Nearly 200 Democrats to sue Trump over foreign business dealings

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via Email
• Copy Link

  Link Copied

On Wednesday, almost 200 Democrats are expected to file suit against President Donald Trump for being in violation of the Constitution because of his foreign business dealings.

The lawsuit will be the third to accuse the president of being in violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign powers without the approval of Congress.

“The founders ensured that federal officeholders would not decide for themselves whether particular emoluments were likely to compromise their own independence or lead them to put personal interest over national interest,” the lawsuit states. “An officeholder, in short, should not be the sole judge of his own integrity.”

In particular, the Congressional suit is geared toward pushing Trump to disclose his finances and business dealings, which he has up until now declined to do, to the frustration of many of his critics.

Senator Richard Blumenthal, who is leading the effort, said that the suit was meant to make sure Congress could do its duty in determining if there was any wrongdoing or emoluments being paid, because the secrecy of Trump’s business dealings did not lend itself to Congress being able to do its job.

“What we are seeking first and foremost is disclosure,” he said. “We cannot consent to what we don’t know.”

Previously, a group of private individuals who own or book events at hotels and restaurants filed suit against Trump saying that they were in competition with Trump. The second suit was filed Monday by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia.

The legal argument in defense of the president is that the framers of the Constitution never intended to bar the president from owning a business or having ordinary business dealings.