House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz said Thursday he is willing to investigate fellow Republican Donald Trump if his actions warrant it – but he won't even consider any probes of the president-elect during the transition period.
"I will when there is an allegation of wrongdoing. But he hasn't even been sworn in yet," Chaffetz said to the Salt Lake Tribune. "At least let the guy actually become a federal employee before you start screaming for investigations."
Rep. Elijah Cummings, the Oversight Committee's ranking Democrat, has requested Chaffetz twice to investigate any possible conflicts of interest Trump would have between serving in the Oval Office and his multiple business.
Chaffetz said he is inclined to give Trump "leeway" during the transition.
"I think it's almost silly to suggest the investigation should begin now when he hasn't even been sworn in," Chaffetz said. "I didn't start an investigation of Hillary Clinton before she was sworn in [as secretary of State]; it was when the inspector general found potential wrongdoing that we started to look into it."
But, he added, "There will come a point when the Oversight Committee will be probing some things I'm sure the executive branch will not want us to be looking at. It's happened for 200 years and it will happen in the Trump administration as well."
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