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Office of Government Ethics director blasts Trump scheme on his business conflicts
Talking Points Memo ?@TPM 33m33 minutes agoOffice of Government Ethics director blasts Trump plan: "Wholly inadequate" http://bit.ly/2j907Lq
In an extraordinary move, the director of the Office of Government Ethics publicly criticized Trump’s plan to separate his business interests from his presidential tenure, saying the plan Trump announced Wednesday at a news conference “doesn’t meet the standards” that other presidents, or even some of Trump’s nominees, had met.
"I wish circumstances were different and I didn't feel the need to make public remarks today,” Walter Shaub Jr. said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
Trump announced Wednesday that he would not sell his illiquid business assets or even put them in a blind trust. Rather, he would allow his sons to run his business, terminate all new foreign deals, and donate profits made from business dealings with foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury.
The Hill, which first reported Shaub made the remarks at the Brookings Institution, quoted him as saying Trump's plan to separate himself from his business was "wholly inadequate."
According to a transcript of Shaub's prepared remarks posted on Brookings' website, he called Trump's plan to "limit direct communication" about the business "wholly inadequate."
read: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/office-of-government-ethics-director-criticizes-trump-business-plan?utm_content=buffer689e2&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
OGE Director warns Trump’s business plan insufficient
The Director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, made unprecedented public remarks requesting that Donald Trump work with OGE to divest from the Trump Organization in order to comply with the law. At a press conference hosted by Brookings Fellow Norman Eisen, who served as White House ethics counsel for the Obama Administration, and Richard Painter, who served in the same capacity for George W. Bush, Shaub stated that “the plan the President-elect has announced doesn’t meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every President in the past four decades has met.”
Shaub cited Rex Tillerson’s divestiture from Exxon as a success: “Mr. Tillerson is making a clean break from Exxon. He’s also forfeiting bonus payments worth millions. As a result of OGE’s work, he’s now free of financial conflicts of interest.” Shaub contrasted Tillerson’s plan with the one President-elect Trump and attorney Sherri Dillon outlined in Wednesday’s press conference, calling it “meaningless from a conflict of interest perspective.” Vowing to step back from the Trump Organization isn’t enough, he said, and “…setting up a trust to hold his operating businesses adds nothing to the equation. This is not a blind trust—it’s not even close.”
Shaub refuted the claim by Dillon that setting a price for the sale of President-elect Trump’s assets would create problems. Had Dillon been in contact with OGE, Shaub explained, “We would have reassured her that Presidential nominees in every administration agree to sell illiquid assets all the time.” Valuation of assets is a normal part of the process.
With OGE’s help, Shaub said, Trump could still design and execute a plan that will allow him to govern without conflicts, emphasizing the model that Tillerson has followed: “Nothing short of divestiture will resolve these conflicts.”
read: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2017/01/11/oge-director-warns-trumps-plan-insufficient/
watch:
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