BBC Online :
Officials in Maryland and Washington DC are expected to sue Donald Trump for accepting payments from foreign governments via his business empire.
The lawsuit cites the US constitution’s emoluments clause, which says no federal official should receive a gift or a fee from a foreign government.
The legal action alleges “unprecedented constitutional violations” by the US president, the Washington Post reports.
It would be the first such lawsuit filed by government entities.
A non-governmental organisation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, lodged a similar legal action in January.
At that time, Mr Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office the case was “totally without merit”. He has not yet commented on the latest move.
The constitutional challenges to Donald Trump’s ongoing business ties as president just got some state-level muscle behind them.
While the lawsuit by the District of Columbia and Maryland isn’t the first attempt to force the president to more fully separate himself from his real-estate empire, the two governments bring a new level of legitimacy and resources.
The first hurdle the states face is whether they have the proper legal grounds to file this case. Given that this is judicial terra incognita, there’s no telling how the courts will react.
There’s never been a businessman-turned-president quite like Mr Trump, so there’s never been a lawsuit quite like this one.
If Marlyand and DC are able to proceed, the case could turn out like many other Trump-related controversies, where the president’s own words – and those of his associates – are used against him. While Mr Trump pledged to extricate himself from his day-to-day business operations, his son Eric has acknowledged he still gives his father regular financial updates. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway also was recently reprimanded for praising daughter Ivanka’s clothing line.
Even in a best-case scenario for the president, this represents the latest in a growing list of legal headaches.
Mr Trump is already contending with inquiries by congressional committees and a special prosecutor into his campaign’s alleged links to Russia, which American intelligence agencies accuse of meddling in last November’s US election in a bid to boost support for the property developer.
Officials in Maryland and Washington DC are expected to sue Donald Trump for accepting payments from foreign governments via his business empire.
The lawsuit cites the US constitution’s emoluments clause, which says no federal official should receive a gift or a fee from a foreign government.
The legal action alleges “unprecedented constitutional violations” by the US president, the Washington Post reports.
It would be the first such lawsuit filed by government entities.
A non-governmental organisation, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, lodged a similar legal action in January.
At that time, Mr Trump told a reporter in the Oval Office the case was “totally without merit”. He has not yet commented on the latest move.
The constitutional challenges to Donald Trump’s ongoing business ties as president just got some state-level muscle behind them.
While the lawsuit by the District of Columbia and Maryland isn’t the first attempt to force the president to more fully separate himself from his real-estate empire, the two governments bring a new level of legitimacy and resources.
The first hurdle the states face is whether they have the proper legal grounds to file this case. Given that this is judicial terra incognita, there’s no telling how the courts will react.
There’s never been a businessman-turned-president quite like Mr Trump, so there’s never been a lawsuit quite like this one.
If Marlyand and DC are able to proceed, the case could turn out like many other Trump-related controversies, where the president’s own words – and those of his associates – are used against him. While Mr Trump pledged to extricate himself from his day-to-day business operations, his son Eric has acknowledged he still gives his father regular financial updates. Senior adviser Kellyanne Conway also was recently reprimanded for praising daughter Ivanka’s clothing line.
Even in a best-case scenario for the president, this represents the latest in a growing list of legal headaches.
Mr Trump is already contending with inquiries by congressional committees and a special prosecutor into his campaign’s alleged links to Russia, which American intelligence agencies accuse of meddling in last November’s US election in a bid to boost support for the property developer.
