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The U.S. Office of Government Ethics has called on Donald Trump to divest himself of his business interests in order to avoid conflicts of interest while in the White House, according to a letter from the U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
Going further the letter says that transferring ownership of his businesses to his grown children wouldn’t address the multitudes of conflicts.
“Transferring operational control of a company to one’s children would not constitute the establishment of a qualified blind trust, nor would it eliminate conflicts of interest” under federal statutes governing conflicts of interest, said the letter, written by OGE Director Walter M. Shaub, Jr.
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The letter was written in response to questions from Democratic Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, ranking member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, who wrote:
“The full extent of his financial interests remains unclear, in part because he was the first presidential candidate in modern history to decline to release his tax returns to the American public. These unique circumstances raise important questions about how the Administration of President-elect Trump will avoid conflicts of interest and ensure integrity of executive branch programs and operation.”
Of course, Trump was supposed to hold a press conference this Thursday promising to explain how he would address the conflicts, but hastily canceled it this week saying the announcement would come next year.
Trump and his family stand to profit tremendously from the presidency, with a vast murky network of real estate licensing deals.
“… it has been the consistent policy of the executive branch that a President should conduct himself ‘as if’ he were bound by this financial conflict of interest law,” Shaub wrote. He added:
“Given the unique circumstances of the Presidency, OGE’s view is that a President should comply with this law by divesting conflicting assets, establishing a qualified blind trust, or both.”
Shaub noted that his office has no power to force Trump to divest, but said “every President in modern times has adopted OGE’s recommended
approach.”
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