Democratic U.S. lawmakers sue Trump over foreign state payments to businesses

[webfact]

Democratic U.S. lawmakers sue Trump over foreign state payments to businesses

By Julia Harte

 

U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event welcoming the Clemson Tigers, the 2016 NCAA Football National Champions, at the White House in Washington, U.S. June 12, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 190 Democratic lawmakers sued President Donald Trump in federal court on Wednesday, saying he had accepted funds from foreign governments through his businesses without congressional consent in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

 

The complaint said Trump had not sought congressional approval for any of the payments his hundreds of businesses had received from foreign governments since he took office in January, even though the Constitution requires him to do so.

 

The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment but has said Trump's business interests do not violate the Constitution. The Trump Organization has said it will donate profits from customers representing foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury but will not require such customers to identify themselves.

 

At least 30 U.S. senators and 166 representatives are plaintiffs in Wednesday's lawsuit, representing the largest number of legislators ever to sue a U.S. president, according to two lawmakers who are among the plaintiffs.

 

The Constitution's "foreign emoluments" clause bars U.S. officeholders from accepting payments and various other gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval.

 

"The president’s failure to tell us about these emoluments, to disclose the payments and benefits that he is receiving, mean that we cannot do our job. We cannot consent to what we don’t know," said Senator Richard Blumenthal, one of the lawmakers bringing the lawsuit, in a conference call on Tuesday.

 

Representative John Conyers, another plaintiff, added: “President Trump has conflicts of interest in at least 25 countries, and it appears he’s using his presidency to maximize his profits."

 

The Justice Department declined to comment.

 

Similar lawsuits have been filed in recent months by parties including a nonprofit ethics group, a restaurant trade group, and the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia.

 

They allege that Trump's acceptance of payments from foreign and U.S. governments through his hospitality empire puts other hotel and restaurant owners at an unfair disadvantage and provides governments an incentive to give Trump-owned businesses special treatment.

 

RARE TO SUE PRESIDENT

 

In a motion to dismiss one such lawsuit on Friday, the Justice Department argued that the plaintiffs had not shown any specific harm to their businesses, and that Trump was only banned from receiving foreign government gifts if they arose from his service as president.

 

On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said "partisan politics" was behind the lawsuit by the Maryland and District of Columbia officials.

 

Lawmakers rarely sue the president, so there are few federal court decisions the legislators can cite to prove their legal standing to bring Wednesday's case, said Leah Litman, an assistant professor specializing in constitutional law at the University of California, Irvine.

 

"But the constitutional provision they're suing to enforce gives them a role in how it's carried out, and that gives them a powerful standing argument," Litman said.

 

The lawmakers in Wednesday's lawsuit will be represented in court by the Constitutional Accountability Center, a public interest law firm in Washington. Each lawmaker is paying a share of the legal fees from personal or campaign accounts.

 

(Reporting by Julia Harte; Editing by Jason Szep and Peter Cooney)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-06-14

[jerojero]

But, but, but....he's just learning how to be President. Who knew (about this emoluments requirement), who knew? Duh, Mr. President, duh!

[billd766]

1 hour ago, jerojero said:

But, but, but....he's just learning how to be President. Who knew (about this emoluments requirement), who knew? Duh, Mr. President, duh!

 

But ignorance of the law is no excuse especially as he can afford high priced lawyers to point things like this out to him. AFAIR it is called due dilligence.

 

He seems to me to be trying to run the USA as his own personal company, which it isn't and to avoid all the duties and responsibilities of being POTUS.

[stevenl]

I think in the end it will show that Trump businesses are doing this profiting from his presidency, not Trump, so nothing will happen to the president. Amoral, sure, illegal, probably not.

[Jingthing]

His line will be what he's doing isn't technically illegal because he's the president. Should be interesting. 

[Rob13]

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

I think in the end it will show that Trump businesses are doing this profiting from his presidency, not Trump, so nothing will happen to the president. Amoral, sure, illegal, probably not.

 

They'd have to see his tax forms to do that though. Some good could come from it.

[heybruce]

39 minutes ago, stevenl said:

I think in the end it will show that Trump businesses are doing this profiting from his presidency, not Trump, so nothing will happen to the president. Amoral, sure, illegal, probably not.

If Trump had sold off all his businesses (not to family) the argument might have some merit.  However as things now stand what profits Trump businesses profits Trump, and he is using the presidency to steer lots of business to his businesses.

 

Trump doubled the entrance fee to Mar-a-Lago after the election, then made the place the "Winter White House" and held official functions there, charging all who attended of course.  There are many other examples, but this is the most blatant. I'm surprised it took this long for anyone to take legal action.

[Jingthing]

It's very doubtful that this one lawsuit will lead to pushing out the dangerous clown president, but the more "pin pricks" against him the better, from the perspective of something (or a COMBINATION of things) sticking enough to make a difference.

 

No disrespect intended to the bull here. A dignified animal. trump is not that.

 

 

 

Edited June 14, 2017 by Jingthing

[Berkshire]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

I think in the end it will show that Trump businesses are doing this profiting from his presidency, not Trump, so nothing will happen to the president. Amoral, sure, illegal, probably not.

