Brendan McDermid
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn has stepped down from his role as special adviser to President Trump amid concerns over possible conflicts of interest. In a letter to Trump published by Icahn on Friday, the investor defended himself against accusations from several Democratic lawmakers who say he pushed a change to U.S. biofuel policy for his “own personal gain.” Despite those claims, he said, “I never had access to nonpublic information or profited from my position, nor do I believe that my role presented conflicts of interest.” Icahn went on to tell Trump he decided to end his role as adviser “because I did not want partisan bickering about my role to in any way cloud your administration.” Hours after Icahn announced his decision, The New Yorker published a report saying Icahn may be in “legal jeopardy” for pressuring the Environmental Protection Agency to change a federal regulation affecting the oil refiner CVR Energy Inc., in which he holds a 82-percent stake.