U.S. Law Enforcement Urged to Investigate Trump Jr.’s Reported Killing of Endangered Animal

[Cimorene]

U.S. Law Enforcement Urged to Investigate Trump Jr.’s Reported Killing of Mongolian Argali Sheep Without Permit

Wildlife Agency Asked to Determine Whether Trophy Import Would Be Legal

The Center for Biological Diversity urged U.S. law enforcement officials today to investigate whether Don Trump Jr. can legally import a threatened argali sheep he killed in Mongolia last summer. According to news reports, the hunt took place, and the argali was shot, without the permit required under Mongolian law.

Today’s letter alerts the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of Law Enforcement to potential legal violations associated with this trophy hunt. It asks the agency’s top law-enforcement officials to ensure that any attempt to bring the animal’s horns, skin or parts as a trophy into the United States does not violate the Lacey Act, which prohibits the import of wildlife obtained in violation of another country’s laws.

“We urge you to ensure that the protections in place for argali — including from hunters and poachers — are enforced and special access is not provided for wealthy, white hunters from the West, even if their father is the U.S. president,” the letter reads.

Only after Trump Jr. had departed Mongolia — on Sept. 2, 2019 — was a permit issued for his argali hunt. It is unclear whether the issuance of a permit after the hunt and kill comports with Mongolian law.

“Don Jr.’s shooting of this rare animal was reprehensible, and Fish and Wildlife officials need to take a hard look at this disturbing hunt,” said attorney Tanya Sanerib, the Center’s international legal director. “If Mongolian law was violated when the argali was killed, then U.S. officials must ensure the poor animal doesn’t end up in the U.S. as a Trump wall hanging. The steep decline of this species is a prime example of how trophy hunting chips away at populations of highly imperiled creatures and why we need strong laws and their enforcement.”

Argali populations plummeted from an estimated 50,000 in 1985 to just 18,000 in 2009.

They are the world’s largest sheep, with curling horns growing up to 6 feet in length. Long imperiled by overhunting, the sheep are protected as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Between 2007 and 2018, U.S. trophy hunters imported 65 argali trophies from Mongolia.

Another source:

Donald Trump Jr. Went to Mongolia, Got Special Treatment From the Government and Killed an Endangered Sheep

Trump Jr. received special treatment during his summer trip, according to records obtained by ProPublica as well as interviews with people involved in the hunt. Listen to the episode.

The Mongolian government granted Trump Jr. a coveted and rare permit to slay the animal retroactively on Sept. 2, after he’d left the region following his trip. It’s unusual for permits to be issued after a hunter’s stay. It was one of only three permits to be issued in that hunting region, local records show.

A law professor makes a valid point

“What are the chances the Mongolian government would’ve done any of that to someone who wasn’t the son of the United States’ president?” asked Kathleen Clark, a professor specializing in legal ethics at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. She said that though Trump Jr. is not a government employee, he’s nonetheless politically influential, incentivizing foreign officials such as the Mongolian leader to treat him favorably out of a “desire on the part of a foreign government to curry favor with the president’s family.”

 

[miamited]

Hi cimorene,

Somehow I just know that this illegal activity of Trump Jr. isn't going to compare to the as yet 'supposed ' illegal activity of Hunter Biden. I'm confident that the reports from the WH on this will be that it 'turned out' to be legal because the Mongolian gov't. issued a retroactive permit. However, when Trump Jr. killed the animal he was breaking the law.

Now, if something is ever found that Hunter Biden may have broken the law and the Ukraine gov't. gives him a pass, I'm confident that won't be considered appropriate and will be seen as an obvious ploy by the Ukrainian gov't. to curry favor with Joe Biden.

I'm certainly willing to wait and see how this plays out, but I can easily see how the one offense is going to be just fine and the other will be condemned most definitely.

God bless,
In Christ, ted

 

[Cimorene]

It's also just sad & unsettling to me that he would go to such lengths to kill an endangered animal, in the middle of the night, with the help of guides he paid, for the thrill of it. That he did so w/o getting the super rare permit 1st, as legally required, makes it more corrupt. He killed an endangered sheep.

 

[dqhall]

Hi cimorene,

Somehow I just know that this illegal activity of Trump Jr. isn't going to compare to the as yet 'supposed ' illegal activity of Hunter Biden. I'm confident that the reports from the WH on this will be that it 'turned out' to be legal because the Mongolian gov't. issued a retroactive permit. However, when Trump Jr. killed the animal he was breaking the law.

Now, if something is ever found that Hunter Biden may have broken the law and the Ukraine gov't. gives him a pass, I'm confident that won't be considered appropriate and will be seen as an obvious ploy by the Ukrainian gov't. to curry favor with Joe Biden.

I'm certainly willing to wait and see how this plays out, but I can easily see how the one offense is going to be just fine and the other will be condemned most definitely.

God bless,
In Christ, ted

I read that people who had Trump’s names on their buildings were taking down the names as they are bad for business. His brand is corrupted.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Yet I can’t a permit to hunt ivory and Black Rhino horn for medicinal purposes.

 

[Go Braves]

It's also just sad & unsettling to me that he would go to such lengths to kill an endangered animal, in the middle of the night, with the help of guides he paid, for the thrill of it. That he did so w/o getting the super rare permit 1st, as legally required, makes it more corrupt. He killed an endangered sheep.

I'm a hunter, grew up hunting. The laws in the US are pretty dang strict about hunting, as they ought to be. You get your permit squared away or you pay the price. A cocky fellow from where my grandparents live got a felony conviction for poaching, which is illegal hunting. Got a huge fine as well.

Seeing as how in Mongolia only 3 permits have been issued this year for that endangered animal obviously they take that seriously too. Not a surprise Donald Jr would have a flippant and entitled attitude about hunting without getting the permit first. Use his prominence to get away with it.

We follow the conversationists guidelines for hunting. We also take what we hunt to a local butcher & then donate the meat. We volunteer in Appalachia 3 times a year. We've got an extra freezer in the garage specifically to store meat to bring to them so they can have a nice hearty meal. I think trophy hunting is weak and disgusting.

 

[Tanj]

It's a sheep. He "hunted" a sheep.

 

[wing2000]

Don Jr is still searching for his manhood hunting sheep?

 

[Cimorene]

It's a sheep. He "hunted" a sheep.

I cannot for the life of me understand the mentality behind doing that. What a sweet pic.

 

[Tanj]

Don Jr is still searching for his manhood hunting sheep?

It was an epic, evenly matched battle of wills.

 

[Allandavid]

It's a sheep. He "hunted" a sheep.

Nailed it Tanj....!

Australians must be doubled over in laughter about this one. As a display of his courageous manhood, he hunted down a ........sheep...!!?

In the dark....!?

What a man...!

 

[Go Braves]

Nailed it Tanj....!

Australians must be doubled over in laughter about this one. As a display of his courageous manhood, he hunted down a ........sheep...!!?

In the dark....!?

What a man...!

With the help of paid hunting guides who were shining their phones so that Donald Jr. could have some light when taking his nighttime shot at the sheep, an endangered animal.

He had the forethought to fly to Mongolia. Hire the guides. Get the gun. Get out to the area to shoot the sheep. But not to first get the permit.

 

[Go Braves]

Don Jr is still searching for his manhood hunting sheep?

Well to be fair he really needed a win after Republican college kids half his age booed him off the stage. So it was necessary for him to have taxpayers pay for the Secret Service to fly with him around the world so he could kill a sheep.