FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: August 24, 2017
CONTACT: [email protected]

 

CONGRESSMAN TED LIEU (D-CA) URGES CALIFORNIA’S PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RETIREMENT SYSTEM TO DIVEST FROM A REAL ESTATE FUND THAT OWNS THE TRUMP SOHO LUXURY HOTEL

SACRAMENTO, CA – August 24, 2017 – Congressman Ted Lieu of Los Angeles issued a stern letter to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS),urging one of the largest public pension funds in the country to take immediate action to remedy serious legal and ethical issues regarding indirect payments to the Trump Organization.

In April, Free Speech For People and Courage Campaign, two government watchdog groups, called upon CalPERS to uphold its legal and fiduciary duties and end this flow of payments from state coffers to the President. After a report by Reuters^[1] identified CalPERS as one of the eleven state and local pension funds invested in a real estate fund that owns the Trump Soho Luxury Hotel and Condominium, Free Speech For People launched DivestTrumpSoHo.org to petition CalPERS to act in obligation to their beneficiaries to manage their investments in accordance with the laws.

The CEO of CalPERS responded to Free Speech For People’s letter by promising to continue to “monitor and analyze” the situation with the “expectation” that CIM Group will manage the fund in the best interests of CalPERS’s members.

Based on CalPERS inadequate response, Congressman Lieu’s letter strongly urges the public pension to obey the law of the land.

“Public funds should not be invested in a scheme that illegally enriches the President” says Congressman Lieu, “CalPERS has a duty to obey the laws of the land, including the U.S. Constitution, and it has a fiduciary duty to conduct due diligence to avoid unethical and illegal investments.”

“CalPERS has an unprecedented opportunity to take action that protects its 1.8 million members and preserves one of the fundamental principles of our democracy: The President should act based on national interest, not his own financial interests,” said Shanna Cleveland, Senior Counsel for Free Speech For People.

To date, more than 12,000 Californian residents have signed a petition calling on CalPERS to divest Trump SoHo. For more campaign developments, visit DivestTrumpSoHo.org

 Download Free Speech For People’s letter to CalPERS here.

 Download Congressman Ted Lieu’s letter to CalPERS here.

 

Free Speech For People is a national non-partisan non-profit organization founded on the day of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United v. FEC that works to renew our democracy and our Constitution for the people, not big money and corporate interests.

Courage Campaign fights for a more progressive California and country. It is powered by more than 900,000 online member activists. Courage Campaign’s long-term goal is to restore the California Dream through grassroots organizing, creating widespread and long-term prosperity for all its people without regard for race, creed or sexual orientation.

 

_{[1] http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-divestiture-idUSKBN1A40VQ}