Take Care is privileged to cross-post this article by Harvard Law Professor Matthew Stephenson from the Global Anti-Corruption Blog:

The Trump Administration has been dogged by accusations that President Trump, as well as his family members and close associates, are seeking to use the presidency to advance their personal financial interests. While President Trump claims to have ceded control of the Trump Organization entirely to his sons Eric and Donald Jr., the trust set up is porous at best and reports indicate that the president can withdraw money from his more than 400 business at any time without disclosure.

Just as President Trump will receive “quarterly” updates on the Trump Organization from his son Eric, we will track and report on instances in which there are credible allegations of President Trump, his family, and his close associates exploiting their public power for private gain. We will organize the issues into the following four categories, which capture four related but distinct ways that political leaders leverage the power of public office to enrich themselves, their families, and their cronies:

U.S. Government Payments to the Trump Organization Use of the Power of the Presidency to Promote Trump Brands U.S. Government Regulatory and Policy Decisions that Benefit Business Interests of the Trump Family and Senior Advisors Private and Foreign Interests Seeking to Influence the Trump Administration Through Dealings with Trump Businesses

1. U.S. Government Payments to the Trump Organization

One of the most direct ways that President Trump can profit from the presidency is by making decisions that effectively require U.S. government agencies to directly pay the Trump Organization. Though costly to taxpayers and unseemly, this is one of the less destructive forms of potential profiteering by President Trump, since it does not significantly distort U.S. policy. Illustrative examples that have been reported in the media include the following:

Secret Service at Trump Tower: The Secret Service, charged with protecting the President and his family, must rent out two vacant floors of Trump Tower, where President Trump spends time and First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump continue to reside. This is not the first time the Secret Service has rented space from government officials they are protecting. For example, when the Secret Service needed to protect former Vice President Joe Biden, they rented a nearby cottage that he owned. However, the payments are several orders of magnitude larger in the case of Trump Tower: While the Secret Service rented Vice President Biden’s cottage for $2,200 per month, the Secret Service may have to pay as much as $3 million per year to rent out two floors of Trump Tower. To accommodate this cost, the Service has requested an additional $28.6 million for next year to protect President Trump’s family and private home in Trump Tower.

The Secret Service, charged with protecting the President and his family, must rent out two vacant floors of Trump Tower, where President Trump spends time and First Lady Melania Trump and son Barron Trump continue to reside. This is not the first time the Secret Service has rented space from government officials they are protecting. For example, when the Secret Service needed to protect former Vice President Joe Biden, they rented a nearby cottage that he owned. However, the payments are several orders of magnitude larger in the case of Trump Tower: While the Secret Service rented Vice President Biden’s cottage for $2,200 per month, the Secret Service may have to pay as much as $3 million per year to rent out two floors of Trump Tower. To accommodate this cost, the Service has requested an additional $28.6 million for next year to protect President Trump’s family and private home in Trump Tower. Department of Defense at Trump Tower: The Department of Defense will follow its standard practice of setting up separate headquarters near the President’s private residence—in this case also in Trump Tower. While the Department rented space near President Barack Obama’s Chicago home and rented a secure trailer near President George Bush’s ranch, it is unusual for the Department to rent space directly from the president’s own business organization for a substantial amount of money (though the exact amount, or the information required to estimate it, is not public).

The Department of Defense will follow its standard practice of setting up separate headquarters near the President’s private residence—in this case also in Trump Tower. While the Department rented space near President Barack Obama’s Chicago home and rented a secure trailer near President George Bush’s ranch, it is unusual for the Department to rent space directly from the president’s own business organization for a substantial amount of money (though the exact amount, or the information required to estimate it, is not public). Trips to Mar-a-Lago: In the first three months of his presidency, President Trump visited the Mar-a-Lago resort six times—including on a diplomatic visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The vacations pose the unique issue of the Secret Service paying the Trump Organization directly for any costs related to protecting the president. This includes the $16,685 the Service spent at Mar-a-Lago on golf cart rentals alone.

