Your Day-One Guide to President Trumps Conflicts of Interest
RUSS CHOMA AND ANDY KROLLJAN. 20, 2017 8:32 AM
Donald Trump takes office today as the most conflicted and ethically problematic president in the nation's history. He refuses to divest from his global business holdings. His company continues to make foreign deals even after he promised to halt them. He owes hundreds of millions of dollars to domestic and overseas banks and other financial institutions. And Trump has yet to release his tax returns, making it impossible to know the full extent of his business dealings, liabilities, and other potential conflicts in the United States and around the world. On the first day of Trump's presidency, here is a guide to the conflicts and ethical questions that will dog him from the moment he steps foot in the White House.
Trump's Other Home on Pennsylvania Avenue
There was a joke during the presidential campaign: Win or lose, Trump would still have a presence on DC's iconic Pennsylvania Avenue. The Trump International Hotel opened last year in the historic Old Post Office Building four blocks from the White House, charging $850 a night for a room and $26 for a hamburger. Trump's unexpected victory, however, presented a new problem for the incoming president: He will violate the Trump International's lease the moment he takes office. Trump's lease with the General Services Administration—the landlord of the federal government—bans any elected official, including the president, from having a financial stake in or gaining a financial benefit from the property. Congressional Democrats argue that Trump, under the terms of the lease, must legally divest himself from the 263-room hotel before taking office. If he chooses not to divest, Democrats say the GSA should evict Trump.
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The Foreign Connection
The emoluments clause was an obscure provision of the US Constitution—until Trump arrived on the scene. The clause prohibits any government official from receiving money, gifts, or anything else of value from a foreign government. In the view of many constitutional experts, Trump stands in violation of the emoluments clause from the first day of his presidency. "Applied to Mr. Trump's diverse dealings, the text and purpose of the Emoluments Clause speak as one: this cannot be allowed," wrote Norm Eisen, a former chief ethics lawyer under President Barack Obama, and Richard Painter, a former chief ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. A foreign state-owned bank rents space in a Trump-owned building. Trump has loans via a partnership with the Bank of China. Foreign diplomats and governments are paying to stay at the Trump International Hotel in DC, which is largely owned by Trump and run by his company. And then there are the many Trump-owned and -branded hotels around the globe—deals that in some cases involve partnerships with questionable characters. (A project in Azerbaijan with the son of the country's transportation minister is one glaring example.) All of these sources of money—and many more—run afoul of the emoluments clause, according to Eisen and Painter.
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It's Not What You Own—It's What You Owe
Trump, as Mother Jones has reported, will enter the White House as the most indebted president in history. And the new president's lenders, which include foreign financial institutions, raise a whole slew of questions. According to Trump's financial disclosure forms, his largest lender is Deutsche Bank, which he owes $364 million. The German bank and US law enforcement officials have sparred in recent years, with the bank agreeing to pay a $7.2 billion fine for its role in the 2008 mortgage crisis. The Justice Department has an ongoing investigation into the bank for allegedly helping funnel money out of Russia. The fact that Trump will enter office with his biggest lender under investigation by his administration is one of the most obvious conflicts his debts pose. But there are other ethical issues: What happens if one of his lenders wants to renegotiate the loan's terms? How can the public be sure that the bank isn't using its leverage to curry favor or that Trump isn't using his position to seek special treatment? Although Trump has said he is separating himself from the daily operations of his company, he has personally guaranteed a number of his loans. Will Trump recuse himself if a decision directly involving one of his lenders lands on his desk?
Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/your-day-one-guide-president-trumps-conflicts-interest
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