"Never in the history of this country have we had a president with these kinds of extensive business entanglements, or a president who refused to adequately distance themselves from their holdings", said D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine in a news conference on Monday.
Trump's continued ownership of a global business empire has rendered the president "deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic government actors" and has undermined the integrity of the USA political system, the lawsuit claimed.
Trump did not fully divest from his global business empire after being elected president, instead retaining ownership and handing over control to his two adult sons to run the day to day operations. But the attorney General of the district of Columbia, Karl Racine and the attorney General of Maryland Brian Frosch believe that trump has broken his promise to stay out of private business.
In New York, Trump Tower leases space to the Chinese government-controlled bank ICBC and Trump World Tower and other properties also focuses on foreign clients, including Russians, it said.
The Justice Department said on Friday that those plaintiffs did not suffer in any way and had no standing to sue, and that it is unconstitutional to sue the president in his official capacity. The suit says that not just hotel payments but tax breaks and permits count as emoluments. The suit stated that Trump's failure to end his ties with his businesses undermined public trust and violated constitutional laws against self-dealing.
Norman Eisen, former chief White House ethics lawyer, said jurisdictions such as these are among the "most ideal plaintiffs" to impeach Trump over the finances spent lately because both attorneys share the same view, insisting on law enforcement.
The spokespeople for both attorneys declined to comment.
As a result, the district is in a "unique position" to file legal claims over the emoluments clause, Racine said.
Jeff Sessions to testify in open session before Senate Intelligence Committee
Sessions is expected to be asked questions about possible contact with Russian officials during and after the transition. Comey's testimony raised a number of questions about Trump and his administration.
White House press secretary Sean Spicer on Tuesday disputed that Trump's interests in his businesses violated the emoluments clause, pointing to the arguments raised by the Justice Department in its motion to dismiss the case in NY.
"This lawsuit is just another iteration of the case filed by that group CREW, filed by the same lawyers", Spicer said, referring to a government watchdog group that first sued Trump over the issue in January.
Asked Monday about the lawsuits, White House spokesman Sean Spicer branded them political.
After originally stating the Trump organization would not pursue new deals while he was President, Trump's sons recently announced the company would start building a network of new hotels in mostly red states he won in the election.
"Like the unfairly maligned press corps and the courts, state attorney generals are serving as a necessary check and balance in the Trump era where others fail", he said.
Racine said he can see Trump International Hotel from his window and "we know exactly what's going on there".
"Foreign governments are spending money there to curry favor with the president of the United States". The two Democrats specifically cite Eric Trump's past statements indicating the president would continue to receive regular updates about the company's financial performance.
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