar Brentwood, California, home was also rolled into the trust when Emhoff and Harris married in 2014.
The estimated combined worth of all of the couple’s real estate in the trust is $7.2 million.
An unidentified senior Republican told the U.K.’s Daily Mail that Democrats have one rule for the public and a different rule for themselves.
“If the Democrats didn’t believe in hypocrisy, they wouldn’t believe in anything at all,” conservative strategist John Feehery added.
The couple also donated 1.6 percent of their $1.6 million income to charity last year, a level far below the average for their income level, according to Fox Business.
The Western Journal reached out to the White House for comment on this matter, but only immediately received an automated email reply, stating, “We take careful note of the suggestions, thoughts, questions, and stories we receive, and we’re working hard to ensure you receive an appropriate response.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.