The Trump Organization has hired a new ethics reviewer in an attempt to shield the President-elect Donald Trump and his private company from conflicts of interest in business deals.
The sprawling private real estate company owned by Trump and operated by his family turned Friday to William Burck, a D.C.-based attorney to replace Bobby Burchfield, who held the role through 2020 in Trump’s first term and has since retired.
Burck confirmed the new role to USA TODAY and the Trump Organization provided a copy of the new ethics plan.
The plan bans new deals between the Trump Organization and foreign governments − but not foreign businesses, as had been the case in the first Trump administration. It also outlines a review process for several transactions that meet a certain threshold like purchases over $10 million or leasing more than 40,000 square feet of real estate space.
The reviews aims to make sure they are: arm’s length, meaning independent from influence, involve a known “appropriate counterparty,” and do not raise conflicts of interests or ethical concerns.
The company plans to “voluntarily donate to the U.S. Treasury all profits it receives from foreign government patronage that the company is able to identify at its hotels and similar businesses,” the plan said, adding that it would continue to offer discounted rates to the U.S. Secret Service for overnight stays, food and beverage at Trump properties. Trump has been criticized for bringing Secret Service agents to stay, on the government dime, at his resorts and golf clubs.
“The Trump Organization is dedicated to not just meeting but vastly exceeding its legal and ethical obligations during my father’s Presidency,” said Eric Trump, The Trump Organization’s executive vice president in a prepared statement. “As a reflection of this commitment, just like during my father’s first term in office, we have not only implemented a series of robust ethical standards, but also appointed one of the most respected attorneys in the country to guide our company while my father serves to make America great again.”
Burck has history with Trump and around Washington. He’s part of the white-collar firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP. He served in the George W. Bush White House and in the criminal division of the Justice Department and as a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He served as a law clerk for former Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and also listed as a member of the board of the Fox Corporation.
More recently, he worked in the confirmation process for Trump Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in 2018. The New York Times called Burck “a legal gun-for-hire” who told friends he “would never work for” Trump even though many of his clients did or had.
His past high-profile clients include Maureen McDonnell, the wife of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell who was indicted on corruption charges.
The Trump Organization and president-elect face a slew of new and old ethics vulnerabilities.
The president-elect holds a stake in new businesses like his Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. that operates Truth Social and is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange, as well as his crypto venture World Liberty Financial.
Past ethics criticism
Democratic lawmakers and government watchdogs argued throughout Trump’s first term that he violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. They pointed to foreign governments spending lavishly at the Trump International Hotel, just a few blocks from the White House. Beginning in 2018, the Trump Organization sent payments of undisclosed amounts to the U.S. Treasury, which it said equal the profits from foreign government spending Trump properties.
The Justice Department defended the president in court challenges that reached the Supreme Court, arguing the instances never profited Trump directly since they were “ordinary commercial transactions.”
In January 2021 the Supreme Court dismissed as moot a pair of lawsuits related to the issue, since he had left office.
In January 2024 Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability released a report on the millions of dollars that flowed to the Trump Organization from corrupt and authoritarian governments such as China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates during his first term.
The new ethics pledge does not make clear how the organization would treat new deals with foreign companies that are closely aligned with governments themselves. Committee records released last year, for instance, show Trump’s company received more than $5.5 million from both the Chinese government and Chinese state-owned enterprises.
Ethics watchdog Tony Carrk said his organization Accountable.us would be working to make sure the Trump White House abides by its pledges.
“I think people do care. People want to know their elected officials are working for us and not themselves,” Carrk said. “Is that the top of mind issue every day? Maybe not. But I’m sure there are examples where a decision is made and after the fact it benefited him personally… and hurt average people.”
Nick Penzenstadler is a reporter on the USA TODAY investigations team. Contact him at [email protected] or @npenzenstadler, or on Signal at (720) 507-5273.
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