Conflicts of Interest in Trump Administration

Floor Speech

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Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a strong recommendation that President-elect Trump address immediately and put to rest the overwhelming conflicts of interest that abound with his personal business affairs that threaten to undermine the public interest and destabilize his future administration.

When America's Founding Fathers wrote the Emoluments Clause in our Constitution, their firm intention was to insulate our new government from unethical foreign inducement to our elected officials and corruption attendant to the intertwining of Europe's politics with our own.

So reads our Constitution, Article I. Article I, right at the beginning, Section 9, clause 8: ``No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States''--that means we don't coronate kings here--``And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or foreign State.''

No elected official in this country is above the Constitution, the law of the land. This is the strict, time-tested standard, ethical standard to which the President and Congress and all senior government appointees are held.

Unfortunately, American history has no shortage of examples of Presidents and senior officials who attempted to skirt this ethical standard outside of appropriate channels, and they paid the price: Ulysses S. Grant's Whiskey Ring, or Warren G. Harding's Teapot Dome, or Richard Nixon's Jewel Scandal or Watergate, to name a few. Each represents an instance of improper gifting, self-dealing, and an array of clandestine and illegal activities, of which President-elect Trump would be wise to reflect upon their consequences.

There have been many suggestions offered to the President-elect on what he should do to clear up such potential conflicts about his foreign investments, contacts, and his vast private wealth that could compromise his position as President; yet President-elect Trump's advisers keep us waiting and dodging the main question.

He, himself, has said that action is not legally required. He is wrong. He also incorrectly asserts there can be no conflict of interest for a President. History shows that is false.

Without separation of his private interests from his public interests, how will the American people know he is acting fairly and impartially in his appointments to regulatory agencies, for example? Or his funding recommendations of budgets and departments that could impact his investments? Or how about the contracts that are let by the Federal Government itself?

How will he work with banks, and which ones, nation-state-owned or foreign, that have loaned him and his associates money?

Who will he be appointing to key regulatory positions that could impact his vast financial interests across many continents?

A former Reform Party Vice Presidential candidate opined on the Huffington Post site that Mr. Trump has three options to address his conflicts of interest:

Number one, to place his company and assets into a true blind trust, supervised by a totally independent entity;

Number two, to persuade the GOP-controlled Congress to enact a law that exempts the President from the Emolument Provision, which I would vote against; or

Number three, to resign, or risk impeachment.

As the Office of Government Ethics advised, only a true divestiture of his financial stake in his sprawling and global business dealings will resolve ethical concerns about conflicts of interest as he assumes the role of President of the United States.

Now, this map gives you a sense of some of his interests that he has acknowledged in some of his filings, of 144 companies in 25 different countries. We don't know what these relationships are. He has a sprawling global business empire, and the list includes countries with strained diplomatic ties to the United States.

As the President, his responsibilities will force him to make decisions on foreign policy and tax policy, for example, that will impact these significant business interests. Only a truly complete removal of his ownership can assure the American people that his Presidential actions and political decisions are not motivated by personal financial interests. Even then, suspicion will arise about every move he makes and be subject to prosecution.

In the 3 weeks since his election, President-elect Trump has held meetings and calls with foreign dignitaries, Prime Ministers, and Presidents in his official capacity as President-elect. That is normal. What is not normal or appropriate, though, is for the public to hear afterwards that his adult children, who are slated to take over the family business, were also present.

The American public is well aware that the Trump team has a steep learning curve in understanding his role, the operation and legal allowances of our Federal Government, and he has a long way to go in separating his personal financial interests from his public financial interests. I can't say in strong enough terms we do need to have his tax filings on record, and we do need to have clarification for the American people that our Constitution must prevail.

No public official--no public official--is exempt from the law of the land, and the highest law is the Constitution of the United States. He must separate himself from his business dealings.

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