Huh?  "Trump businesses" is Trump.  That's the whole crux of this.  If Trump had divested from his business, none of this would be an issue.  But he refused.

 

[Representative John Conyers, another plaintiff, added: “President Trump has conflicts of interest in at least 25 countries, and it appears he’s using his presidency to maximize his profits."]

 

[Berkshire]

I'm surprised this news is not getting a lot of play in the media.  It would seem like pretty big news to me.  Maybe still early....

[tomwct]

You cannot SUE a sitting president! It will be thrown out! What a bunch of losers in Washington! Drain the Swamp! Make America Great Again!

Edited June 14, 2017 by tomwct

[stevenl]

7 minutes ago, tomwct said:

You cannot SUE a sitting president! <snip>

And you base that on what?

[ilostmypassword]

8 minutes ago, tomwct said:

You cannot SUE a sitting president! It will be thrown out! What a bunch of losers in Washington! Drain the Swamp! Make America Great Again!

You talk about draining the swamp in reference to a President who refuses to put his business interests in a blind trust. Just because what he is doing could turn out to be legal doesn't mean it isn't sleazy.

And yes, you can sue the President on constitutional grounds. 

[TGIR]

Too bad all these Democrats don't spend as much energy Doing Their Jobs as they do trying to get rid of Trump.

 

Watched them make fools out of themselves for three hours early this morning having a go at Attorney General Sessions wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars.  They can't find any collusion no matter how long they keep chasing their tails. What a huge waste of time and money all in the name of partisan politics.

 

Now here's another idea they can run into the ground with no result...........This was all gone over after the election.  Why  bring it up again????   

 

 

 

 

[Traveler19491]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

You cannot SUE a sitting president! It will be thrown out! What a bunch of losers in Washington! Drain the Swamp! Make America Great Again!

WRONG. Your position applies only to civil suits, and even then the applicability is limited. You may recall that Paula Jones sued Bill Clinton while he was President. SCOTUS ruled that the lawsuit could proceed because it did not concern his actions as President. It is likely that this suit will not come under that protection either, as it pertains to a Constitutional matter and not to his official duties. Nice try, though.

[Traveler19491]

39 minutes ago, TGIR said:

 

Watched them make fools out of themselves for three hours early this morning having a go at Attorney General Sessions wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars.

 

 

"...wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars..."

Get back to me on that one after the Dems have shut the government down twice, held 8 bogus investigations, and 60+ showboat votes to enact legislation repealing Obamacare that they knew had no possibility of ever becoming law.

"...wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars..." BHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  

Edited June 14, 2017 by Traveler19491

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, tomwct said:

You cannot SUE a sitting president! It will be thrown out! What a bunch of losers in Washington! Drain the Swamp! Make America Great Again!

Do you realize that this lawsuit is based on Trump being the biggest, greediest swamp rat of all?

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, TGIR said:

Too bad all these Democrats don't spend as much energy Doing Their Jobs as they do trying to get rid of Trump.

 

Watched them make fools out of themselves for three hours early this morning having a go at Attorney General Sessions wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars.  They can't find any collusion no matter how long they keep chasing their tails. What a huge waste of time and money all in the name of partisan politics.

 

Now here's another idea they can run into the ground with no result...........This was all gone over after the election.  Why  bring it up again????  

No, this was not gone over before the election.  Before the election and inauguration Trump was a private citizen allowed to run a legal business for profit.  As soon as he became President and started using the office for profit his actions became illegal.

 

It's interesting that Trumpies assume their man can do now wrong, no matter how obviously wrong he is.

[Rob13]

2 hours ago, tomwct said:

You cannot SUE a sitting president! It will be thrown out! 

 

TV's passing out constitutional law degrees now? What precedent are you citing for this case being thrown out?

[ilostmypassword]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

No, this was not gone over before the election.  Before the election and inauguration Trump was a private citizen allowed to run a legal business for profit.  As soon as he became President and started using the office for profit his actions became illegal.

 

It's interesting that Trumpies assume their man can do now wrong, no matter how obviously wrong he is.

Unfortunately it may not be that his actions are illegal. One of the people who wrote the law which forbade other governmental officials from engaging in this kind of behavior said the President wasn't included because no one thohgt that a future President of the United States could be so venial.

[Trouble]

Nothing but partisan politics. The Dems just can't let go of the fact Trump won the election. Whatever ones opinion of Trump, actions like this only make the Dems into sore losers. For all the accusations about things like this, the Russians, collusion, etc., to date nothing has come close to exposing any wrongdoing.  I'm sure most of the American people want this all just to end so the government can get on with things that really matter in their lives. 

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, Trouble said:

Nothing but partisan politics. The Dems just can't let go of the fact Trump won the election. Whatever ones opinion of Trump, actions like this only make the Dems into sore losers. For all the accusations about things like this, the Russians, collusion, etc., to date nothing has come close to exposing any wrongdoing.  I'm sure most of the American people want this all just to end so the government can get on with things that really matter in their lives. 

