CNN Contributor: It's “Unfair” To Ask Trump To Divest, “Depriving His Children Of Their Livelihood”

From the December 14 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360:

Video file

PAUL BEGALA: I too have a law degree but I have recovered. And we should use clear language. You used a phrase, Kayleigh, “blind trust,” which we throw around a lot. A trust is only blind if the beneficiary has no idea of its contents; that's why we call it “blind.” There's lots of trusts that are not blind. But if you say Mr. Kushner or I think President-elect Trump is required to have by ethics, by honesty, by morality, by the public interest to have the blind trust, that means they must liquidate. And I know that's a hit for rich --

KAYLEIGH MCENANY: Kushner has said he would.. 

BEGALA: Good for him. And that is the standard I'm looking for, and then you reinvest in treasuries. Hank Paulson did this, he had a half a billion dollar stake in Goldman Sachs, he was President Bush's treasury secretary. There's a provision in the law, by the way, which is extraordinarily generous tax breaks. If you have to do this for public service. Some liberals have complained about that, I think it's great. So they will get huge tax breaks, giant, beautiful, extraordinary, gorgeous tax breaks, the classiest tax breaks in the world. But they've got to liquidate. Trump has to liquidate everything named “Trump.”

MCENANY: That's unfair of you to ask Donald Trump to do that because he would be depriving his children --

BEGALA: He's going to work for me.

MCENANY: -- he would be depriving his children of their livelihood -- 

BEGALA: Oh, his children are just fine.

MCENANY: -- of their business. You're discouraging people in the private sector from running for office.

Previously:

NBC Should Address Conflict Of Interest Concerns Following Report That Trump Will Remain On Celebrity Apprentice Payroll

AP: Ethics Experts Concerned Over NBC’s “Mind-Boggling” Ties To Trump

News Networks Sidelined Trump's Conflicts Of Interest Until His Election

“Nixonian”: Journalists React To Trump’s Declaration That As President, He “Can’t Have A Conflict Of Interest”