Who knew that Jennifer Rubin, who positioned herself as Mitt Romney’s head cheerleader in 2012, would find her soul and moral compass in the face of Trump’s ascent? Even after his election, she has not caved like so many other conservatives. In fact, she has grown more vehement in her opposition to Trump, her vision of the possible dangers becoming ever more crystal clear. In today’s column, Rubin urges Democrats to grow a pair to reign in what appears an inevitable ethical swamp for the Trump administration. She bases her assertions on the following exchange between Chris Wallace and Bob Woodward on, of all places, Fox News Sunday:
The only applicable law here is the Constitution. On Fox News Sunday, there was this interesting exchange:
CHRIS WALLACE: Well, Bob, this is a growing concern about the left and the right. If President Trump turns his business over to his children, who have been running it with him already, as he says he’s going to do, he’s going to know what’s going on, and it certainly raises the real possibility that foreign countries may try to do business with the Trump Organization to curry favor with him. As I discussed with Vice President-elect Pence, some people are calling this the Clinton Foundation on steroids.
THE POST’S BOB WOODWARD: Well, it’s a serious problem, and Trump has to deal with it. And the idea that his kids are going to do this and that makes it a blind trust is not true. And Pence was saying the lawyers will figure this out. But this is a case where Trump’s going to then have to cede some authority to somebody else beyond his kids and to lawyers because, you know, the — as we look for themes in all of this, the power of the presidency has grown. It is giant. And he’s going to be watched every step of the way. And you don’t want to have — I suspect he’s not going to want to have a weekly or monthly story about this deal going down and asking that ancient question, when did he know about it and what did he know.
WALLACE: Or what did he know and when did he know it, to quote Watergate properly.
WOODWARD: Yes.
WALLACE: … There’s a [constitutional] clause, the Emoluments Clause, which bans public officials from accepting any gifts, any money, any presents from foreign countries. And one could argue if the Trump Organization is doing business, let’s say, with India, that you’re breaking that clause.
Trump, Pence, and all their followers characterized the work of the Clinton Foundation as Pay-for-Play. However, the management of the new Trump International Hotel in D.C are actively courting the business of foreign diplomats in order to curry favor with the Trump White House:
In the less than two weeks since Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election, there have already been several news stories illustrating how Trump’s new role will create conflicts of interest with his family businesses. The latest alarming example comes via the Washington Post, which reports that about 100 foreign diplomats packed into a junior ballroom at the new Trump International Hotel in D.C. this week to drink Trump brand Champagne and hear a sales pitch for the new hotel. Unsurprisingly, a chief topic of discussion among the attendees so soon after Trump’s victory was, “how are we going to build ties with the new administration,” and one way to do that seemed more than clear…
“Believe me, all the delegations will go [to Trump’s hotel],” said one Middle Eastern diplomat who recently toured the hotel and booked an overseas visitor….
“Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’ ” said one Asian diplomat.
This is not just an ethical disaster happening in real-time. It is illegal corruption unfolding before our eyes and the media and Democrats are acting passively as if watching a multi-vehicle crash for which they can do nothing. Well, Rubin challenges Congress — especially Democrats — to step in and call Republican members’ bluff when it comes this incoming administration’s ethics:
Here is the first real test for Congress. If Trump refuses to liquidate his holdings, Congress must do something. It can pass legislation requiring him to provide an accounting of all his earnings and assets. It could pass a law requiring his assets be managed by a true third party. He could veto such legislation but it would be up to Congress to carry out its constitutional duties and prevent corruption on a massive scale. If Trump then refuses to abide by whatever requirement Congress imposes we could readily find ourselves at a constitutional impasse. Likewise, if he continued violating the Emoluments Clause, would Congress even hold hearings?
If Republicans, in their continued spinelessness, refuse to act to check Trump, Democrats should refuse to move forward on business until the issue is resolved. They would be right on the ethics and right on the politics. That’s right — embarrass Republicans in Congress if they become enablers of Trump’s corruption. The media and the public should be relentless in holding Trump to account for his “drain the swamp” promise. It was the premise of his campaign, and it is up to Congress to prevent Trump from pulling off his greatest scam of all.
This is the first step in how Democrats win back the trust of the American people. If they fail this test, the next four to eight years will be filled with a lot of hurt for everyone involved.