It’s not even Day 7 of the transition and Trump already has ethics problems: daughter hawking her jewelry after a 60 Minutes interview, lying about the Trump Organization on his official transition website.
Meanwhile, Trump intends to turn his business over to his children — and have those kids also serve as policy advisors. But if he follows through with that decision, he will probably live to regret it, and so will we.
This article from today’s Washington Post spells out why Trump’s loose understanding of blind trusts is a serious danger for him and for the country.
Trump's Blind Trust is Neither Blind nor Trustworthy by Richard Painter, Norman Eisen spells out the consequences of Trump’s entangled business relationships, and why his children aren’t an option for dealing with it:
Every time Trump makes a decision as president-elect or president, or someone who works for him makes a decision, critics will allege that it is intended to benefit the Trump businesses. This includes decisions about regulation of the financial sector and the potential dismantling of the Dodd-Frank banking law, as the Trump Organization, like most real estate empires, is heavily indebted to banks and other lenders.
Every time an officer or employee of the Trump businesses discusses the possibility of favorable or unfavorable action by the U.S. government toward a person or entity dealing with the Trump businesses, that person could be accused of soliciting a bribe or extorting money on Trump’s behalf.
Every time any foreign government or company controlled by a foreign government does business with a Trump entity, the president could be accused of accepting a payment in violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, creating a constitutional crisis that could even result in threats of impeachment.
Every time any private party sees an opening for litigation against a Trump business entity, that person, perhaps in collusion with the president’s political opponents, could file suit, perhaps even against Trump personally, embroiling the presidency in litigation.
Of course, Democrats could see #4 as a feature — not a bug — which is why this is a big problem for Trump’s administration, not just the country.
Trump is already embroiled in 75 lawsuits, and Clinton v. Jones established the precedent that Trump does not automatically get relief because he’s President. The first test of that will come on November 28 when the Trump University fraud case goes to trial — his attorneys have sought to get a postponement because Trump’s too busy.
Trump doesn’t realize that past administrations used blind trusts to protect themselves as much as the American people. Without such an arrangement, he’s opening himself up to tremendous liability problems, and the chances that his administration will be able to escape a bribery scandal — whether Republicans actually pursue it or not — are near zero. This is a big problem for him.
Which means it’s a big problem for us. If Trump ends up spending all of his time defending himself from lawsuits, it will at least distract him from destroying the country.
But it’s far more likely that Trump will decide — by fiat — that the judicial system has no right to hold him accountable, and his lapdogs in the House of Representatives won’t hold him accountable either. That will destroy the rule of law in this country — the very principle that Clinton v. Jones was intended to preserve.
That’s one big step towards establishing an autocracy centered around him. The case against Clinton was unanimous because of the dangers of such immunity.