Judge: Democrats in Congress can sue Trump over emoluments

Clause bans acceptance of gifts

WASHINGTON — A federal district judge in Washington ruled Friday that a group of nearly 200 Democratic senators and representatives have legal standing to sue President Donald Trump to prove he violated the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments provision banning the acceptance of gifts from foreign and domestic interests.

The U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan found that lawmakers have adequately shown that they’ve suffered harm from the president’s alleged violation of the emoluments clause, which prohibit government officials from accepting benefits from foreign governments unless a majority of both houses of Congress consent.

The ruling was the second time a federal court judge has decided to advance such unprecedented constitutional lawsuits against the president. A federal judge in Maryland ruled in July that a similar lawsuit against Trump filed by the attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia could proceed, but only as pertained to earnings from Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel.

Sullivan’s decision Friday only pertained to the issue of legal standing and did not look at the merits portion of the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss. That comes next.

Justice Department spokeswoman Kelly Laco said in a statement that the government believes this case should be dismissed and “will continue to defend the President in court.”

The lawyers representing 198 congressional Democrats were led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat who, along with his colleagues, have argued that Trump isn’t letting them do their jobs. He praised Sullivan’s ruling.

“This is a bombshell victory enabling us to move forward to hold the president accountable for violating the chief corruption prohibition in the United States’ Constitution,” Blumenthal told the AP.