Trump Transition Team Members Will Have to Disclose Finances, While President-Elect Refuses to Release Taxes
— -- In what may be seen as an eyebrow-raising move, the Trump transition team is requiring most applicants to disclose their finances out of fear of conflicts of interest -- while the president-elect himself refuses to release his tax returns.
On the transition team's website, greatagain.gov, the team warns "the time commitment is significant and the pace is fast."
And it also says that for "most applicants under serious consideration" they will be vetted "for possible conflicts of interest."
"Financial holdings and sources of income must be disclosed. Any conflicts must be remedied by divestiture, the creation of special trusts, and other actions," the post on the site reads.
And the requirements section also notes: "Many appointees’ dealings with the Federal government both during and for a period of time after their service will be significantly restricted to prevent possible conflicts of interest."
For good measure, the requirement is repeated after a link to the application.
"You will be asked about possible conflicts of interest deriving from your sources of income; all aspects of your personal and professional life, including organization which you belong or once belonged; speeches you may have given and books, articles and editorials you may have written; legal, administrative and regulatory proceedings to which you may have been a party; in short, anything that might embarrass the President or you if he should choose you for a position in his administration," the site says.
The president-elect drew fire during the campaign for becoming the first candidate in decades not to release his tax returns, although he did release financial disclosure forms.
Trump cited an ongoing audit as the reason for not releasing the returns, but The New York Times obtained several pages of state returns.
The paper claimed that Trump may have avoided paying federal income taxes over the course of 18 years.
At the time, the Trump campaign said that the president-elect had paid hundreds of millions in other taxes.
In September, Trump told ABC News' David Muir that he "released the most extensive financial review of anybody in the history of politics."
And he said that "as far as my taxes are concerned, the only one that cares is the press, I will tell you. And even the press, I tell you, it’s not a big deal.
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.
