Restaurant group joins suit against US president Trump

NEW YORK: An organization that advocates for restaurant workers has joined a lawsuit that claims Republican President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution by letting his businesses accept money from foreign governments. Restaurant Opportunities Centers United and a Washington, DC-based luxury hotel event booker were added to the lawsuit filed by the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. Trump called the lawsuit “without merit, totally without merit” when it was filed in Manhattan federal court in January. A spokeswoman for the Department of Justice’s civil division said the government had no comment on Tuesday. The lawsuit claimed that a constitutional clause prohibits Trump from receiving money from foreign governments for hotel stays or office leases. The rewritten lawsuit cites violations it says have resulted since Trump became president, including the leasing of the Trump International Hotel in Washington.