All modern US presidents having extensive investment portfolios have put those assets into a blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest while holding office. But Trump says he won’t.
According to the Washington Post, Trump will have his adult children run his businesses while he’s in office. However the Post cites a report for Congress by the Congressional Research Service as evidence that Trump’s plan doesn’t qualify as a true blind trust. The CRS says, for the trust to be “blind,“ the official must transfer, "without restriction, control and management of private assets to an independent trustee who may not communicate information about the identity of the holdings in the trust to the official.”
Having Trump’s children handle his properties, adds the Post, fails to meet CRS criteria, especially since they are part of his transition team. Although, as Forbes points out, Trump’s extensive foreign and domestic holdings, some of them partnerships, pose a particular difficulty for Trump, the Guardian reports that government watchdogs don't accept that excuse.
A watchdog group is calling on Trump to place all his assets and investments into a “genuine blind trust” or an equivalent, adding that his “duties to the American people must prevail over" his "personal ties to the Trump Organization businesses.” Failure to do so, said watchdog members, “will create conflicts of interest of unprecedented magnitude.”
Sign this petition to insist that Trump place his assets and investments into a qualifying blind trust to avoid conflicts of interest while serving as President.
To President Elect Donald Trump:
As Leslie Kiernan, an attorney and former Deputy White House Counsel points out, it would likely be as much to your advantage as that of the American public for you to have your business interests handled in a way that would discourage suspicion of conflicts of interest.
Kiernan explains to Forbes that “There’s a deep seated principle about not using public office for private gains, and that “The press and the public and the Congress will certainly focus on these issues." Implying that placing assets in a blind trust are important to the president’s own protection, Kiernan warns that “There are numerous laws still applicable to the president, including the financial disclosure laws, the bribery laws. He can be impeached.”
Likewise, as the watchdog group featured in the Guardian report points out, your duties to the American people now trump your business interests, despite the difficulties involved in severing those business ties.
I, the undersigned and others supporting this petition, insist that you place your assets and investments in a blind trust or other arrangement that meets the criteria outlined by the Congressional Research Service.
Thanks for you time.
