Written by: Craig Edwin Holdway
Former White House lawyer Richard Painter makes the case that if it appears that Trump will violate the emolument clause of the Constitution, then the Electoral College must decide to not vote for him next month.
There isn’t an actual law that prevents Trump from being involved in his businesses while in the White House but it does present numerous ethical issues, Painter said that he informed Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway of concerns around the emolument clause (The clause states that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”)
Trump could ease worries if he were to submit to an audit and the clause could at least be dealt with, even if other conflicts of interest concerns would still be apparent. Painter insisted Trump would be sending a message that he doesn’t care if he ignores these questions. He then said if this was indeed the case, the Electoral College would need to take action.
“He needs to comply with the constitution at a bare minimum,” Painter said. “And recognize the problem and address it”, "and if he doesn’t do this before the Electoral College meets,” the attorney continued. “I don’t think the electoral college can vote for someone to become president if he’s going to violate the constitution on day one and hasn’t taken any steps to assure us he’s not in violation.”
The views are my own and are based on my own experiences and are written from personal insights and observations.