Presidential Accountability Act

Summary: Presidential Accountability Act This bill amends the federal criminal code to make it a crime for the President or Vice President to personally and substantially participate in official matters that affect their financial interests, unless the financial interests are held in a blind trust or the President or Vice President discloses the financial interests and receives an exemption.  It imposes criminal penalties&#8212;a prison term, a fine, or both&#8212;on a President or Vice President who commits the offense. It also authorizes civil penalties and injunctions.  Additionally, a violation constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor (i.e., grounds for impeachment) under Article II, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution. Finally, the bill prohibits the President or Vice President from entering into contracts with the U.S. government. 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Accountability Act''.

SEC. 2. ACTS AFFECTING A PERSONAL FINANCIAL INTEREST OF THE PRESIDENT 
              OR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

    (a) In General.--Chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting after section 208 the following:
``Sec. 208A. Acts affecting a personal financial interest of the 
              President or Vice President of the United States
    ``(a) Except as permitted by subsection (b) hereof, whoever, being 
the President or Vice President of the United States, participates 
personally and substantially, through decision, approval, disapproval, 
recommendation, the rendering of advice, investigation, or otherwise, 
in a judicial or other proceeding, application, request for a ruling or 
other determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, accusation, 
arrest, or other particular matter in which, to their knowledge, the 
President or Vice President of the United States, their spouse, child, 
general partner, organization in which they are serving as officer, 
director, trustee, general partner or employee, or any person or 
organization with whom they are negotiating or has any arrangement 
concerning prospective employment, has a financial interest shall be 
subject to the penalties set forth in section 216 of this title.
    ``(b) Subsection (a) shall not apply--
            ``(1) if the financial interest that would be affected by 
        the particular matter involved is held in a qualified blind 
        trust as defined by subsection (g); or
            ``(2) if the President or Vice President of the United 
        States first advises the Director of the Office of Government 
        Ethics of the nature and circumstances of the judicial or other 
        proceeding, application, request for a ruling or other 
        determination, contract, claim, controversy, charge, 
        accusation, arrest, or other particular matter and makes full 
        disclosure of the financial interest and receives in advance a 
        written determination made by the Director of the Office of 
        Government Ethics that the interest is not so substantial as to 
        be deemed likely to affect the actions of the President or Vice 
        President or undermine the public's confidence in the integrity 
        of their office.
    ``(c) In the event that a national emergency necessitates the 
President or Vice President taking any immediate action that affects 
their personal financial interests prior to receiving an exemption 
under subsection (b)(2), the President or Vice President shall, in 
addition to the information required by subsection (b)(2), notify the 
Director of the Office of Government Ethics of the circumstances 
requiring action to be taken prior to the receipt of an exemption and 
shall make a retroactive request for an exemption under subsection 
(b)(2) within 48 hours of taking the action. The Director of the Office 
of Government Ethics shall then make a written determination as to 
whether an exemption under subsection (b)(2) would have been issued had 
the President or Vice President requested an exemption prior to taking 
the action. Should the Director of the Office of Government Ethics 
determine that an exemption would not have been granted, the President 
or Vice President shall, to the extent practicable, return, repay, 
remit, or refund any benefit gained as a result of that action. Any 
financial gains that cannot be repaid shall be gifted to reduce the 
public debt pursuant to section 3113 of title 31, United States Code.
    ``(d) The Director of the Office of Government Ethics shall 
complete the written determination required under subsection (b)(2) and 
subsection (c) as soon as practicable, but in no event shall the 
determination be made later than 10 days following a request for an 
exemption. Any request for exemption under subsection (b)(2) and 
subsection (c) not receiving a written determination within 10 days 
will be deemed to have been denied.
    ``(e) A copy of any request for an exemption and a copy of any 
determination made in response to a request for an exemption, including 
exemptions under subsection (b)(2) or (c) and any determination deemed 
to have been denied under subsection (d), shall be made available to 
the public by the Office of Government Ethics within 10 days of the 
receipt of a request for an exemption pursuant to procedures set forth 
in section 105 of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978. In making such 
determination available, the agency may withhold from disclosure any 
information contained in the determination that would be exempt from 
disclosure under section 552 of title 5.
    ``(f) A violation of subsection (a) shall constitute a high crime 
and misdemeanor for the purposes of article II, section 4 of the United 
States Constitution.
    ``(g) For the purposes of this section, the term `qualified blind 
trust' shall include any trust in which the President or Vice President 
of the United States, their spouse, or any child has a beneficial 
interest in the principal or income, and which meets the following 
requirements:
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) The trustee of the trust and any other entity 
                designated in the trust instrument to perform fiduciary 
                duties is a financial institution, an attorney, a 
                certified public accountant, a broker, or an investment 
                advisor who--
                            ``(i) is independent of and not associated 
                        with any interested party so that the trustee 
                        or other person cannot be controlled or 
                        influenced in the administration of the trust 
                        by any interested party;
                            ``(ii) is not and has not been an employee 
                        of or affiliated with any interested party and 
                        is not a partner of, or involved in any joint 
                        venture or other investment with, any 
                        interested party; and
                            ``(iii) is not a relative of any interested 
                        party.
                    ``(B) Any officer or employee of a trustee or other 
                entity who is involved in the management or control of 
                the trust--
                            ``(i) is independent of and not associated 
                        with any interested party so that such officer 
