rep. jason chaffetz said that democrats' demands had gone a bit overboard, but he nonetheless vowed to press donald trump when warranted. | getty by darren samuelsohn 11/30/16 12:51 pm est the lead house republican investigator for all things donald trump insisted wednesday the president-elect won<u+2019>t get a free pass in 2017, while also praising the businessman-turned-politician for his latest effort to prevent any future ethical conflicts that could mire his administration in scandal. in an interview with politico on wednesday, utah gop rep. jason chaffetz welcomed trump<u+2019>s suggestion via a series of twitter posts that he<u+2019>ll be handing over control of his vast business enterprise, with additional details to come at a press conference with his adult children in mid-december. story continued below <u+201c>he<u+2019>s moving in the right direction. and he needs to instill the confidence that he<u+2019>s more than arm<u+2019>s length away,<u+201d> said chaffetz, the chairman of the house oversight and government reform committee. chaffetz, who had been critical of trump during the general election and at one point withdrew his endorsement, echoed the president-elect<u+2019>s recent remark noting that presidents are not legally obligated to address their business conflicts. but the lawmaker said it was <u+201c>encouraging<u+201d> that trump would be making changes to his financial arrangements anyway. <u+201c>the only obligation he has is that under the law. there are public perceptions that i<u+2019>m sure they<u+2019>re keenly aware of,<u+201d> chaffetz said. democrats have been agitating for greater oversight of trump's business dealings since the republican won the presidential election, writing letters to gop leaders urging them to investigate and press the incoming administration to the same degree they have with president barack obama. by ben white and jake sherman for his part, chaffetz said wednesday that democrats' demands had gone a bit overboard, but he nonetheless vowed to press trump when warranted. <u+201c>we<u+2019>re going to have vigorous oversight of the trump administration. of course, we will. my job is not to be the cheerleader for the president. but it<u+2019>s to make sure we<u+2019>re doing checks and balances. and that<u+2019>s precisely what we<u+2019>re going to do,<u+201d> he said. <u+201c>but it is a little ridiculous to send me six letters before he<u+2019>s even been sworn in to go on essentially fishing trips. that<u+2019>s not what we do,<u+201d> chaffetz added. while chaffetz is in routine touch with the gop transition, including incoming white house chief of staff reince priebus, the utah lawmaker said he<u+2019>d not specifically raised any questions about potential conflicts of interest. but he said trump<u+2019>s attorneys are working on the issue and he added that priebus in recent media interviews <u+201c>has assured us that [trump would] be in compliance with the law.<u+201d> <u+201c>that<u+2019>s his duty and obligation,<u+201d> chaffetz said. <u+201c>we<u+2019>ll let him get sworn in and see how its structured.<u+201d> by thomas wright by bill scher by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
trump <u+2018>moving in the right direction<u+2019> on conflicts, chaffetz says - politico
darren samuelsohn ben white jake sherman jack shafer