Wilbur Ross offshores his ethics

“Appearance,” Plato observed, “tyrannizes over truth.” President Donald Trump’s administration should keep that in mind when attending to its latest conflict-of-interest scandal.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross reportedly did not disclose business ties with people close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Mr. Ross is an investor in Navigator Holdings, which does business with a company owned by Mr. Putin’s son-inlaw and another Russian subject to U.S. sanctions.

Mr. Ross hasn’t been accused of a crime. He has complicated finances. And he could be forgiven for not knowing every detail of every deal done by companies he invests in. But this is all the more reason he should have divested himself from such holdings when he was first confirmed: to remove the appearance of a conflict.

This is not Mr. Ross’ only apparent conflict. He has negotiated a trade deal with China while retaining investments in shipping and natural-gas companies that could directly benefit from it. He owns stakes in an oiltanker firm even though his department regulates oil spills. His shipping and realestate holdings — worth up to $41.5 million — create innumerable avenues for impropriety. From the start, he has taken every available opportunity to delay disclosures or divestments.

Such behavior ordinarily would constitute a scandal. In this administration, where “not technically illegal” is the reigning ethical standard, it’s more or less routine. And it starts at the top, of course. The man in the Oval Office has comprehensively failed to extricate himself from his family businesses, release his tax returns or divulge key details about his finances.

Entering public service means adhering to norms and principles intended to demonstrate propriety, above and beyond what the letter of the law states. Wilbur Ross probably didn’t commit a crime — but surely the commerce secretary can aim for a higher standard than that.