Ranking Member Congressman Elijah Cummings' (Md.) Remarks on President-Elect Trump's Conflicts of Interest

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UPDATED LETTER TO ETHICS CHAIRMAN JASON CHAFFETZ requesting that the Committee convene a hearing next week regarding President-Elect Donald Trump’s massive global business entanglements: http://democrats-oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/2017-01-12.EEC%20to%20Chaffetz.Re_.Schaub.pdf
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Statement for Press Conference
Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings
January 12, 2017

Yesterday, President-Elect Donald Trump held a nationally televised press conference to finally explain how he is going to handle his vast business interests and global entanglements.

For months, we urged him to listen to Republican and Democratic ethics experts and divest his ownership, liquidate his assets, and put them in a truly blind trust run by an independent entity. We had hoped that he would follow the example set by every modern president for decades. I had hoped that he would follow the advice of the Office of Government Ethics.

But, he didn’t. He did not divest his ownership, he did not liquidate his assets, and he did not put them in a blind trust. The head of the Office of Government Ethics called his plan “wholly inadequate.”

Mr. Trump has tweeted in the past that it is important “to in no way have a conflict of interest” with his business enterprises. He also said, “The Presidency is a far more important task!”

I could not agree more.

So, now that he has made his decision and refused to divest his ownership interests, it is up to us in Congress to act as an independent check on the Executive Branch. This is our duty under the Constitution. And to do our job, we need to obtain documents about President-Elect Trump’s vast global entanglements. We need his tax returns, his business investments, and his income streams. We need all those documents that he brought to that press conference and laid on the table in front of the podium.

I wish we did not have to do this. But President-Elect Trump has now made his decision. And his decision has made this necessary.

So, today, I sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan along with the top Democrats of 20 other House Committees asking him to join us in these efforts to obtain these critical documents.

Our letter says this: “It is now up to Congress to exercise our Constitutional duty to act as an independent check on the Executive Branch by demanding all documents necessary to evaluate all of President-Elect Trump’s global financial entanglements for conflicts of interest and constitutional violations—including in particular those involving Russian investors, business interests, and development partners.”

We do not understand why President-Elect Trump has so vigorously defended Russian President Vladimir Putin and alleged sex offender Julian Assange while at the same time disparaging U.S. intelligence officials who warn that Russia attacked our democracy prior to the 2016 presidential election—and is likely to do so again in the future.

We also do not understand why he has been so secretive about his business dealings with Russian interests.

He claimed during his press conference yesterday that he has no deals in Russia. But he did not address the millions of dollars he has received through investments around the world from Russian oligarchs.

In fact, his son, Donald Trump Jr.—who will run day-to-day business operations for his father’s companies—has stated, “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

That is why Congress needs to obtain the documents.

In terms of Speaker Ryan, his top spokesperson has said that he believes, “Russia is a global menace led by a devious thug.”

I agree. And I hope Speaker Ryan will join us in our effort to fulfill our Constitutional obligation and obtain documents about President-Elect Trump’s vast global entanglements.

It is our duty to conduct robust oversight of the Executive Branch regardless of the President’s political party. And I sincerely believe that our efforts will help protect both President-Elect Trump and the American people.

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Contact: Jennifer Werner, Communications Director, (202) 226-5181.