Prof. Richard Painter Quoted by USA Today Calling Administration’s Promotion of Tesla Unethical

Prof. Richard Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law, was quoted by USA Today about the Trump administration’s effort to promote Tesla with five of its models parked around the South Lawn of the White House. The choreographed event aimed at ending the backlash against Tesla and its owner, Elon Musk, who is leading the campaign to slash the federal bureaucracy. Musk’s dual roles as private businessman and government cost-cutter have raised concerns about conflicts of interest. Musk’s businesses have received billions of dollars in government contracts, loans and tax credits while he has worked to gut or scale back government agencies that have regulated or investigated his companies. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick also promoted the car company by urging Americans to buy Tesla stock. Prof. Painter said, “This is unprecedented. I’ve never seen the United States government promote a particular company.” He added that the administration’s actions are a clear violation of government ethics rules. Citing the Code of Federal Regulations, Prof. Painter said, “Use of public office for private gain is prohibited for everyone at the executive branch. We can argue about whether the president is strictly bound by that, but everyone else is, including the Commerce secretary. You cannot use your official position to promote any private organization, any company, any nonprofit, anybody. You simply cannot do that.”