The Use of Blind Trusts By Federal Officials (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 23, 2005 |
| Report Number |
RS21656 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
Jack Maskell, American Law Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
A blind trust, as discussed in this report, is a device employed by a federal official to hold,
administer and manage the private financial assets, investments and ownerships of the official, and
his or her spouse and dependant children, as a method of conflict of interest avoidance. In
establishing a qualified blind trust upon the approval of the appropriate supervisory ethics entity, the
official transfers, without restriction, control and management of private assets to an independent
trustee who may not communicate information about the identity of the holdings in the trust to the
official. The trust is considered "blind" because eventually, through the sale of
transferred assets
and the purchase of new ones, the public officer will be shielded from knowledge of the identity of
the specific assets in the trust. Without such knowledge, conflict of interest issues would be avoided
because no particular asset in the trust could act as an influence upon the official duties that the
officer performs for the Government.
