The AGs of both Maryland and Washington DC are suing Trump for violating the emoluments clause by accepting millions in payments and gifts from foreign governments:
“This morning the President is facing new legal trouble, this time not related to Russia."-@PeterAlexander https://t.co/sgYeyIbIx8
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) June 12, 2017
REUTERS – The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia plan to file a lawsuit on Monday alleging that foreign payments to President Donald Trump’s businesses violate the U.S. constitution, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Trump already faces a similar lawsuit that was brought in January by plaintiffs including a ethics non-profit group.
However, the case from two Democratic attorneys general could stand a better chance in court as the first government action over allegations that Trump, a Republican, violated the constitution’s so-called emoluments clause.
A spokesman for Maryland’s attorney general declined to comment on the latest emoluments case. DC attorney general Karl Racine and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Justice could not immediately be reached.
AG Racine told Reuters in a March interview that the District of Columbia has suffered particular harm because it subsidized the construction of hotels that are now impacted by foreign payments to Trump properties.
That puts the district in a “unique position” to file legal claims over the emoluments clause, Racine said.
I’m not sure what the basis of these claims are as they haven’t been announced yet. But we saw earlier this year that others were charging that a foreign government simply staying in a Trump hotel or leasing office space amounted to Trump breaking the emoluments clause. In that case we pointed out that Mark Halperin felt that the courts would simply show deference to Trump on these issues and not rule that he had violated the Constitution.
I expect these charges to be the same, but we’ll find out later today.