Free Republic

A federal appeals court dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of payments to President Donald Trump’s hotels by foreigners during his tenure in the White House. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit ruled that Maryland and the District of Columbia do not have legal standing to claim that Trump violated the so-called emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution. Trump still faces a similar lawsuit in Washington federal court filed by Democratic members of Congress. A federal appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the legality of payments to President Donald Trump’s...

Lawyers for the Justice Department are arguing that President Trump isn’t violating a Constitutional provision that bars federal officials from accepting payments from foreign governments because the clause doesn’t apply to certain transactions. In a new brief asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit brought against Trump by ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), DOJ lawyers contend that the foreign emoluments clause doesn’t apply to “fair-market commercial transactions” like payments for hotel rooms and golf club fees, according to Bloomberg. Trump administration lawyers also argue that CREW and other plaintiffs lack legal standing to bring...