Argentina. Georgia. India. Philippines. UK. Every day seems to turn up another country in which Trump has a conflict of interest, and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg. But you don’t have to travel overseas to find a fat conflict of interest for the president-elect. You only have to travel a few blocks from the White House.
As the clock ticks down towards President-elect Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, the window is rapidly closing on the General Services Administration’s opportunity to extricate itself from the Trump Organization’s lease of the historic Post Office Pavilion. The lease—in which Donald Trump would, in effect, be both landlord and tenant—now presents unprecedented and intolerable conflicts of interest.
Trump has already arranged special visits for foreign diplomats to the Trump International Hotel, making it clear that he intends to leverage the site. Visitors to the Trump White House would be well-advised to produce proof of where they’re staying. Reince can validate their parking.
But there’s a minor detail ...
... in writing the contract, the federal and D.C. governments determined, in advance, that elected officials could play no role in this lease arrangement. The contract language is clear: “No ... elected official of the Government of the United States ... shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom...”
Which gives Donald Trump until Jan. 20 to get out, or the GSA will have to evict the president.
While most conflict of interest laws exempt the president, the lease clause for the Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office does not. By any interpretation of the law, come Jan. 20, Trump will be an elected official—and in breach of contract. He can’t lease the hotel space. His company can’t lease the hotel space. No entity with which he has a financial connection can lease the hotel space.
Trump has to go.
The lease’s language is not meaningless boilerplate. The clause is consistent with longstanding prohibition on entering into contracts with federal employees. The prohibition extends to any “business concern or other organization owned or substantially owned or controlled by one or more Government employees.” This “policy is intended to avoid any conflict of interest that might arise between the employees’ interests and their Government duties, and to avoid the appearance of favoritism or preferential treatment by the Government toward its employees.”
If he fails to hand over the keys, not only will Trump be in breach of the contract, he’ll also be involved in a massive conflict of interest. He’ll be appointing the new head of the GSA, who will be in charge of the people who are supposed to enforce the contract.
The GSA employees handling the Trump lease will be caught between their duty to protect the interests of the building’s landlord—that is, the government, the public, and the taxpayers—and their duty of loyalty to the GSA administrator, who will be appointed by, and serve at the pleasure of then-President Trump.
But since Trump will control the GSA and Republicans will control Congress, don’t expect anyone to be in a hurry.
In fact, the whole conflict of interest thing isn’t going to exactly be at the center of Congress’ radar.
[House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)] did have some advice for Democrats, telling reporters they should back off calls for Congress to investigate how Trump and his transition team are separating the president-elect’s business interests from the demands of the nation. …
When asked whether it’s actually Congress’ responsibility to ensure the executive is following the rules, McCarthy countered with a question of his own about whether Trump is really breaking the rules.
“I think the Constitution is an issue,” he said. “But are you telling me there’s something that meets the criteria, currently, in the actions of what he’s doing?”
Sure. Trump is only extorting foreign leaders to help his business partners and hustle along deals. And not only does every diplomat staying at the Post Office mean another potential breach of the Emoluments Clause, but just running the place puts Trump in clear violation of a federal contract.
Nothing to see here.
The government should immediately end the hotel lease relationship, before Trump becomes president. In a perfect world, Trump and the GSA would negotiate a mutually agreeable termination of the lease or a novation/transfer to an unrelated firm. Nothing thus far suggests that President-elect Trump appreciates the need to do so. As a result, GSA must take unilateral action.