This key detail from Maddow’s interview with Mary Trump could have ‘enormous significance’

 July 16, 2020 By Bob Brigham


MSNBC’s “The Rachel Maddow Show” on Thursday broadcast an interview with Mary Trump, the president’s niece who just published a blockbuster tell-all book.

“By the time that The Times story came out, did you know what they had?” Maddow asked. “Did you know that — sort of the explosiveness of the alleged misdeeds that they were going to uncover thanks to what you gave them?”

“I had no idea,” she replied.

“It wasn’t just that people in my family did these things that they shouldn’t have done, but these were my aunts and uncles who also happened to be my trustees and clearly I didn’t benefit from the role that they were supposed to play in protecting my financial interests when I was younger,” she explained.

Asha Rangappa, a former FBI special agent who is a CNN analyst, said that part of the interview could have “enormous significance

Here is the thread Rangappa posted explaining why she identified the interaction as an important:

2. A “trustee,” is a term with legal significance. Someone who acts as a trustee has a FIDUCIARY DUTY — in Mary Trump’s case, to act in her interest (she is the “beneficiary” of the estate being administered). In other words, they need to take steps to maximize *her* benefit 2/***
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 17, 2020


4. The NY AG found that the Trump Foundation — run by Donald and his eldest three kids — violated their FIDUCIARY DUTY to the donors to that trust, using that money to benefit themselves rather than the causes they were meant for. The Foundation was shut down.

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 17, 2020


6. Everything that Barr is doing, at Trunp’s behest, is a violation of Trump’s FIDUCIARY DUTY, to the American people, to take care that the laws be FAITHFULLY executed. @jedshug and others have written about the fiduciary duty imposed by the word “faithfully” in Art. II
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 17, 2020

8. In case it’s not clear, as President, Trump is effectively a “trustee” for the American people, who are the “beneficiaries.” More ads/questions/talking points need to be framed in this way to fully highlight how he has violated and abused his power and the public trust.
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) July 17, 2020


Mary Trump says she was "utterly blown away" by the NY Times reporting on Pres. Trump's taxes: "The financial devices that my family used to cover up certain things they were doing were not easily decipherable…These were my aunts and uncles who also happened to be my trustees." pic.twitter.com/Zy7KMfGh1P
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) July 17, 2020

*** THIS IS A SERIOUS POINT FOR CIVIL COURT, AS SOMEONE WHO HAS WORKED ON TRUSTS AND TRUSTEESHIP WHAT ASHA SAYS ABOUT FIDUCIARY DUTY IS CORRECT AND CLEAR IN THE LAW IN CANADA AND THE USA.