Three Trump children seen managing
president-elect's company
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[November 12, 2016]
(Reuters) - The Trump Organization
said on Friday it was vetting new business structures aimed at
transferring management control to three of President-elect Donald
Trump's children and a team of executives.
The Trump Organization said in a statement it was planning to transfer
control of the portfolio of businesses to Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump,
Eric Trump and other executives.
Earlier on Friday, the three Trump children - the oldest of Trump's five
children - were also named as members of Trump's Presidential Transition
Team Executive Committee.
"This is a top priority at the organization and the structure that is
ultimately selected will comply with all applicable rules and
regulations," a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said in a
statement.
Federal conflict-of-interest law does not apply to the president, but
most White House occupants in the last few decades have voluntarily
placed their assets in a blind trust to avoid any suggestion of
impropriety.
Experts in government ethics said that giving over control to Trump’s
children would do virtually nothing to prevent potential conflicts of
interest, since there’s usually no daylight between one’s personal
interest and the interest of one’s immediate family members.
"It doesn't meet any of the standards of a blind trust if the kids are
running the company," said Kenneth Gross, a Washington lawyer who
specializes in advising political clients on compliance and ethics.
Gross noted that the official transition team roles that Ivanka Trump,
Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump now have would appear to complicate
matters further.
"If they're going to be involved in government functions - and they're
starting down that road - and running the business, that's going to make
it very difficult to separate the government and business functions and
deal with the conflicts of interest," Gross said.
All three children already have roles in the Trump Organization,
according to the company's website. Ivanka Trump is executive vice
president of development and acquisitions, charged with domestic and
global expansion of the company's real estate interests.
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Son of Republican President-elect Donald Trump Eric Trump gives the
thumbs up as he arrives at Trump Tower in New York, New York, U.S.,
November 11, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
Donald Trump Jr is an executive vice president, and works to expand
the company's real estate, retail, commercial, hotel and golf
interests nationally and internationally. Eric Trump is executive
vice president of development and acquisitions, responsible for new
project acquisition, development and construction globally.
Typically, a blind trust involves turning over assets to an
independent financial manager with no prior relationship to the
owner. In addition, a blind trust derives its name from the idea
that the owner would no longer know what assets are sold or bought.
For instance, someone with extensive stock holdings would have no
way of knowing which companies’ shares he or she still owned in a
blind trust.
Trump’s portfolio includes interests in hundreds of limited
liability companies, many overseas, as well as numerous real estate
properties both domestic and foreign.
Short of selling the entire Trump empire, experts said, he will find
it difficult to create a trust sufficiently “blind” to avoid the
possibility of any conflicts.
(Reporting by Emily Stephenson, David Lawder and Joseph Ax; Editing
by Eric Beech and Leslie Adler)
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