Posted on 01/22/2017 5:09:31 PM PST by usafa92
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.”
But Trump lawyer Sheri Dillon recently said that under the business plan, Trump will not be in violation of the Constitution’s “Emoluments Clause."
“Paying for a hotel room is not a gift or a present, and has nothing to do with an office,” she said. “It is not an emolument. The Constitution does not require President-elect Trump to do anything here.”
But CREW charges that because Trump does business with such countries as China, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, “now that he is President, his company’s acceptance of any benefits from the governments of those countries violates the Constitution.”
It also warns that, “When Trump the president sits down to negotiate trade deals with these countries, the American people will have no way of knowing whether he will also be thinking about the profits of Trump the businessman.”
The group said the suit will be filed in the Southern District of New York at 9 a.m. on Monday.
Soros group?
The Clinton Foundation is no problem though
Strange, I don’t remember anyone objecting to news reports that Chelsea would run the charity if Hillary won the election.
Gnats
These vermin cannot be harmed by Trumps business, and therefore have no standing. Frivolous lawsuit, fake news.
Next?
CREW is another George Soros operation. More of the same-o same-o.
CREW is another George Soros operation. More of the same-o same-o.
paying a business for legitimate goods and services are not emoluments by foreigners.
bwahahahahaha. So you are suing him for putting foreign profits into the US Treasury? Money well spent...
What utter BS. Read the relevant laws, jerkwads.
This will be thrown out in short order.
Bonus: Some leftscum will waste a bunch on money here. That makes me happy!
I believe Trump has enough attorneys to advise him..
Liberals are scared of him and that is the good news..
Media will cover liberal news like it is really the TRUTH~~~ GIVE ME A BREAK?
They are going to lose and lose hard
In their alternate universe George Washington gave up his tobacco plantation so he could be President.
All the Founders had large foreign mercantile interests (come to think of it) yet still served the nation.
That said, LINK.
It’s the Palin strategy writ large. File lawsuit after lawsuit, ethics charge after charge, slur with innuendo and half-truths in the hope that they’ll wilt. I believe The Donald is made of sterner stuff than Sarah was.
He is paying the Federal Government for the privilege to serve as POTUS.
Sorry, meant didn’t look it up right away...
Its meritless.
Trump is no longer running his company.
And the Constitution doesn’t prohibit public officials from making a profit.
Only to the Left is making money considered controversial.
I thought a sitting president couldn’t be sued.
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