Walter Shaub, outgoing director of the Office of Government Ethics, said Thursday after announcing his resignation from his post that “there’s an appearance” that President Trump’s business empire is profiting from his presidency.
“I can’t know what their intention is,” Shaub told CBS News, in his first television interview since announcing his resignation earlier Thursday. “I know that the effect is that there’s an appearance that the businesses are profiting from his occupying the presidency. And appearance matters as much as reality. So even aside from whether or not that’s actually happening, we need to send a message to the world that the United States is gonna have the gold standard for an ethics program in government, which is what we’ve always had.”
Shaub, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, had a history of clashing with the Trump administration. He cut short his five-year term and will join the Campaign Legal Center as senior director for ethics on July 19.
In January, Shaub called Trump’s plan to step back from his business empire “meaningless” because the president stopped short of divesting his assets.
Shaub seemed to suggest that Trump should be more transparent with the public, pointing the president not releasing his tax returns.
“America should have the right to know what the motivations of its leaders are, and they need to know that financial interests, personal financial interests, aren’t among them,” Shaub said.
More of Shaub’s interview will air Thursday night on “CBS Evening News” and Friday morning on “CBS This Morning.”
