To much fanfare, Donald Trump announced on November 30 that he would hold a press conference on December 15 to discuss how he would “be leaving my great business in total.”
I will be holding a major news conference in New York City with my children on December 15 to discuss the fact that I will be leaving my …
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! While I am not mandated to ….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
do this under the law, I feel it is visually important, as President, to in no way have a conflict of interest with my various businesses..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
Hence, legal documents are being crafted which take me completely out of business operations. The Presidency is a far more important task!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2016
That press conference has now been postponed until at least January. Trump officials provided no real explanation for the postponement, other than Trump’s busy schedule.
The delay means that the Electoral College will vote — and likely officially make Trump the next president — before Trump provides any information about how he plans to mitigate his business conflicts.
In his public statements, Trump has indicated that he plans on retaining full ownership over his businesses, while turning over day-to-day management to his adult children. From an ethical and legal perspective, however, this arrangement with his children would be meaningless.
Trump, if he retains ownership of his businesses, would receive a stream of payments from foreign governments — which is a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Richard Painter and Norman Eisen, the Chief Ethics Counsels for George W. Bush and Barack Obama respectively, have said that the only way for Trump to avoid violating the Constitution is to sell his business in total and to put the proceeds in a blind trust.
The view that total divestment is the only way to avoid an illegal conflict has also endorsed by the Office of Government Ethics.
Trump is actively seeking money from foreign governments, including hosting a party encouraging diplomats to stay at his new D.C. hotel. He’s blurred the line between his business and his administration, naming three of his children to the transition team.
Larry Tribe, one of the nation’s most respected Constitutional scholars, believes that, absent total divestment, the Electoral College should reject Trump. Painter and Eisen agree.
Now, the Electoral College will vote without knowing anything about Trump’s plans for his businesses.
In the meantime, Trump’s substance-free tweets have helped him burn two weeks. Anytime the transition was asked about conflicts, it used the upcoming press conference to deflect the issue.
The tweets have also generated a slew of positive, inaccurate headlines.
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