In a conference call with reporters on Monday morning, Donald Trump spokesman Jason Miller said that legal counsel are “comfortable” with all the meetings the President-elect has held to date, including those with his business partners.
“Right now, is there anyone actively reviewing this during the transition as the White House counsel would?” ABC News’ Katherine Faulder asked on the call. “Will President-elect Trump continue to meet with business partners during the transition or in the White House? Can you rule something like that out?”
“All meetings that are taking place are where counsel is comfortable with,” Miller said.
Trump had met last week with three Indian business partners who are involved with a building project south of Mumbai bearing the President-elect’s name, according to a New York Times report published Saturday.
Miller said that while members of the White House general counsel will become involved when Trump moves to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the transition team isn’t worried about any of the President-elect’s meetings so far.
“At a certain point you have the White House general counsel but for now we do have counsel that’s actively involved and we’re comfortable with where everything is,” Miller said.
Robert L. Walker, former chief counsel of the Senate’s Select Committee on Ethics and the House Committee on Ethics, told the Times that the meeting with Indian business partners raised questions about a potential conflict of interest for the President-elect.
“His role as president-elect should dictate that someone else handles business matters,” Walker said, as quoted in the report.
