House Oversight and Accountability Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) introduced a bill on Wednesday that would require presidents to make a series of disclosures about foreign earnings of his relatives – drawing up a laundry list of liabilities arising from the Republican Party’s investigation into President Biden.
O legislation requires presidents and vice presidents disclose anything of value received from a foreign country, whether a gift or payment, while in office and during the two years before and after. Executives would also have to disclose any foreign money received by their immediate family.
It also requires presidents and vice presidents to share their tax returns for the same period – a detail that would have forced former President Trump to share documents that he went against tradition by refusing to release during his first campaign.
But the legislation does not spell out any disclosure requirements for family-owned businesses — a detail that would help both Trump and Biden family members who have conducted business abroad.
Nor does it require presidents or vice presidents to share tax returns for businesses they transferred to a family member in the past four years — a provision that would put Trump’s businesses, now under the control of his children, out of reach.
“Influence peddling is a cottage industry in Washington and we have identified deficiencies in current legislation that have led to a culture of corruption. By creating this bipartisan legislation to provide greater transparency into financial interactions related to the office of president and vice president, we can ensure that future American presidents, vice presidents and their families cannot profit from their proximity to power.” Comer said in a statement.
Porter said that “by increasing transparency and requiring additional financial disclosures, Congress can shed light on misconduct in the Executive Branch – or be assured that nothing occurred.”
Many of the requirements listed in the bill go through the Republican Party’s investigation into Biden, who, while accusing the president of influence peddling, has yet to demonstrate that he took any official steps to benefit his family.
For example, the bill requires presidents and vice presidents to disclose any loans made to family members that exceed $10,000 — a nod to a loan President Biden made to his brother James Biden.
Likewise, it requires documentation whenever a family member travels with the president or vice president, including whether the trip was related to a business purpose. This provision comes after the Republican Party criticized the trips that Hunter Biden made while his father was vice president, traveling to countries where he had business meetings.
“We are always happy to look at Congressman Comer’s brilliant ideas, but on his first day in office, President Biden implemented the strictest ethical standards of any administration in history, he publicly released 26 years of his tax returns to the American people to see – more than any president ever – and publicly release his personal financial disclosures every year,” said Ian Sams, White House spokesman for oversight and investigations, in a statement.
“So it’s clear that the president believes in the importance of presidential ethics and has made clear his commitment to upholding strong ethical standards.”
The legislation also requires presidents to disclose any conflicts of interest.
Comer’s bill comes a day after Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the panel, introduced his own legislation targeting foreign funding flowing to top officials.
Raskin’s bill takes aim at Trump’s disregard of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause by not seeking congressional approval before accepting foreign government money through his various businesses.
Under this bill, elected federal officials, as well as some high-ranking appointees, would have to seek congressional approval before accepting such payments, both during their term and during the following two years.
The legislation would also apply those provisions to senior White House advisers, an inclusion that targets a $2 billion deal that Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, Jared Kushner, reached with the Saudi royal family shortly after leaving the government.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
