WASHINGTON — (CNN) Rep. Jason Chaffetz said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s possible conflicts of interest could be among the more than 40 items the House Oversight Committee investigates.
The Utah Republican heads that committee that recently listed 43 items on a proposed agenda for what they hope to explore in the upcoming congressional session.
“This is the Trump administration so by definition all of those 43 items are going to be about what’s going on in the Trump administration,” he told CNN’s Alyson Camerota on “New Day,” when asked about investigating the possible conflicts of interest. “I will deal with the situations one at a time. I am not going to personally target the President. I didn’t do that with Barrack Obama. But as issues come up, we’ll deal with them one at a time.”
The list includes other items such as cybersecurity policy, reforming the Office of Government Ethics and spending in nation’s capital.
But Democrats have criticized Chaffetz for not prioritizing ongoing questions about Trump’s potential conflicts of interests.
But Chaffetz expressed no concerns about Trump’s business dealings.
“I think the President is required to do his financial disclosure,” he said. “By all accounts he has done that. The President is exempt from most of all of the conflict of interest laws.”
While Trump has disclosed some financial information while running for president, he has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns — citing that he is under audit — a disclosure the is not required, but breaks with precedent for other presidents dating back to Jimmy Carter.
Chaffetz said he’s not presently interested in a lawsuit from an ethics accountability group saying Trump violated the foreign emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting foreign payments through his business ventures.
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