Lawsuit accuses Trump of violating the Constitution with foreign payments to his businesses
A public interest group sued President Trump in federal court Monday, alleging he is violating the Constitution by receiving payments from foreign governments to his businesses.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed the suit in the Southern District of New York, seeking a ruling that Trump is in violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause .
That provision prohibits U.S. officeholders from accepting “any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state” without the consent of Congress.
The word “emolument” was used in the 18th century to refer to compensation or profit that went with holding an office. But the precise meaning of the ban remains in question because it has not been interpreted by the courts.
Public interest advocates have said that Trump’s vast business enterprises receive payments from foreign governments, which violate the Constitution because he has not divested his ownership of his company.
Specifically, the suit says Trump is in violation of the emoluments clause because of leases held by foreign government-owned entities in Trump Tower, room reservations and the use of other services by foreign officials and diplomats staying at Trump International Hotel in Washington, as well as hotel stays, property leases and other business transactions tied to foreign governments at other U.S. and foreign properties that Trump owns or has licensed his name to, and payments from foreign government-owned broadcasters related to rebroadcasts and foreign versions of “The Apprentice.”
“The Constitution is explicit that the president cannot profit from a foreign government without congressional approval, and there is no doubt that President Trump has been violating the Constitution since he took the oath of office,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the law school at UC Irvine and an expert on constitutional law.
“This lawsuit simply asks the federal court to enforce the Constitution and reaffirm that no person, not even the president, is above the law.” he said.
Chemerinsky is part of what Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called “a legal dream team” of constitutional scholars that filed the suit.
But it’s not clear whether the group has standing to sue. Litigants must have some sort of personal injury from the matter to have standing.
Legal experts have said that a business owner who suffers losses because of favorable treatment for Trump’s businesses could have a claim. No business owners were parties to Monday’s suit.
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