Transparency International, which fights corruption globally, is adding its name to those calling on President-elect Donald Trump to divest himself of his businesses before he takes office, to avoid any conflicts of interest.
The call comes as Trump on Tuesday brushed aside questions about potential conflicts, telling reporters at The New York Times that “the law’s totally on my side. The president can’t have a conflict of interest.”
Good government groups and members of Congress have urged Trump to distance himself from his sprawling global empire to minimize conflict between his businesses, foreign leaders and the government he will oversee.
“The president-elect has an early and excellent opportunity to make good on his campaign promise to run a government that works for the people and not for the political class,” said Claudia Dumas, the president of Transparency International-USA.
Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said Tuesday that he planned to introduce a resolution next week calling on Trump to convert his assets to “simple, conflict-free holdings,” adopt a blind trust or take other measures to ensure compliance with the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
That clause says “no person holding any office of profit or trust” shall “accept of any present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince or foreign state” unless Congress consents.
Cardin said that if Trump failed to take action before taking office “Congress will regard dealings by Trump-owned companies with any entity owned by a foreign government as potential violations of the Constitution.”