Letter to AG and OGE on Trump’s Violation of Transition Ethics

AG and OGE should direct Trump's transition team to follow the law

By Craig Holman, Ph.D.

Attorney General Merrick B. Garland U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20530

Acting Director Shelley K. Finlayson U.S. Office of Government Ethics 250 E Street, SW, Suite 750 Washington, D.C. 20024

Dear Attorney General Garland and Acting Director Finlayson:

Public Citizen, a civic organization with 500,000 supporters dedicated to the pursuit of ethics in government, writes to encourage your offices to direct the Trump/Vance Transition Team to comply with the ethics requirements of the Presidential Transition Act, and enforce the law if compliance is not forthcoming.

The Presidential Transition Act, as amended, requires the president-elect to sign a specific ethics code to facilitate the transition process. The Trump/Vance Transition Team has drafted a general ethics code and conflicts-of-interest statement for its staff, but there is no specific ethics code that explains how Donald Trump, a wealthy real estate developer with extensive holdings, would address his own conflicts of interest during the transition and his presidency, as required by law.

This negligence in complying with the ethics requirements is interfering with an orderly transition process. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) provides, upon request, pre- and post-election services and facilities to each eligible candidate for use in preparing to assume their official duties. Eligibility requires signing an ethics Memorandum of Understanding. Without such an agreement, not only is the transition team being denied these useful resources from GSA, but other agencies as well are at a loss as how to work with Trump. Security agencies in particular are left in the dark as to what information and resources to share with Trump that will not impose a serious conflict of interest and endanger national security.

Public Citizen urges your offices to work with the Trump/Vance Transition Team as expeditiously as possible to secure a proper and safe transition process.

Sincerely,

Craig Holman, Ph.D.
Government affairs lobbyist
Public Citizen
215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 454-5182