By Jonathan Lemire:
On Wednesday, the six stacks of manila folders were full of the documentation and agreements making official his decision to turn his sprawling business empire over to his sons, Don Jr. and Eric, Trump said. With great flourish, four young staffers carried the piles — in front of snapping cameras — and placed them on the table next to Trump's podium in the minutes before the start of the news conference, his first since July.
"These papers are just some of the many documents that I've signed turning over complete and total control to my sons," Trump said Wednesday in the lobby of Trump Tower.
But neither Trump nor his lawyer ever picked up, displayed or referenced specifically any of the documents inside. After the news conference concluded, transition staffers blocked reporters from looking at them. And some photos of the news conference show folders without labels and, in some cases, seemingly blank pages inside, setting off a torrent of speculation on social media.
Transition officials noted that the Trump business empire was large and complicated, consisting of hundreds of entities, and that a massive amount of paperwork was required. A Trump spokeswoman on Thursday flatly denied there was anything misleading about the display.
"As Mr. Trump stated at the press conference, they were just some of the documents required to transition his assets into the trust and additional restructuring," said Hope Hicks.
But Hicks did not respond to a second request for an inspection of the documents. And materials sent to reporters about the new Trump Organization structure in the hours after the news conference totaled only six pages.
The Full Story (January 13, 2017)
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