House Financial Services Committee Ranking Member Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) – along with Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), Wm. Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.) and Al Green (D-Texas) – sent a letter to the inspectors general at the federal financial services agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Justice, calling on them to hold president-elect Donald Trump accountable.
The letter centers on concerns about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest and the lack of transparency surrounding his personal finances.
“Once Donald Trump takes office, he will have incredible influence over a wide range of policies,” the letter states. “While federal ethics rules require nearly all government employees to recuse themselves from matters that affect their outside financial interests, these rules do not apply to the president or vice-president. Accordingly, Trump will have ample opportunity to make and influence policy decisions that benefit his personal business and financial interests.”
Trump’s relationship with Deutsche Bank was a particular concern for the letter writers.
“Deutsche has been the only major Wall Street bank to continue to lend to Donald Trump and his entities in the wake of six Trump-business bankruptcies,” the letter states. “Over the past two decades, Deutsche has been a lender or co-lender in at least $2.5 billion in loans to Donald Trump or his companies.
“The businesses within Trump’s network currently owe Deutsche Bank nearly $360 million in outstanding principal,” the letter continues, “including $125 million for his Florida golf course, Trump National Doral; up to $69 million for his Chicago high-rise, Trump International Hotel and Tower; and a $170 million line of credit used to fund the development of his new hotel in Washington, D.C., the Trump International Hotel in Washington.”
Deutsche has been the subject of multiple federal agency investigations in recent years.
One resulted in a $1.92 billion settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency over claims that the bank defrauded two U.S. government-controlled companies in the sale of mortgage-backed securities and another that concluded with a $1.57 billion settlement with the Department of Justice and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission for the bank’s alleged manipulation of benchmark interest rates.
The Department of Justice also is seeking $14 billion in fines from Deutsche for its role in the financial crisis. The lawmakers argue that this could endanger Deutsche’s financial health and, in turn, threaten Trump’s business interests.
“As president, Donald Trump will be granted influence over the outcome of Deutsche Bank’s settlement negotiations with the Justice Department through his ability to appoint and direct the attorney general, which will give him the opportunity to advance his business interests at the expense of the best outcome for the American people,” the letter states.
The lawmakers also expressed concerns about Trump’s “unwillingness to take the traditional measures to mitigate potential conflicts of interest,” asserting that other presidents – including Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – put their assets into a blind trust during their terms in office.
“Thus far, Trump has failed to take any action to address his financial conflicts of interest,” the letter states. “While he has stated that he intends to use a ‘blind trust’ to sequester himself from his business concerns, he has also stated that he will place his children in charge of managing this trust.
“This arrangement fails to meet the standard of a conventional blind trust, which is typically managed by an independent third party, rather than by immediate family members over whom Trump has ready access and influence,” the letter continues. “Donald Trump’s blind trust would be neither blind nor trustworthy. Further, Donald Trump has destroyed any notion that his children would be able to effectively segregate the Trump business interests from his political interests when he announced that his children would also serve on the executive committee of his presidential transition team.”
Lastly, the lawmakers expressed concerns that Trump’s “questionable ethical principles” would influence his appointments to federal agencies and, ultimately, the culture within those agencies.
“In light of these unprecedented circumstances, we ask that you take immediate and proactive steps to ensure that any new political appointees at your respective agencies are held to the highest possible ethical standards and that you commit to diligently and constantly monitoring the actions of such appointees and mitigating conflicts of interest when they inevitably arise,” the letter concludes.