--- description: The American Civil Liberties Union has taken legal action to obtain documents that may show Donald Trump’s potential conflicts of interest. title: ACLU Outlines Plan to Tackle Donald Trump’s Administration image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b2343a0e3ee8303/6988b65f7cdbac1370d56d9b/donald-trump-aclu.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'President Trump Is Not Above the Law.' ACLU Outlines Plan to Tackle Donald Trump’s Administration ## Video: Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back [Watch (HLS stream): Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgn8DCbB.m3u8) (7:19)  _Published 2016-10-31. In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton._  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2017 4:12 PM CUT  Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event on Sept. 6, 2016 in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Donald Trump pauses during a campaign event on Sept. 6, 2016 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.Alex Wong—Getty Images  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 20, 2017 4:12 PM CUT The American Civil Liberties Union has taken legal action to obtain government documents that may show [President-elect Donald Trump’s](http://time.com/4640703/donald-trump-inauguration-day-2017/?xid=homepage "undefined") potential conflicts of interest, [the national organization said Friday](https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/here-aclus-7-point-plan-action-take-trump-administration "undefined"). The ACLU, a non-profit civil rights group, outlined its plan to challenge the incoming president’s policies and administration, which includes [filing a Freedom of Information Act request](https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/first-many-aclu-foia-request-seeks-information-about-new-presidents-conflicts "undefined") to get government agencies that specifically handle ethics and law to provide all documents relating to Trump’s business connections. Documents include legal opinions, memoranda, advisories and communications, filed between Election Day and Trump’s official inauguration, from agencies that include the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel and the Office of Government Ethics. The ACLU is also seeking to obtain emails to and from the presidential transition team. “We are bringing this first legal action using the Freedom of Information Act to underscore the fact that President Trump is not above the law,” Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, said in a statement. “Freedom of information requests are our democracy’s X-ray, and they will be vitally important to expose and curb the abuses of a president who believes the rules don’t apply to him and his family.” Part of the ACLU’s plan over the next four years is to beef up its staff by adding up to 100 full-time employees across the country. The group said the nearly 400,000 donations it received since Nov. 8 will help with its mission. The ACLU revealed its outline in tackling Trump’s administration hours before Trump was set to be inaugurated. At a highly anticipated news conference last week, Trump said he has [relinquished control of his business](http://time.com/4631597/donald-trump-business-separation/ "undefined") empire to his two sons and has moved all assets into a trust to avoid having potential conflicts of interest. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/"},"headline":"'President Trump Is Not Above the Law.' ACLU Outlines Plan to Tackle Donald Trump’s Administration","datePublished":"2017-01-20T16:12:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T10:38:18.308Z","description":"The civil rights group has taken legal action and plans to hire up to 100 workers","url":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b2343a0e3ee8303/6988b65f7cdbac1370d56d9b/donald-trump-aclu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b2343a0e3ee8303/6988b65f7cdbac1370d56d9b/donald-trump-aclu.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach","caption":"Donald Trump Holds Campaign Rally In Virginia Beach","creditText":"Alex Wong—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/","name":"'President Trump Is Not Above the Law.' ACLU Outlines Plan to Tackle Donald Trump’s Administration"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Donald Trump Runs for President: A Look Back","description":"In one of the most shocking U.S. elections in modern political history, Donald Trump has defeated Hillary Clinton.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/dgn8DCbB/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-10-31T20:49:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dgn8DCbB.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/","duration":"PT7M19S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4640947/aclu-donald-trump-inauguration-plan/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```