Washington, D.C. -Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, released a new video explaining how President-Elect Donald Trump could violate the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution if he does not do what every previous president has done for decades-completely divest himself of his corporate ownership interests, liquidate his business assets, and place them in a truly blind trust operated by an independent entity.
President-Elect Trump had scheduled a press conference in December to explain to the American people how he would handle his many foreign and domestic business conflicts, but he postponed it at the last minute. He now plans to hold the press conference tomorrow.
Cummings held a forum last month with ethics experts across the political spectrum who strongly recommended that President-Elect Trump liquidate his assets and place them in a truly blind trust. They also made clear that if President-Elect Trump chose not to follow this path, the responsibility would rest on Congress to obtain documents and hold hearings about his financial deals in order to prevent unconstitutional emoluments.
On Monday, Cummings joined Rep. Katherine Clark and other House Democrats to introduce legislation to require the President and Vice President to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest.
