November 28, 2016

The Honorable Jason Chaffetz

Chairman

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

U.S. House of Representatives

Washington, DC 20515

Dear Mr. Chairman:

It has now been two weeks since Ranking Member Cummings wrote to you requesting that the Oversight Committee immediately begin reviewing President-elect Donald Trump's financial arrangements in order to identify and protect against conflicts of interest.

Although you have stated publicly that you will hold Mr. Trump to the same standards as President Obama and Secretary Clinton, you have not responded to Ranking Member Cummings' letter, and you have not taken steps to conduct basic oversight of these unprecedented challenges.

Since Ranking Member Cummings sent his letter, Americans across the country have flooded our Committee's offices with thousands of calls in strong support of this investigation, jamming our phone lines with more calls than we have ever received in response to any other issue.

At the same time, during this two-week period, troubling new revelations about Mr. Trump's actions ― as well as those of his family members and business associates ― have made the need for robust congressional oversight even more urgent.

For these reasons, we are now all writing to you in support of Ranking Member Cummings' request, and we ask that the Oversight Committee begin its work as soon as possible.

President-Elect Trump's Refusal to Acknowledge Bipartisan Concerns

Mr. Trump has exhibited a shocking level of disdain for legitimate bipartisan concerns about his conflicts of interest. For example, during an interview with The New York Times, Mr. Trump stated, "The law's totally on my side, the president can't have a conflict of interest."

Of course, this statement is incorrect. Mr. Trump can ― and already does ― have obvious conflicts of interest between his widespread global business interests and his Constitutional obligations as president.

The relevant question is whether he will follow the model set by his predecessors to mitigate these conflicts by liquidating his assets and placing them in a blind trust. If he refuses, then Congress must fulfill our own responsibilities by closely examining the Constitutional and statutory provisions that govern Mr. Trump's actions, determining whether his approach meets these standards, and proposing appropriate reforms to address any problems we identify.

Unfortunately, Mr. Trump does not appear to be taking these concerns seriously. On November 21, 2016, he tweeted, "Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world. Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!"

Again, this statement is clearly incorrect. The nation's leading Republican and Democratic ethics scholars have called on Mr. Trump to place his financial holdings in a blind trust.

For example, the top ethics counsels for former President George W. Bush, Richard Painter, and President Barack Obama, Norman Eisen, published an op-ed in The Washington Post titled, "Trump's 'Blind Trust' is Neither Blind Nor Trustworthy." They wrote:

Donald Trump must urgently rethink his plan to allow his children to run his businesses. As drastic as it may seem to him, he should instead put all his conflict-generating assets in a true blind trust run by an independent trustee. The good of his own administration, and that of the country, demand nothing less.

Mr. Painter and Ambassador Eisen recommend that Mr. Trump "appoint an independent professional trustee to take charge of liquidating and converting to cash Trump business holdings through an initial public offering or leveraged buyout." Second, they recommend that the proceeds "be turned over to the trustee to be managed." Third, they recommend that as long as Mr. Trump's children and their spouses are dealing with Mr. Trump's business matters, "he should ask them to step away from the transition team and the White House, and to not advise him or be involved in any U.S. government affairs."

Similarly, a group of 19 government accountability experts and organizations called on Mr. Trump to place his assets into a blind trust. They wrote:

Contacts about the Trump businesses should be prohibited between all other administration officials and people involved in the businesses, including any of the children who maintain an ongoing involvement with the businesses. Except for personal communication with the president or first lady, such telephone calls and emails should be routed to the White House counsel to make sure that the firewall is not breached.

Even The Wall Street Journal's editorial board argued that "Mr. Trump's best option is to liquidate his stake in the company." In addition, the editorial board of The Salt Lake Tribune agreed with Ranking Member Cummings' request to conduct a rigorous review, writing: "that, if he wants anyone to take him seriously, is exactly what Chaffetz and his Oversight Committee should start preparing to do."

Global Scope of President-Elect's Conflicts of Interest

The scope of Mr. Trump's conflicts of interest around the world is unprecedented. Over the past two