Warren reintroduces bill requiring presidential divestment

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) re-introduced legislation requiring the president, vice president and their family members to divest any financial interests that could create conflicts of interest.

The Presidential Conflicts of Interest Act, which Warren is set to introduce Wednesday, would also prohibit anyone appointed by the president from handling matters affecting the president’s financial interests and would require all major-party presidential nominees to release three years of tax returns.

Warren, a Democratic presidential candidate, made the last 10 years of her tax returns public. But Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) is the only candidate thus far to release her 2018 returns.

{mosads}”Corruption has always been the central stain of this presidency,” Warren said in a statement. “This bill would force President Trump to fully divest from the same Trump properties and assets that special interests have spent two-plus years patronizing to try and curry favor with this administration – all while lining the President’s pockets.” 

The bill would also “adopt a sense of the Congress” that violations of ethics requirements or conflicts of interest constitute a high crime or misdemeanor under the Constitution’s impeachment clause.

The bill is a re-introduction of a January 2017 measure and follows numerous concerns from critics of President Trump about potential conflicts of interest involving Trump, his family members and members of his administration.

Warren notes recent cases such as T-Mobile’s disclosure that it increased spending at Trump hotels while it sought approval for a merger with Sprint.

She was also one of 11 Democratic senators to sign a letter last October calling on Trump to disclose any financial ties to Saudi Arabia.

Last August, Warren also introduced the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, which would impose a lifetime ban on lobbying for presidents, vice presidents, members of Congress, federal judges and Cabinet secretaries, as well as requiring presidents and vice presidents to place all assets that could create conflicts of interest in a blind trust and requiring the IRS to release eight years of tax returns for all presidential and vice presidential candidates.