[Photo:  Drew Angerer for The NYTimes]

In an open letter to President-elect Trump, NYTimes columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin suggests a constructive solution for Mr. Trump’s “Conflicts-Of-Interest” Problem – hire a ‘corporate monitor, an independent overseer with unfettered access to his organizations who will provide regular reports to the public about any possible instances of conflicts. And that someone must have an impeccable reputation.

Many well-known companies have done this under regulatory and legal duress, and Trump would do it voluntarily and pay for it himself, offering a jolt of trust to those who fear he might engage in self-dealing.

Mr. Sorkin goes one step further, by offering the name of someone who could be that person: Kenneth R. Feinberg. Feinberg is the lawyer who oversaw the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, worked as the special master for TARP Executive Compensation, and served as a government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster victim compensation fund. He also supervised General Motors and Volkswagen in their recall struggles.

Mr. Feinberg’s reputation is considered beyond reproach. He is known as a straight shooter who cannot be bought or sold.

Admittedly, this is not a perfect solution, but assuming that the person selected for the role of corporate monitor is trusted, it would go a long way toward assuring the public that Mr. Trump’s political and business interests won’t overlap or compromise America’s interests.

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