Almost 200 Democratic members of Congress have filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump, alleging that he violated the Constitution by not dispelling his ties to the Trump Organization and failing to request permission from Congress to accept foreign gifts and benefits.
Separately, the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia also filed a lawsuit this week on similar grounds.
The CREW suit centers on foreign tenants in New York's Trump Tower and the swarm of foreign dignitaries who have flocked to the new Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., some of them openly saying they hope their stays bring favor with the White House.
Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it took "a lot of research" involving legal experts to determine who would have legal standing to successfully sue the president.
The lawsuit said heavy spending by foreign diplomats and embassies at the Trump International Hotel just a few blocks from the White House, payments by foreign entities at his Trump Tower and Trump International Tower in NY, and other business operations effectively violate the US Constitution's ban on presidents enriching themselves while in office.
The president's lawyers have argued the emoluments clause is intended only to stop federal officials from accepting a special consideration or gift from a foreign power and does not apply to payments such as a bill for a hotel room.
The White House didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Monday.
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The clause also formed the basis of lawsuits from the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and private competitors with Trump's businesses.
The Trump Organization has said profits from customers representing foreign governments will be donated to the US Treasury Department, but added it will not require such customers to identify themselves.
President John F. Kennedy declined an offer of honorary citizenship from Ireland because of the Emoluments Clause. Many of those voters are happy about anything that makes Trump's life even a little more hard, and the lawsuit does that.
The complaint says that the Emoluments Clause was meant to ensure "that our nation's leaders would not be corrupted by foreign influence or put their own financial interests over the national interest".
Other legal scholars were sceptical, particularly since the lawsuit was filed only by Democrats, the minority party in both houses of Congress.
Since he has become president, the Trump Organization has secured dozens of potentially valuable patents, including in China, and collected fees from lobbyists working for Saudi Arabia and other countries using his properties.
That appeared to be the question at President Trump's first meeting of his full Cabinet on Monday, as top aides took turns piling praise on the boss. Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici and Peter DeFazio are co-plaintiffs in the suit, which argues that Trump has violated anti-corruption clauses of the U.S. Constitution. "We can not consent to what we don't know", said Sen. Before taking office, Trump placed his interests in a trust and turned business operations to his sons.
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