; Whereas the Office of Legal Counsel of the Department of Justice opined in 2009 that corporations owned or controlled by a foreign government are presumptively foreign states under the Emoluments Clause; Whereas President-elect Donald J. Trump has a business network, the Trump Organization, that has financial interests around the world and negotiates and concludes transactions with foreign states and entities that are extensions of foreign states; Whereas Michael Cohen, an attorney for Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization, initially stated that the Trump Organization would be placed into a blind trust managed by Donald Trump’s children, Donald Trump, Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump; Whereas the very nature of a blind trust is such that the official will have no control over, will receive no communications about, and will have no knowledge of the identity of the specific assets held in the trust, and that the manager of the trust is independent of the owner, and as such the arrangement proposed by Mr. Cohen is not a blind trust; Whereas, on November 30, 2016, President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Twitter that 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 great business in total in order to fully focus on running the country in order to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! ; Whereas, on December 12, 2016, President-elect Donald J. Trump abruptly canceled the planned December 15, 2016, news conference, and has provided no set date for a future announcement; Whereas, on December 12, 2016, President-elect Donald J. Trump stated on Twitter, Even though I am not mandated by law to do so, I will be leaving my busineses [sic] before January 20th so that I can focus full time on the Presidency. Two of my children, Don and Eric, plus executives, will manage them. No new deals will be done during my term(s) in office