House Oversight Democrats hoping to highlight potential conflicts of interest under President Trump see leverage in a past ethics bill from Chair James Comer (R-Ky.). That proposal, which Comer introduced amid his wide-ranging investigation into former President Biden, would have required Biden and his family to make a series of disclosures. With Trump now in the White House, Connolly is hoping to flip the script, calling on Comer to endorse his own legislation even with a Republican in the White House. It’s one of the first exchanges between Comer and newly minted ranking member Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), who called the chair’s legislation from last year the “Republican gold standard for presidential ethics.” “This Congress, I hope you will use the power of this Committee in a manner that meets the bill’s underlying goals of presidential transparency and accountability. This is not merely a matter of consistency—it is a fundamental test of our Committee’s integrity and its commitment to the American people,” Connolly wrote in a letter to Comer.  “I agree with you that the requirements in your legislation should be applied to the incoming Trump Administration, President Trump, his family, and his confidants. We must act quickly and in a bipartisan manner to establish ethics rules for the Trump White House that meet our shared standards.” Speaking with The Hill Wednesday, Connolly said the letter was meant to pressure Comer "to be consistent." "Remember they spent the last three years investigating Joe Biden and came up pretty short," he said. "So how about giving us the same resources for the next two years to look at Mr. Trump, so we're balancing things. And we'll see if we do better than they did in coming up with something." But if using his bill to jump start review into Trump's own ethical issues was meant to needle Comer, it didn’t appear to. He called his new ranker “a good man” and “a breath of fresh air.”  “When [Rep. Jamie] Raskin (D-Md.) walked in the room, my blood pressure will go up 30 points,” Comer said, referring to his former ranking member. “Connolly, though we disagree on a lot, my blood pressure is stable when he walks in the room. You know what I mean? He's a I think he's a good person, and I think he's sincere.” Still, he defended Trump’s own business dealings, saying they would not be the gold mine congressional Democrats may expect. “I think that Trump is transparent with his businesses. He talks about them all the time. He campaigned about them,” Comer told The Hill. “I don't think Trump is the problem that you all think he is, because with respect to that bill, he's already disclosing [his interests]. There's no secret hotel in Dubai. If he has a hotel in Dubai, I can guarantee you, he's talked about how it's the nicest hotel in Dubai….His name would be on it. It would have TRUMP, and he would talk about it.” Comer introduced the Presidential Ethics Reform Act last Congress amid his investigation into Biden. It’s largely a transparency bill, requiring disclosure to the committee rather than imposing any penalties. While it was a bipartisan bill — former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) was a top co-sponsor — many of the reforms were inspired by the GOP investigation into the Biden family.  For example, it would require detailing any loans made to family members and documenting when immediate relatives join the president on Air Force One, including whether the travel was for business purposes. Both situations were raised by Republicans after Biden, while serving as vice president, loaned money to his brother and had his son accompany him on trips. But it also required presidents to disclose any foreign income earned either by themselves or their relatives. It would also require those top executives, once elected, to share their tax returns and to disclose any conflicts of interest. Democrats have long pointed out that the Trump family has its own ethical entanglements. Trump himself has rolled out a series of new business ventures beyond his line of hotels, pointing to a new cryptocurrency with World Liberty Financial, whose largest backer is a China-born investor facing a lawsuit from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump has also launched another cryptocurrency token titled “$Trump” which features his likeness. Connelly called the ventures “an easy mechanism for unscrupulous actors and foreign interests to buy the President’s favor.” And through his hotel and property business, Trump signed a deal to develop a multibillion-dollar hotel and golf course on land owned by the Omani government, and the Trump family has also deepened its relationships with LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed golf organization that had already held numerous tournaments at Trump courses. The venture is backed by the same Saudi sovereign wealth fund that invested $2 billion in the private equity firm of Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. “These examples are not isolated incidents—they reflect a pattern of ethical disregard that characterized the first Trump Administration,” Connolly wrote. Comer’s team fired back, pointing to a pardon given to Hunter Biden amid two criminal cases on tax and gun charges as well as a preemptive pardon given to brother James Biden, who is not facing any charges.   “Democrats have reached the height of hypocrisy. Republicans exposed how Joe Biden sold out the American people by allowing his family and their cronies to profit from selling access to his influence, totaling nearly $30 million,” a spokeswoman for the committee said.  “Yet, Democrats have acted solely as defense counsel for the Bidens. Now that President Biden issued unprecedented pardons to the Biden Crime Family in response to our findings, Democrats refuse to condemn these actions. If Democrats truly care about presidential ethics, they must first acknowledge the evidence we uncovered,” the spokeswoman added.  Comer told The Hill he’d be willing to refile his bill, but also didn’t think it would be a top priority for a GOP focused on implementing Trump’s agenda. “Do I want to do it? I do. Is it going to be at the beginning of this Congress? No, we got to do this budget reconciliation bill, we got to do a million things to get through,” he said. His legislation last year struck a nerve with the Biden White House.  The Hill reported that Biden’s team pressured Democratic lawmakers to abandon plans to co-sponsor the bill, with three agreeing to do so. Some lawmakers later said they felt Comer’s effort was too partisan.  Connolly’s letter ends with a plea to Comer to work together on reviewing any ethical transgressions. “Ethical governance is not a partisan goal—it is a shared responsibility. I urge you to demonstrate the Committee’s commitment to ethical governance and to ensure that no administration, no matter how powerful, is above the law,” he wrote. “By working together, the Committee can send a clear message that ethical governance is a bipartisan priority, not a tool for partisan advantage.” Comer did not dismiss the possibility.  “They're always going to hate Trump, you know, they all hate Trump, but I do think we can find common ground on things like improper payments – things like that –  in that committee.” Mike Lillis contributed.