Before I answer that, let me just say one last thing on the appearance issue.
I am less concerned about a vague law or a provision in the law that simply prohibits the appearance of a conflict of interest, as long as it's well understood that we've moved very far from accusing the official of any kind of corruption. It's something they shouldn't do, but it should be like a Claudette Bradshaw situation: “Sorry, I can see that I may have done something that appears to be a conflict of interest, and I've taken action to correct that.” It's not actually a conflict of interest, and the other side says, “Thank you. That's well done.”
That's basically how it should work, if it can, in politics. I don't know if it can.