Emoluments UPDATE: A Border Patrol gala retirement party will be held at a Trump golf resort
A Border Patrol gala retirement party will be held at a Trump golf resort
https://qz.com/1708965/border-patrol-retirement-party-to-be-held-at-trump-golf-resort/
US Border Patrol deputy chief Scott Luck will be celebrating his retirement later this month with a private party at president Donald Trumps lavish golf resort in Virginia, according to a flyer for the event obtained by Quartz.
While there is nothing illegal about the arrangement, it is certainly unseemly. A source with access to the Washington, DC building within which Border Patrol headquarters is located said the flyers are hanging on the walls of the office. One insider at the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Border Patrol, questioned not only the optics of holding the gala dinner for Luck at a property owned by the president but also the $75 cost to attend. An announcement for the event was sent out to employees via official government email.
Luck, who appears in a large, framed photo with far-right commentator Tomi Lahren hanging prominently on the wall of Border Patrol headquarters, has described immigration at the southern border as a deluge.
The ticket price includes hors doeuvres, dinner, and a gift contribution for Luck, a 33-year veteran of the agency. Generally, federal ethics rules prohibit giving (or contributing to) gifts of any kind to superiors, but allow for employees to spend up to $10 on birthdays and certain holidays. There is an exception for what the US Office of Government Ethics calls special infrequent occasions, when giving or accepting an undefined gift appropriate to the occasion is permissible. These include marriage, illness, or the birth or adoption of a child, as well as occasions that terminate the subordinate-official superior relationship, such as retirement, resignation, or transfer.