In the first three months of his presidency, President Trump visited the Mar-a-Lago resort six times—including on a diplomatic visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The vacations pose the unique issue of the Secret Service paying the Trump Organization directly for any costs related to protecting the president. This includes the $16,685 the Service spent at Mar-a-Lago on golf cart rentals alone. Trump Properties Abroad : If President Trump or his immediately family travel abroad and choose to stay in a Trump property, the U.S. government will pay the Trump Organization to rent space for the Secret Service and any additional necessary support. For example, when Eric Trump visited Uruguay, he stayed at the Trump Tower Punta del Este. The Secret Service rooms cost $88,320 while the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay paid an additional $9,510 for its staff to stay in the hotel to support the visit.

: If President Trump or his immediately family travel abroad and choose to stay in a Trump property, the U.S. government will pay the Trump Organization to rent space for the Secret Service and any additional necessary support. For example, when Eric Trump visited Uruguay, he stayed at the Trump Tower Punta del Este. The Secret Service rooms cost $88,320 while the U.S. Embassy in Uruguay paid an additional $9,510 for its staff to stay in the hotel to support the visit. Secret Service on Trump Jets: The President is required to travel on Air Force One or Marine One during his time in office, but the First Family can travel on private planes owned by the Trump Organization. When the Secret Service accompanies the Trump family on their private planes, they reimburse the Trump Organization directly. In fact, during the presidential campaign the Service paid TAG Air, Inc.—a Trump company—$1.6 million.

2. Use of the Power of the Presidency To Promote Trump Brands

Donald Trump and his family can also enrich themselves by taking advantage of the unique status and exposure of the President of the United States to promote Trump family brands. Indeed, Eric Trump noted that the Trump brand “is the hottest it has ever been,” and Melania Trump noted in her defamation lawsuit that she had lost a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity [as First Lady] . . . to launch a broad-based commercial brand” worth millions of dollars. Moreover, in the first month of the Trump Administration, Ivanka Trump’s apparel line sales increased 346%. While some of the increase is “passive” and thus less problematic, there have been incidents that suggest efforts on the part of President Trump, his family, and members of his administration to actively promote Trump brands.

While certainly distasteful, this is probably also one of the less harmful ways in which the Trump Administration may seek to profit from the Presidency, as it also does not involve significantly distortions of U.S. policy. Nonetheless, the overt attempts to use the presidency as a marketing opportunity indicates a troubling underlying attitude, one revealed by a number of specific instances in which the Trump family has apparently taken more active steps to use the prestige and influence of the presidency to promote the Trump brand. Examples include:

3. U.S. Government Regulatory and Policy Decisions that Benefit the Business Interests of the Trump Family and Senior Advisors

Federal decisions—on regulation, law, enforcement, and discretionary spending—may be influenced or manipulated in ways that benefit the private commercial interests of the Trump Organization or business closely tied to President Trump, his family, or his senior advisors. This is a much more serious concern, as it involves not only enrichment of the Trump family and associates at the expense of U.S. taxpayers, but also the potential distortions of U.S. policy, with more far-reaching consequences.

The extent of the Trump Organization’s business interests makes it impossible to summarize all of the potential conflicts of interest that might arise. For example, the Trump Organization has been involved in labor disputes; Trump businesses regularly apply for visas for foreign workers; Trump businesses are subject to countless federal safety and environmental regulations; the Trump Organization owns properties that may be eligible for grants and subsidies from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). As head of the executive branch, President Trump might have influence over numerous decisions that affect the Trump Organization’s business interests. While the potential conflicts of interest are too extensive—and in most cases likely too indirect—to enumerate, here are a few examples of more specific reports that raise concerns about how the financial interests of the President and his advisors may distort regulatory or policy decisions:

4. Private and Foreign Interests Seeking To Influence the Trump Administration Through Dealings with Trump Businesses

Another significant concern is that individuals, private firms, and foreign governments may believe—rightly or wrongly—that they can curry favor with the Administration and increase their odds of favorable policy decisions by engaging in private business transactions with companies owned by or connected to President Trump—or, in the case of foreign governments, granting favorable regulatory treatment to Trump business operations. This is one of the most serious concerns related to the Trump family’s interest in profiting from the presidency, as it gives rise both to the appearance of corruption and the risk of actual corruption. The range of possible concerns is too broad to summarize, but here are some examples of the leading sources of concern: