Anti-corruption laws are something of a legal and political quagmire. Not long after President Barack Obama took office, he sought advice from the Justice Department over a somewhat delicate issue. Having just been offered the Nobel Peace Prize, he wanted to know if he could accept it. You see, to some, the prize — which includes a cash reward of around a million dollars — could be seen as a conflict of interest. It could be seen as an attempt by a foreign government to curry favor.
As it turns out, it wasn’t; the Nobel Prize committee operates independent of government influence. Still, it was nice of Obama to check.
Those days of presidential integrity, how we will miss them.
It’s no wonder the U.K. wants Obama to come be their prime minister.
Impeach Me Once, Shame On Me
President-elect Donald Trump is practically begging to impeached. It’s almost like he’s daring Congress to do it.
His business empire — though not worth nearly as much as he claims — is unquestionably vast. And whilst a Trump presidency is having a deleterious effect on America’s reputation he seems determined that it will have quite the opposite effect on his bank account.
Perhaps that was the whole point of his bid for the White House.
Last week, Ivanka Trump — executive vice president of the Trump Organization — sat in on the President-elect’s meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. This week, according to Raw Story, she was present during a phone conversation with Argentine President Macri. And just yesterday, Bloomberg reported that Trump had allowed business partners from the Philippines to participate in a meeting that was supposed to be about cabinet picks.
The inappropriateness of such contact — conducted without any formal preparation or supervision — can hardly be overstated.
Still, at least the message it sends is clear. Early insistence that Trump’s business interests would be put in some form of blind trust can now be safely added to the list of promises Trump has broken before he has even taken office.
Watch Trump Junior lying about how his father will have nothing to do with his business once president.
Business Dealings
Much of what Trump is doing seems to be geared towards enriching himself. Trump’s attendance at an event held by the Republican Hindu Coalition in Edison, New Jersey last October might not make a lot of sense at first glance. It’s not like he had run on a platform of actively courting the Hindu vote.
But as Salon reported on Monday:
“… The president-elect has been holding Trump Organization business meetings during the transition, and one of his meetings was with Indian developers with whom he has some luxury apartment deals cooking in Mumbai.”
Emolument (Noun): A Salary, Fee, Or Profit From Employment Or Office
It all raises some disturbing questions. It’s not just that Donald Trump will leave the White House a much richer man than he was when he went in, That’s kind of normal. It’s not just that he seems to be motivated only by personal aggrandizement and is giving little thought to the people who elected him. We’ve seen that before, too.
It’s more about the fact that he is walking a constitutional tight rope using nothing other than his own ego for balance. And when he falls — and he probably will fall — he’s going to hit the ground hard.
There are many ways that Trump might find himself impeached but in this specific instance he is running the risk of violating what is known as the Emoluments Clause, the very same constitutional provision that led President Obama to seek legal advice over when he was offered the Noble Peace Prize.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 states:
“No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Isn’t that exactly what Trump is doing?
In A Word, Yes
As the New York Times reported earlier this week:
“Experts in legal ethics say those kinds of arrangements could easily run afoul of the Emoluments Clause if they continue after Mr. Trump takes office.”
They also consulted Norman Eisen, Chief White House ethics lawyer for President Obama from 2009 to 2011. He told them:
“Whenever Mr. Trump receives anything from a foreign sovereign, to the extent that it’s not an arm’s-length transaction, every dollar in excess that they pay over the fair market price will be a dollar paid in violation of the Emoluments Clause and will be a present to Mr. Trump.”
Whilst it is true that there is little precedent for Congressional action against this sort of thing, it is only because past presidents have gone out of their way to avoid any obvious conflict of interest. Trump seems intent on doing the exact opposite.
His arrogant belief that he is somehow now above the law might come back to bite him. If such actions continue after he takes office, he has many, many enemies on Capitol Hill who would love to take a swing or two at him. And their course of action would be clear.
Speaking to the New York Times, Professor Richard W. Painter, former Chief White House ethics lawyer for President George W. Bush was unequivocal as to what this would mean:
“The way to address violations of the clause is not a lawsuit, but impeachment.”
Impeachment. Soon to be the most beautiful word in the English language.
Featured Image by Mark Taylor via Wikimedia/CC BY 2.0
