Pelosi challenger vows to fight Trump’s ‘corruption’

The man challenging Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to lead the House Democrats says his party is ready to “ramp up the heat” on President-elect Donald Trump if they see signs of corruption.

{mosads}Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) on Wednesday questioned the conflicts of interest Trump would have serving as a president with a multinational company. 

Trump said Tuesday the law is “totally on my side” because the president “can’t have a conflict of interest.” 

“Wow. You know, talk about being above the law, thinking the rules don’t apply to you,” Ryan told CNN in response. 

“This could get ugly really quick. He’s got to be very, very careful because it’s a scandal waiting to brew, even with the Republicans in control.” 

Ryan acknowledged that because Republicans are the majority in the House and Senate, it would be difficult to legally or legislatively combat any conflicts within the Trump president. 

“But we will ramp up the pressure if we think there are conflicts of interest. If we think there’s any form of corruption happening in the administration, we will ramp up the heat,” Ryan said. 

“This could get bad real quick for him.” 

Ryan added: “For him not to completely separate himself from his business dealings really is a slap in the face and shows a lack of understanding in the role he’s playing now as president of the United States.” 

While Trump has said he will leave his businesses to his adult children, questions have been raised about how involved his children will be in his administration. 

His daughter Ivanka has already been criticized for sitting in on meetings and phone calls with Trump and foreign leaders, and her husband, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, may have some type of role in the administration. 

In an interview with The New York Times on Tuesday, Trump gave little indication that he planned to significantly overhaul his business’s operations. 

Trump himself confirmed that he has continued to talk business while holding meetings as president-elect.