Prof. Richard Painter Quoted in New York Times About Trump’s Cabinet Picks and Their Conflicts of Interest

Professor Richard Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, was quoted in the New York Times about the extraordinary wealth of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks, as well as the uncharacteristically large list of potential conflicts of interest with which they enter the government. Prof. Painter, who wrote Getting the Government America Deserves: How Ethics Reform Can Make a Difference, said that he expects that Trump’s second term will feature even less compliance with ethics rules. “The tone of this administration is going to be a lot more confrontational to the norms of government than even the first Trump administration,” he said, pointing to the recent firing of the inspectors general and the lack of an ethics memo, like every president since Barack Obama has issued. “It is discouraging. Very discouraging.”