President Donald Trump will soon face a lawsuit for violating the Constitution.
Prominent constitutional scholars, Supreme Court litigators, and former White House ethics lawyers will file a lawsuit this morning that Trump’s businesses are in federal violation. Currently, his hotels and other businesses are accepting payments from foreign governments, which lawyers argue infringes the Emoluments Clause.
The clause, under Article VI, states, “No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, 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.” In other words, the clause forbids payments from foreign powers.
Lawyers are filing the claim hoping a federal court will order Trump to cease payments from foreign governments. These payments include those from customers at Trump hotels and golf course, loans from foreign banks, and leases with foreign government enterprises. They are not asking for any monetary damages.
Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers, said the framers of the Constitution were students of history.
“They understood that one way a republic could fail is if foreign powers could corrupt our elected leaders,” he said.
While the lawyers investigating this case say Trump is clearly in violation, Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said the company is at no fault. He claims that the company took more than the necessary steps to avoid legal implications.
“This is purely harassment for political gain,” he said. “Frankly, I find it very, very sad.”
Trump’s lawyers say the clause is only mean for officials who accept a special gift from a federal power. They believe it does not apply to fair-market payments, like hotel room bills.
However, Zephyr Teachout, one of the lawyers filing the suit, said this can still cause major concern. She explained that foreign governments can rent our rooms in Trump’s hotels to influence international relations.
“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.
The lawyers are also allegedly using the lawsuit to see a copy of Trump’s tax returns. If received, the court will use them to assess his foreign monetary relations.
