Compatibility of Trump business and presidency queried
THE ATTORNEYS-general of Maryland and the District of Columbia hope a little-known clause in the constitution will force President Donald Trump to separate himself from his businesses and release his tax returns and other financial information, contending in a lawsuit he is corruptible to foreign governments who make payments to his businesses from around the world.
The emoluments clause bars the president and other government employees from accepting foreign gifts and payments without congressional approval. A lawsuit filed in federal court in Maryland on Monday alleges that he is violating the constitution by accepting payments from foreign governments.
“We’re concerned that foreign governments are coming to the Trump businesses with a single purpose of currying special favour from the president of the US so that their interest can get a higher priority than the interest of the American people,” District of Columbia attorney-general Karl Racine said at a news conference announcing the lawsuit. “If that’s not a harm to every American citizen and every resident in the District of Columbia and Maryland, I don’t know what is.”
Trump’s unique status as both president and the financial beneficiary of his global business empire raised questions about the emoluments clause of the constitution, even before he took office. Trump and his attorneys argue the clause does not cover fair-value transactions, such as hotel room payments and real estate sales. Not the first The attorneys-general are not the first to sue Trump over emoluments. Just days after Trump’s inauguration in January, the government watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (Crew) filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York. Since then, a restaurant group and two individuals in the hotel industry have joined as plaintiffs.
The justice department said on Friday that those plaintiffs did not suffer in any way and had no standing to sue, and that it was unconstitutional to sue the president in his official capacity. White House press secretary Sean Spicer noted that response at a White House briefing on Monday.
“This lawsuit today is just another iteration of the case that was filed by that group Crew, filed actually by the same lawyers,” Spicer said. “So it’s not hard to conclude that partisan politics may be one of the motivations behind the suit.”
But the two Democratic attorneys-general say their lawsuit is unique, because they are suing as sovereign entities on behalf of residents of Maryland