Tuesday's "The Beat" with MSNBC's Ari Melber featured a panel sharply criticizing President Donald Trump for using his public office for private gain.
"Donald Trump's business was on his mind from the very start of his administration," Melber noted.
Melber explained that Trump used a "classic ploy" to defend using his public office for private gain, "the double-conditional-word muddle, also known as lying."
"New reports today, he hiked price for spending New Year's Eve with Trump, he doubled fees at Mar-a-Lago as soon as he won the election and revenue there followed, spiking by $7 million," Melber explained.
"It's normal for Donald Trump, this is what he's been doing since day one," explained Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer during the George W. Bush administration. "What he's doing here is he is making a lot of money off the presidency."
"The promotion is extraordinary," Dr. Dean noted. "It is pretty clear he is shaking down foreign governments, or his staff are shaking down foreign governments, who have moved their events to his hotel in Washington at somebody's bequest, in order to get favors."
"You know this guy, I've said for a long time, I think he's running a criminal enterprise out of the White House," Dean explained.
"I think that's what Bob Mueller is on the track of," the former DNC Chair suggested. "He's shaking down people."
Dr. Dean loudly complained about the process behind the tax cut bill.
"That's crookedness, that's crookedness, that can't be legal," Dean argued. "This system broken, the Republicans are the party of corruption."
"The White House clearly has a very loose relationship with ethics, what they have a very close relationship with is money," explained Harvard Professor Leah Wright Rigueur. "And to put it in terms that our audience can understand, the motto of the White House seems to be, 'cash rules everything around me.'"
"Dollar, dollar bills, y'all," Melber interjected.
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