Forbes: Trump And Billionaire Ruffin Discussed Vegas Rail Project That Could Benefit Them Both
If the president does ultimately support the project, its opponents may use his apparent conflict of interest to their advantage. “Let’s say this rail line is actually a great idea,” said Larry Noble, general counsel of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center and a former chief ethics officer at the Federal Election Commission, “Because he has ownership in that hotel, people aren’t going to believe it. It calls into credibility the decision because it affects a financial stake that he owns. So the dangers of conflicts of interest are not just that you’re making a decision based on your financial interest, which is the major problem. But it’s also the problem that it undermines decisions that very well may be valid decisions because you lose credibility.”