Blind Trust Us President

S uggestions that president elect donald trump put his business holdings in a blind trust to avoid potential conflicts of interest are unrealistic and unfair.

Blind trust us president.

Last week common cause and a coalition of government transparency advocates sent a letter to president elect trump urging him to fully divest himself of any financial relationship with the trump organization and place all of his assets into a true blind trust. This stems from concerns about conflict of interest. This arrangement is believed to help the president. Federal law makes it illegal for public officials i.

Such a trust would not eliminate the. The question is larger than that. A blind trust is a trust in which the trust beneficiaries have no knowledge of the holdings of the trust and no right to intervene in their handling. As a practical matter it s likely a complete non starter says leslie kiernan a partner at law firm akin gump and a former deputy white house counsel under president barack obama.

It s generally acknowledged that the first american elected official to use a blind trust was president lyndon johnson who set one up when he assumed the presidency so that he and his wife lady. In a blind trust the trustees fiduciaries or those who have been given power of attorney have full discretion over the assets. Traditionally presidents have turned over their day jobs to a blind trust once they become commander in chief. But nothing in the law says they have to turn over the reins to anyone.

Others have more or less answered the specific one asked but even those answers are not completely correct.