Two groups sue Trump over unconstitutional business dealings
Double emoluments whanmmy! In New York:
A team of prominent constitutional scholars, Supreme Court litigators and former White House ethics lawyers intends to file a lawsuit Monday morning alleging that President Trump is violating the Constitution by allowing his hotels and other business operations to accept payments from foreign governments.
The lawsuit is among a barrage of legal actions against the Trump administration that have been initiated or are being planned by major liberal advocacy organizations. Such suits are among the few outlets they have to challenge the administration now that Republicans are in control of the government.
In the new case, the lawyers argue that a provision in the Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause bans payments from foreign powers like the ones to Mr. Trump’s companies. They cite fears among the framers of the Constitution that United States officials could be corrupted by gifts or payments.
The suit, which will not seek any monetary damages, will ask a federal court in New York to order Mr. Trump to stop taking payments from foreign government entities. Such payments, it says, include those from patrons at Trump hotels and golf courses; loans for his office buildings from certain banks controlled by foreign governments; and leases with tenants like the Abu Dhabi tourism office, a government enterprise.
“The framers of the Constitution were students of history,” said Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers behind the suit. “And they understood that one way a republic could fail is if foreign powers could corrupt our elected leaders.” …
The legal team filing the lawsuit includes Laurence H. Tribe, a Harvard constitutional scholar; Norman L. Eisen, an Obama administration ethics lawyer; and Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine. Among the others are Richard W. Painter, an ethics counsel in the administration of George W. Bush; Mr. Gupta, a Supreme Court litigator who has three cases pending before the court; and Zephyr Teachout, a Fordham University law professor and former congressional candidate who has been studying and writing about the Emoluments Clause for nearly a decade.
Ms. Teachout said the one place of potential concern was a nation like China, which rents space at Trump Tower in New York and is a major lender to an office building in New York that Mr. Trump controls in part.
Foreign governments, Ms. Teachout and other ethics experts warn, could rent out rooms in Trump hotels as a way to send a message to the Trump family. “If you think other countries are not going to try to leverage relationships with Trump’s companies to influence trade or military policy, that is naïve,” she said.
A Washington-based nonprofit will file a federal lawsuit against President Trump on Monday, the start of his first week in office.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) announced Sunday night it is bringing a suit “to stop President Trump from violating the Constitution by illegally receiving payments from foreign governments.”
At issue is Trump’s refusal to divest from his business or place his assets into a blind trust, which would separate him entirely from his business empire. He has said his adult sons will run his business while he is in office, that they will not conduct any foreign deals and will subject any domestic deals to an ethics review.
“We did not want to get to this point. It was our hope that President Trump would take the necessary steps to avoid violating the Constitution before he took office,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said.“He did not. His constitutional violations are immediate and serious, so we were forced to take legal action.”
The group says that because Trump has not divested from his businesses, he is “now getting cash and favors from foreign governments, through guests and events at his hotels, leases in his buildings, and valuable real estate deals abroad.”
“President Trump has made his slogan ‘America First,’” Bookbinder added. “So you would think he would want to strictly follow the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause, since it was written to ensure our government officials are thinking of Americans first, and not foreign governments.”
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Copyright 2017 Liberaland
By: dave-dr-gonzo
David Hirsch, a.k.a. Dave "Doctor" Gonzo*, is a renegade record producer, video producer, writer, reformed corporate shill, and still-registered lobbyist for non-one-percenter performing artists and musicians. He lives in a heavily fortified compound in one of Manhattan's less trendy neighborhoods.
* Hirsch is the third person to use the pseudonym, a not-so-veiled tribute to journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson, with the permission of his predecessors Gene Gaudette of American Politics Journal (currently webmaster and chief bottlewasher at Liberaland) and Stephen Meese at Smashmouth Politics.
24 responses to Two groups sue Trump over unconstitutional business dealings
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Guy Lauten January 23rd, 2017 at 08:33
The Pussy Grabber has already created jobs… for lawyers and clerks.
This is just the start. Due to their “We’re above the law” attitude, this administration will find itself buried under lawsuits. There are going to be so many temporary injunctions flying around your head will spin. And they’ll be the best injunctions, just you wait and see. And only the very strongest restraining orders. Yes. It will be glorious.
muffler January 23rd, 2017 at 10:37
Look when they need to nationally advertise Jeff Sessions on TV for an appointment to AG at a cost greater than his annual salary you should be aware that this isn’t for the people… its for the oligarch.
