At a White House summit of mostly-giant technology companies last month, the small startup OpenGov seemed like the odd one out. One possible explanation is that the company has close financial connections to the Trump family.

According to records unearthed by the Wall Street Journal, OpenGov is funded in part by the venture capital firm Thrive Capital. Thrive is run by Joshua Kushner, brother of Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and close adviser. According to the Journal, Jared Kushner himself was formerly a board member and investor at Thrive, but sold his stake to his brother earlier this year. Jared Kushner was the primary organizer of the roundtable, known as the American Technology Council and created earlier this year in an executive order signed by President Trump.

OpenGov CEO Zachary Bookman sat on the Council alongside Apple’s Tim Cook, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, and representatives of more than a dozen other major firms with an average market value of $250 billion. OpenGov, which sells management software primarily to state and city governments, was valued most recently at $180 million, making it by far the smallest firm at the meeting.

http://fortune.com/2017/07/15/opengov-trump-ties-technology-summit/

Is there something illegal here or just unsavory. It sound like winning the White House was a really good business investment for Trumpco.

https://twitter.com/McFaul/status/887469441922981888

McFaul was US Ambassador to Russia 2012 - 2014.

https://twitter.com/SethAbramson/status/887357403351715840

I saw this interview this morning between Charlie Rose and Ian Bremmer. Has anyone else heard of this?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2017-07-18/bremmer-on-trump-putin-meeting-charlie-rose-video

https://twitter.com/DearAuntCrabby/status/886350329293492224

https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/886966987716427780

https://twitter.com/TeaPainUSA/status/886198815153418240

Son-above-the-law.

https://twitter.com/RWPUSA/status/886242182902030336

https://twitter.com/goldengateblond/status/885516158975172609

New coffee pods promise a two-way buzz: From marijuana and caffeine

Want your morning coffee to come with a little extra buzz? Brewbudz just might do the trick. A company called Cannabiniers on Wednesday launched the Brewbudz, which is “the world’s first cannabis infused coffee, tea and cocoa pods.”

The pods are compatible with all Keurig and Keurig 2.0 brewers, making your morning wake and bake as simple as pushing a button.

Brewbudz are available in different dosing strengths from 10 mg to 50 mg of THC, the compound in marijuana that gets you high, in both sativa (the strain of cannabis that picks you up) or indica (the strain that mellows you out). The company’s patented extraction process “allows the consumer to benefit from the complete profile of the cannabis flower, in a healthy and discreet manner,” according to a news release. The coffee is responsibly sourced Arabica and also available in decaf; the tea is black, green and herbal; and the cocoa is dark chocolate.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/news/food/wp/2017/07/12/now-you-can-have-marijuana-in-your-coffee-without-brewing-a-whole-pot/

What a way to start the day.