Trump has failed to sign mandatory documents related to ethics and conflicts of interest, possibly putting his second administration and the U.S. on shaky ground

Citizens  for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

 

Donald Trump's second term in the White House might get off to a rocky start because he and his team have failed to file documents related to ethics and conflicts of interest, according to a post at the Daily Beast. Why would Trump let what seems like a relatively easy task slide? Is this a sign of the kind of incompetence that plagued his first term?

The Beast's Emell Derra Adolphus explains under the headline "Donald Trump Banned from Nation's Secrets by Defying Ethics Laws: Trump’s assembled transition team has refused to participate in the established transition process":

President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House could be a bumpy ride because he has not pledged to avoid conflicts of interest, among other ethical concerns, while in office.

The New York Times reported that Trump’s transition team missed the Oct. 1 deadline to submit an ethics plan in accordance with the Presidential Transition Act. What’s more, NYT reported that Trump’s assembled transition team has refused to participate in the established transition process, usually beginning months before elections.

The team has also missed numerous deadlines for signing agreements required to participate in national-security meetings and to gain access to federal agencies.

“While transition planning is private activity, it is deeply connected to the activity of our government and the stewardship of public resources,” said Max Stier, the president and chief executive of the Partnership for Public Service. The nonpartisan group assists presidential candidates with the transition through the Center for Presidential Transition.

Stier added, “The avoidance of conflicts of interest and the appearance of conflicts of interest is critical to that task.”

Given Trump's vow to restructure the government bureaucracy that federal agencies form, you might expect that completing these agreements would be a top priority. But it appears that is not the case. Is Trump serious about transforming federal agencies? For now, the answer appears to be "no." Adolphus writes:

Trump was the very reason Congress amended the Presidential Transition Act law in 2019, which requires candidates to post an ethics plan with “information on how eligible presidential candidates will address their own conflicts of interest during a presidential term.”

Although Trump’s transition leadership has drafted an ethics code and statement to govern its staff, NYT reported that Trump’s plan was not included.

At the moment, it's not clear Trump intends to sign the required documents. If he does not, it could have serious consequences for the government and the Trump administration, according to a report at CNN. Write Betsy Klein and Alayna Treene:

As president, Trump repeatedly came under fire from ethics groups for potential conflicts of interest relating to his businesses and brands. Both Trump’s and his family’s foreign business ties have also come under intense scrutiny throughout his time in office and on the campaign trail.

Trump and his transition team are already behind in accessing key transition briefings from the Biden administration, as they have failed to sign a pair of agreements to unlock critical information before taking over the federal government in 72 days.

The holdup revolves in part around the mandatory agreement over ethics issues.

A source familiar with the process acknowledged that details are still being worked out with the Biden administration regarding the ethics agreement, which is required by law under the Presidential Transition Act and which applies to all members of the transition team. Updates to that bill requiring the ethics pledge were introduced by Trump ally Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, and signed into law by Trump himself in March 2020.

The source would not expand further on the Trump team’s concerns over the ethics pledge.

Trump’s most recent financial disclosures as a candidate showed that he has continued to make millions off his properties, books and licensing deals. He and his family recently launched a new cryptocurrency business.

A sizable share of his net worth, meanwhile, is tied to the publicly traded parent company of Truth Social, the conservative social-media network. Trump is the dominant shareholder and said Friday that he has no intention of selling his 114.75 million shares, worth about $3.7 billion.

The Trump team ignored a pair of key pre-election deadlines to unlock transition activities with the Biden administration’s General Services Administration and the White House. Experts are sounding the alarms about impacts to Day 1 national-security preparedness.

It sounds as if Trump is not sure he wants to be president or a business tycoon, with all the attending conflicts that entails. Those issues, of course, should have been worked out long before he ever started a campaign. For now, it's hard to tell if Trump is even serious about being president. If he is not, that could endanger our country even more than his second term already is likely to put the U.S. on shaky ground.

More information about Donald Trump and conflicts of interest involving his businesses is available at this article from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).