                        or employee cannot be controlled or influenced 
                        in the administration of the trust by any 
                        interested party;
                            ``(ii) is not a partner of, or involved in 
                        any joint venture or other investment with, any 
                        interested party; and
                            ``(iii) is not a relative of any interested 
                        party.
            ``(2) Any asset transferred to the trust by an interested 
        party is free of any restriction with respect to its transfer 
        of sale unless such restriction is expressly approved in 
        writing by the Director of the Office of Government Ethics.
            ``(3) The trust instrument that establishes the trust 
        provides that--
                    ``(A) except to the extent provided in subparagraph 
                (2) of this subsection, the trustee in the exercise of 
                his authority and discretion to manage and control the 
                assets of the trust shall not consult or notify any 
                interested party;
                    ``(B) the trust shall not contain any asset the 
                holding of which by any interested party is prohibited 
                by any law or regulation;
                    ``(C) the trustee shall promptly notify the 
                reporting individual and the Director of the Office of 
                Government Ethics when the holdings of any particular 
                asset transferred to the trust by any interested party 
                are disposed of or when the value of such holding is 
                less than $1,000;
                    ``(D) the trust tax return shall be prepared by the 
                trustee or his designee, and such return and any 
                information relating thereto (other than the trust 
                income summarized in appropriated categories necessary 
                to complete an interested party's tax return), shall 
                not be disclosed to any interested party;
                    ``(E) an interested party shall not receive any 
                report on the holdings and sources of income of the 
                trust, except a report at the end of each calendar 
                quarter with respect to the total cash value of the 
                interest of the interested party in the trust or the 
                net income or loss of the trust or any reports 
                necessary to enable the interested party to complete an 
                individual tax return required by law, but such report 
                shall not identify any asset or holding;
                    ``(F) except for communications which solely 
                consist of requests for distributions of cash or other 
                unspecified assets of the trust, there shall be no 
                direct or indirect communication between the trustee 
                and an interested party with respect to the trust 
                unless such communication is in writing (a copy of 
                which shall be provided to the Director of the Office 
                of Government Ethics), and unless it relates only (i) 
                to the general financial interest and needs of the 
                interested party (including, but not limited to, an 
                interest in maximizing income or long-term capital 
                gain), (ii) to the notification of a trustee of a law 
                or regulation subsequently applicable to the reporting 
                individual which prohibits the interested party from 
                holding an asset, which notification directs that the 
                asset not be held by the trust, or (iii) to directions 
                to the trustee to sell all of an asset initially placed 
                in the trust by an interested party which in the 
                determination of the reporting individual creates a 
                conflict of interest or the appearance thereof due to 
                the subsequent assumption of duties by the reporting 
                individual; and
                    ``(G) the interested parties shall make no effort 
                to obtain information with respect to the holdings of 
                the trust, including obtaining a copy of any trust tax 
                return filed or any information relating thereto except 
                as otherwise provided in this subsection.
            ``(4) The proposed trust instrument and the proposed 
        trustee are certified in writing by the Director of the Office 
        of Government Ethics to be in compliance with the requirements 
        of this section. The Director of the Office of Government 
        Ethics shall conduct an annual recertification of the trust 
        instrument and trustee to verify that they remain in compliance 
        with the requirements of this section. If at any time the 
        Director of the Office of Government Ethics determines that the 
        trust instrument or trustee are no longer in compliance with 
        requirements of this section, the Director of the Office of 
        Government Ethics shall notify the Committee on Oversight and 
        Government Reform of the House of Representatives and the 
        Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of the 
        Senate, and provide written notification to the interested 
        parties that they are no longer eligible for an exemption under 
        subsection (b)(1) until the trust instrument and trustee are 
        recertified.
            ``(5) For the purposes of this subsection, `interested 
        party' means the President or Vice President of the United 
        States, their spouse, and any child; `reporting individual' 
        means the President or Vice President of the United States; 
        `broker' has the meaning set forth in section 3(a)(4) of the 
        Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(4)); and 
        `investment adviser' includes any investment adviser who, as 
        determined under regulations prescribed by the Office of 
        Government Ethics, is generally involved in their role as such 
        an advisor in the management or control of trusts.
            ``(6) Any written certification or notification made 
        pursuant to subsection (g) shall be made available to the 
        public within 10 days of the certification or notification 
        being made.''.
    (b) In General.--Section 216 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by inserting ``208A,'' after 
        ``208,'';
            (2) in subsection (b) by inserting ``208A,'' after 
        ``208,''; and
            (3) in subsection (c) by inserting ``208A,'' after 
        ``208,''.
    (c) Clerical Amendment.--The table of sections at the beginning of 
chapter 11 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting 
after ``Sec. 208. Acts affecting a personal financial interest.'' the 
following new item:

``Sec. 208A. Acts affecting a personal financial interest of the 
                            President or Vice President of the United 
                            States.''.

SEC. 3. CONTRACTS BY THE PRESIDENT OR VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
              STATES.

    (a) In General.--Section 431 of title 18, United States Code, is 
amended by inserting ``the President or Vice President of the United 
States,'' after ``Whoever, being''.