Maryland, DC attorneys general plan lawsuit against Trump
Lawyers invoke emoluments clause, saying president has not separated personal interests from presidential duties
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The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia plan to sue US President Donald Trump.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh plan to announce what they call a “major lawsuit” Monday against the president. A statement released to the press Monday said they’d announce the suit at a news conference in Washington.
The suit centers on Trump’s failure to separate his personal interests from his presidential duties.
The emoluments clause bans US officials from taking gifts or other benefits from foreign governments. Frosh told the Washington Post that the clause mandates that “the president put the country first and not his own personal interest first.”
A key case in the dispute is a hotel that Trump opened last year by leasing a large, stately building that used to be a central post office, just down the road from the White House.
Aside from the issue of the foreign payments ban, Maryland and Washington complain that the presence of a Trump hotel hurts competing hotels in their jurisdictions.
The Post cited examples of foreign government showing preference for that hotel over others, at what neighboring Maryland and Washington say is their expense.
It said the embassy of Kuwait had planned to hold an event at a Four Seasons hotel but eventually moved it to the Trump property, which is called the Trump International Hotel.
An NGO that centers on ethics issues filed a similar suit in January. But this is the first one presented by government entities.
The announced lawsuit adds to Trump’s woes as he grapples with congressional and a special prosecutor’s probes into his campaign’s alleged ties with Russia, which US intelligence agencies say meddled aggressively in the 2016 election to held Trump win.
Since taking power in January, Trump has turned day to day control over his real estate empire and other assets to his adult sons, but not sold them off as many in America said he should to avoid conflicts of interest.
The Times of Israel Community.