Buford2k11 January 23rd, 2017 at 08:57
we should start calling for a new vote for President…trump did not legitimately win this election…I know I am in the minority, yet there is enough fact based evidence, in the public domain, to know that the vote is tainted…I think there may be some very uncomfortable facts that we will be hearing about soon…the GOP is desperately trying to cement this administration into place…they have their wet dream of a president, now they will try to keep him…
mea_mark January 23rd, 2017 at 10:04
I predict we won’t have a fully functional government again until we get a new election for president. The question is, will the congress realize this and act to give us one or will they let the country flounder for their own political gains?
Suzanne McFly January 23rd, 2017 at 10:05
I believe the republicans will take party over country, they have proven that throughout this entire election.
mea_mark January 23rd, 2017 at 10:07
I kinda hope they do just that. After the 2020 election they will probably be a very weak party that is obviously dying because of their thoughtless selfish actions. They will finally fade away into history, hopefully to be replaced by something more reasonable.
Suzanne McFly January 23rd, 2017 at 10:23
I had the nerve to believe that was going to happen in the 2016 election. I will be happy at the destruction in 2020, but it will be 4 years later than it should of been.
mea_mark January 23rd, 2017 at 10:28
IDK, if it happens in 2020, the GOP doesn’t get to make things worse through gerrymandering. If it happened in 2016 and they recovered by 2020, things could be worse for an entire decade and maybe longer. As it stands we might have a real chance for substantial election reform that could help American politics for many decades, maybe hundreds of years. Change is coming, it’s just coming slower than we would like. Patience and resistance will get us to where we want to be eventually.
Suzanne McFly January 23rd, 2017 at 13:22
I completely agree my friend :)
Hirightnow January 23rd, 2017 at 10:44
Do you think we’ll still have elections by then?
mea_mark January 23rd, 2017 at 11:56
One way or another. I hope we aren’t voting with bullets by then though.
Buford2k11 January 23rd, 2017 at 10:12
umm…we are talking about republicans in congress…they will not give up power, now that they have everything they want…trump is chaos, and chaos is how they will govern…this is the gop…they will do whatever it takes to remain in power….they have no loyalty to our Nation….that is what our nation needs to understand…trump is nothing…he is diversion for the their needs…the Putin connection is another major concern…I think some in the gop in congress, are in the Putin Bag as well…Comey proved he is a Putin ally as well…
all we need is some kind of “emergency”…where the excuse to declare martial law will become apparent…stand back, and look at the long range trajectory we have been set upon…the gop has been pushing for this for a long time…we have two years to figure this out, before we won’t be able to…the First Amendment is in serious trouble..
mea_mark January 23rd, 2017 at 10:22
I think the T party will destroy the GOP, as we know it. They won’t be able to blame the dems for their problems any more and they will turn against the GOP with all their fury. I think the T partiers will join the call for new elections. tRump is not going to help them in the least, he is simply to incompetent and doesn’t understand how economics works.
StoneyCurtisll January 23rd, 2017 at 12:15
Key words…. “for their own political gains”
Suzanne McFly January 23rd, 2017 at 10:04
I don’t believe you are in a minority, I believe you are part of a growing majority.
William January 23rd, 2017 at 09:35
Irony meets Karma. Sitting presidents can be sued largely due to the efforts of…..(wait for it). Kelly Ann Conways husband. Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha,Ha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinton_v._Jones
muffler January 23rd, 2017 at 10:35
I am afraid the next 4 years (yeah I know so insert what you want here) will be nothing but irony. When you tear at the fabric of the Republic for a short term gain you open the door to the ruin of that republic.
William January 23rd, 2017 at 10:39
I don’t think he can last that long. Presidents have been impeached for much less than this idiot has for baggage on day one.
muffler January 23rd, 2017 at 11:30
America has forgotten its civics and seemingly the unwritten rules of a functioning republic. We have allowed these to be loop holes instead of self regulating guide rails of good public service. When serving the public good is not longer considered honorable and required for status in the public realm then the Republic starts to work as we have now.
oldfart January 23rd, 2017 at 09:55
Dare I hope, that the media can manage to keep a story like this
in the news cycle for a day…or two ?!?
or perhaps more importantly, dare I hope that the beloved Constitution by ALL…and you know WHO you are, still means something ?
StoneyCurtisll January 23rd, 2017 at 12:10
Most likely they will report on his latest twitter storm..(distraction)
oldfart January 23rd, 2017 at 12:38
…yep…sigh.
StoneyCurtisll January 23rd, 2017 at 12:09
Check this out…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSDC7CCyeGY
amersham1046 January 23rd, 2017 at 21:14
oh Trump will start getting nasty