President has breached the Emoluments Clause, it said.
AB Wire
A liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed a lawsuit against President Trump in federal court on Monday, alleging that he is in violation of a little-known constitutional provision that bars him from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments, reported The Washington Post.
The group said that because Trump-owned buildings take in rent, room rentals and other payments from foreign governments, the president has breached the Emoluments Clause. That clause in the Constitution says that “no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.” It was written out of fear that the young republic’s leaders or ambassadors could be bought off by a richer European power.
The meaning of those words has never truly been tested in court. The watchdog group says the text should be interpreted to mean that Trump’s businesses should cease all business dealings with foreign states, the Washington Post reported.
The clause, the legal complaint says, “is no relic of a bygone era, but rather an expression of insight into the nature of the human condition and the preconditions of self-governance. And applied to Donald J. Trump’s diverse dealings, the text and purpose of the Foreign Emoluments Clause speak as one: this cannot be allowed.”
On Monday morning, Trump rejected the argument behind the lawsuit during a press appearance at the White House. “Without merit,” he said. “Totally without merit”
The group’s proposed lawsuit was first reported Sunday afternoon by the New York Times.
If the lawsuit were to succeed, it could put a major dent in the business of the Trump Organization — whose businesses lease office space to state-owned companies, and whose Pennsylvania Avenue NW hotel rents its ballrooms for foreign embassy parties. The mere process of the suit could prove embarrassing for the president if it drags out details of those business dealings from the Trump Organization’s private files. Norm Eisen, a lawyer working on the case, told the New York Times that he hoped the suit could also produce a copy of Trump’s tax returns, which could detail the business he does with — and the money he owes to — foreign states such as China and Russia.