Yeah, I'm sure Democrats will pursue this no longer than Republicans, led by Trump, pursued the totally groundless BS about Obama's birth certificate.

 

Of course evidence of Trump using the presidency for personal enrichment is abundant.  Evidence about the birth certificate nonsense is non-existent.  Maybe this Trump thing will run longer, until the truth is found.

[selftaopath]

14 hours ago, heybruce said:

If Trump had sold off all his businesses (not to family) the argument might have some merit.  However as things now stand what profits Trump businesses profits Trump, and he is using the presidency to steer lots of business to his businesses.

 

Trump doubled the entrance fee to Mar-a-Lago after the election, then made the place the "Winter White House" and held official functions there, charging all who attended of course.  There are many other examples, but this is the most blatant. I'm surprised it took this long for anyone to take legal action.

True. If we waited for the "righteous" RussiaReps aka republicans to act we'd have a long/indefinite wait. Who can't see how hypocritical they all are? They bitched/moaned/investigate practically everything Obama/Clinton but to fellow "reds" they just look the other way. I guess ethics/morality are only for Sundays.

[Berkshire]

10 hours ago, Trouble said:

Nothing but partisan politics. The Dems just can't let go of the fact Trump won the election. Whatever ones opinion of Trump, actions like this only make the Dems into sore losers. For all the accusations about things like this, the Russians, collusion, etc., to date nothing has come close to exposing any wrongdoing.  I'm sure most of the American people want this all just to end so the government can get on with things that really matter in their lives. 

You can't open your eyes for even a second to see what's going on?  How about this one....

 

[The Chinese government has granted preliminary approval for nine Donald Trump trademarks it had previously rejected, in whole or in part, The Associated Press found, a turn that is likely to fuel further allegations that Beijing may be giving the president's family business special treatment.]

[Trump's decision to retain ownership of his global branding empire has sparked criticism over perceived conflicts of interest and three lawsuits, including one filed Wednesday by nearly 200 Democrats in Congress, which allege violations of a constitutional prohibition against accepting gifts from foreign governments. Trademarks lie at the heart of these complaints because they are granted by foreign states and can be enormously valuable — whether they are intended as groundwork for future business activity or defensive measures to protect a brand from squatters.]

 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/china-overturns-rejections-trump-trademarks-48032027

 

[selftaopath]

20 hours ago, Traveler19491 said:

"...wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars..."

Get back to me on that one after the Dems have shut the government down twice, held 8 bogus investigations, and 60+ showboat votes to enact legislation repealing Obamacare that they knew had no possibility of ever becoming law.

"...wasting more and more of our taxpayer dollars..." BHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!  

Speaking of taxpayers money being spent but 45 and his family, how a/b his weekend golf outings. Or when his daughter went skying or when his sons go abroad for their own business ventures. Why must Americans pay for these people's extravagance? I'm sure 45 knows we are "easy marks."

[Berkshire]

10 minutes ago, selftaopath said:

Speaking of taxpayers money being spent but 45 and his family, how a/b his weekend golf outings. Or when his daughter went skying or when his sons go abroad for their own business ventures. Why must Americans pay for these people's extravagance? I'm sure 45 knows we are "easy marks."

Agree.  And with all of these legal troubles that Trump is in, he's had to hire a team of lawyers.  High priced lawyers.  Taxpayers paying for that too? 

[stevenl]

41 minutes ago, Berkshire said:

Agree.  And with all of these legal troubles that Trump is in, he's had to hire a team of lawyers.  High priced lawyers.  Taxpayers paying for that too? 

I am curious too who is footing the bill for that.

[selftaopath]

21 hours ago, heybruce said:

No, this was not gone over before the election.  Before the election and inauguration Trump was a private citizen allowed to run a legal business for profit.  As soon as he became President and started using the office for profit his actions became illegal.

 

It's interesting that Trumpies assume their man can do now wrong, no matter how obviously wrong he is.

45 defenders don't seem to have a firm grasp on facts or any idea of what the constitution states. Do they read or watch credible news? Geeze talk a/b mushrooms.

[Redline]

On 6/14/2017 at 2:02 PM, stevenl said:

I think in the end it will show that Trump businesses are doing this profiting from his presidency, not Trump, so nothing will happen to the president. Amoral, sure, illegal, probably not.

As long as he is connected to the businesses, he is profiting.  The real reason is to get at his tax records and business records anyway.  Considering all of these investigations deepening, it will happen eventually.  What will come of it, who knows?  It's better for him if it's all in the open anyway (assuming there is nothing to hide).

[Redline]

18 hours ago, Trouble said:

Nothing but partisan politics. The Dems just can't let go of the fact Trump won the election. Whatever ones opinion of Trump, actions like this only make the Dems into sore losers. For all the accusations about things like this, the Russians, collusion, etc., to date nothing has come close to exposing any wrongdoing.  I'm sure most of the American people want this all just to end so the government can get on with things that really matter in their lives. 

The investigations just began.  They will take 1-3 years to complete.  Don't expect this to end anytime soon.  Besides, DT has no grasp of what's going on.