Washington Post Quotes Trevor Potter on Blurry Line Between Donald Trump's Campaign and Business Interests
Trevor Potter spoke with The Washington Post on the blurry line between Donald Trump the presidential candidate versus Donald Trump the businessman and to who the ethics laws apply to in the executive branch. For the full article, please visit The Washington Post's website.
Excerpt taken from the article.
Trevor Potter, the election-law lawyer who advised Republican Sen. John McCain on his 2008 presidential bid, called Trump’s efforts “to use the campaign to promote his personal businesses” unprecedented.
But, he said, there is no legal requirement that Trump sever ties to his business empire. The ethics laws that prevent other executive-branch officials from maintaining ties to companies that could benefit from their official actions does not apply to the president or the vice president.
So, are Trump’s ongoing efforts to promote his business a problem?
“That’s a question for the American people — but it is not a legal problem,” Potter said. “The question for the public is: Is this unseemly? Is this something we want our presidents to do — promote their personal businesses around the world?”
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