Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts Pulls Out Of Trump's Commerce Post Nomination

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Chicago Cubs co-owner Todd Ricketts has withdrawn his name Wednesday from consideration as a nominee for deputy secretary of the US Department of Commerce, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Ricketts, 47, was tapped for the post by President Donald Trump late last year, but the brother of Cubs chairman and fellow owner Tom Ricketts couldn't resolve the complicated and sticky ethics quagmire caused by his financial investments, the report added.

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Since he was tapped by Trump on Nov. 30, Ricketts has been working out what parts of his vast personal portfolio he was willing to divest in order to be given the OK by the Office of Government Ethics so he could be considered for the role in the Commerce Department, the report stated. Even though Ricketts had submitted a financial disclosure statement, the Senate Commerce Committee wouldn't hold a nomination hearing until the ethics office signed off, according to the report. The potential conflicts of interest Rickett's expansive financial profile could cause while working in the Commerce Department combined with family holdings, such as the Cubs, providing a significant part of his holdings proved to be too much of an obstacle for his nomination to go forward, the report added.

RELATED: Donald Trump Considers Cubs Co-Owner Todd Ricketts For Commerce Department Post

"I am deeply honored that President Trump nominated me to serve as Deputy Secretary of Commerce,” Ricketts wrote in an email to the Sun-Times. "I offer my continued support for President Trump and his administration, and the important work they are doing to promote economic opportunity."

In the email, Rickets alluded to possibly finding "other opportunities to contribute to his administration in the future," but whether that simply means stumping for the administration and its policies or if that include a more formal role within the administration is unclear. According to the Sun-Times, Ricketts and his finances might avoid the type of ethical minefield he encountered trying to work in the Commerce Department if he were nominated for a different White House post.

RELATED: Ricketts Spent Millions Bashing Trump, Now Wants to Pay Donald a Million to Beat Hillary

The Ricketts family have had a colorful relationship with Trump while he made his run for the presidency. Todd Ricketts originally had financially backed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker during the Republican presidential primaries, but he later aligned himself with Trump, donating money to groups that supported the then-candidate.

In early 2016, Trump lashed out against the family after Joe and Marlene Ricketts, Todd and Tom's parents, donated $5 million to a conservative Super PAC that took out ads denouncing the president-elect's candidacy.

RELATED: Donald Trump Threatens to Blast Chicago Cubs Owners in TV Ads

But the billionaires buried the hatchet by the time September rolled around. Through a political strategist, Joe Ricketts threw his clan's support behind Trump, saying the family "could not sit back and watch Hillary Clinton become the next president of the United States."

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Todd Ricketts meets with President Donald Trump — then president-elect — on Nov. 19 at Trump International Golf Club in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. (photo by Drew Angerer | Getty Images)

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