US Prez faces new lawsuit on business

Washington, June 12: Officials in Maryland and the US capital Washington will sue President Donald Trump for accepting payments and benefits from foreign governments through his business empire, news reports have said.

The suit to be unveiled on Monday centers on the so-called emoluments clause, which bans US officials from taking gifts or other benefits from foreign governments.

An NGO that focusses on ethics issues filed a similar suit in January.

But, this is the first one presented by government entities.

The announced lawsuit adds to Mr Trump’s woes as he grapples with Congressional and a special prosecutor’s probes into his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia, which US intelligence agencies say meddled aggressively in the 2016 election to help Mr Trump win.

Since taking power in January, Mr Trump has turned day to day control over his real estate empire and other assets to his adult sons, but not sold them off as many in America said he should to avoid conflicts of interest.

The lawsuit will be filed on Monday by the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington in the US District Court for the District of Maryland, the Washington Post reported.

Maryland AttorneyGeneral Brian Frosh said the case is about Mr Trump’s failure to separate his personal interests from his presidential duties.

Mr Frosh told the Post that the emoluments clause mandates “the President put the country first and not his own personal interest first.”

A key case in the dispute is a hotel that Mr Trump opened in 2016 by leasing a large, stately building that used to be a central post office, just down the road from the White House.

Aside from the issue of the foreign payments ban, Maryland and Washington complain that the presence of a Trump hotel hurts competing hotels in their jurisdictions.