About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (November 22, 2016)

handle is hein.crs/crsmthmaobu0001 and id is 1 raw text is: , Congressional SResearch Service MEMORANDUM November 22, 2016 Subject: Conflict of Interest and Ethics Provisions That May Apply to the President From: Jack Maskell Legislative Attorney American Law Division This memorandum is intended to briefly identify those provisions of federal statute or regulation that (1) respect conflicts of interest or ethics and (2) may apply to the President. The memorandum begins by noting why certain provisions would appear to be inapplicable to the President. It then notes the remaining provisions that could potentially be seen to apply to the President. The memorandum is solely concerned with the identification and, where relevant, discussion of the specific provisions. It is not intended to discuss whether and how particular provisions could potentially be enforced against the President, although it is important to note that the Department of Justice (DOJ) has previously opined that sitting Presidents are not subject to indictment for violations of federal criminal law.i Provisions Apparently Inapplicable to the President Most provisions in Chapter 11 of the United States Code (Bribery, Graft and Conflicts of Interest)- which are considered federal conflict of interest laws in the federal criminal code-do not apply to the President, Vice President, or Members of Congress. This is because the definitions of officer and employee given in 18 U.S.C. § 202 provide that these terms will not include the President or Vice President for purposes of the following statutory provisions: * 18 U.S.C. § 203 (compensation for representational activities before the government); * 18 U.S.C. § 205 (acting as an agent or attorney for anyone before the government); * 18 U.S.C. § 207 (revolving door, post-employment conflict of interest law); * 18 U.S.C. § 208 (the principal financial conflict of interest law requiring recusal or disqualification of officials participating in governmental matters affecting their personal financial interests); * 18 U.S.C. § 209 (receipt of outside compensation as salary or supplementation of salary for one's official, governmental duties). It may be noted that even before the President and Vice President were expressly excluded from the definitions of officer and employee in 1989, the DOJ was of the opinion that 18 U.S.C. § 208, the 1 A Sitting President's Amenability to Indictment and Criminal Prosecution, 24 Op. O.L.C. 222 (2000).

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most