We are members of NPR’s team covering Trump’s financial conflicts of interest, Ask Us Anything!

After the election, NPR News launched an initiative to focus a small group of reporters on the coverage of ethics and conflicts of interest in the Trump administration.

We are four of its members:

As President Trump approached his 100-day mark, we made this quick explainer video on conflicts of interest. We’ve been reporting a wide array of stories about the First Family and their financial ties: what we know and don’t know about their sources of income, what rules do and don’t apply, what promises were made and what accusations have resulted in lawsuits or investigations. Ask Us Anything!

Proof here!

EDIT: Hey all, things are starting to slow down so we're going to do a soft stop at 2 pm ET. But please continue to add questions and the team will check back in and answer what they can. Thanks for stopping by!

Comments: 543 • Responses: 3  • Date: 

ManBearPigTrump326 karma

Just to clarify, would this be possible without contributions from listeners like me?

stevemullis_NPR97 karma

NPR's journalism would not be possible without our amazing and engaged audience. Thank you /u/ManBearPigTrump!

SuperSneakyReporter52 karma

How common is it for NPR to devote four reporters to the same story?Is there a good example of a similar initiative you guys ran in the Obama years?

stevemullis_NPR101 karma

Highlighting this answer from /u/alinaselyukh to a similar question below:

The reason this team was assembled in November is because the circumstances are really unprecedented. Since Watergate in the 70s, presidents (including Obama) have walked away from their financial ties (typically largely stocks or treasuries), selling them or putting them in a truly blind trust run by an independent person. In President Trump's case, he continues to own and profit from 500+ businesses around the world while also running the country -- and the public has little knowledge of the specifics of his and his family's financial ties: where the money comes from, to whom debts are owed, etc.

Juanoban15 karma

Is the Ethics Committee able to wield any power to do anything against the Trump Administration? If/when they find that he/his family has benefited greatly from holding office in the US gov't (nepotism, Trump tower deals in foreign countries, etc), what can the Ethics Committee actually do to prevent that from happening further and/or punish the Administration?

stevemullis_NPR22 karma

Resurfacing this answer below from /u/peteroverby for visibility

There's a House ethics committee & a Senate ethics committee, but their jurisdiction is within the chambers. If you think about committees that dig into wrongdoing by the administration, it's the judiciary committees on each side of Cap Hill, House Oversight, the Senate's governmental affairs ctte and others, depending on the specific issue.