Appeals Court Delays Emoluments Lawsuit against Trump

Legal Insurrection ^ | 12/21/2018 | Jared Samilow

[Rusty0604]

Last night, the Fourth Circuit stayed Maryland and Washington, D.C.’s Emoluments Clause lawsuit against President Trump in its entirety, while scheduling oral argument in the case to begin on March 19, 2019.

This means that the litigation will be completely paused until the court reaches a decision on the President’s petition, which won’t be for at least three months.

The delay is actually a big deal. It means that imminent, intrusive discovery into the President’s finances will be stalled for months, and perhaps never allowed to proceed.

Dozens of outstanding subpoenas authorized by the trial judge—several of which were served on the Trump International Hotel and Trump Organization just two weeks ago—are now frozen. Importantly, the stay has also spared the Solicitor General from having to spend his precious (and perhaps diminishing) capital seeking yet another emergency intervention from the Supreme Court.

Yet aside from its political implications, the case presents novel questions about areas of the Constitution the Supreme Court has never really had a reason to explore.

A brief parting thought: There is another Emoluments Clause case, filed by Democratic members of Congress, pending in Washington, D.C. The Democrats will take over the House in two weeks. I wonder if they could explicitly vote to deny Trump their consent to accept any foreign emoluments, and if they did, whether that would affect their lawsuit.

[j.havenfarm]

Now that the emoluments is delayed, can we move on to emollients? With this cold dry weather my lips are chapped

[SteveH]

ya like separation of powers maybe

[TheConservator]

Their order clearly presages a dismissal of at least most of this lawsuit.

[Rusty0604]

:-)

[jimfree]

This is sillier than Logan Act investigations.

[Rusty0604]

Recently won a case demanding tax returns too. What a waste of time and money.