In January, Trump announced his investments and business assets would be conveyed to a trust ahead of his inauguration on Jan. 20.
"The president is bound by oath to "faithfully execute" his office and 'preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States", the lawsuit says, and the president must "disentangle his private finances" from domestic or foreign powers to honor that oath. "He takes money from Saudi Arabia, India, Afghanistan, and Qatar who own properties in Trump World Tower and pay him charges", he said.
"Never before has a President acted with such disregard for this constitutional prescription", it says.
Racine and Frosh said in a news conference that the Trump hotel, just blocks from the White House, creates unfair competition for other businesses in the District and Maryland. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a D.C. -based group, and Cork Wine Bar had previously filed lawsuits against the president. Racine noted that although Trump said he wouldn't be involved in his businesses, he was still getting briefings from his sons. A watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has an emoluments lawsuit pending against Trump in NY, and the group's lawyers are serving as unpaid outside counsel in the case brought by Frosh and Racine.
The suit argues that Maryland the District of Columbia have been harmed by Trump's ongoing ownership.
A spokeswoman for the Republican Party described the lawsuit as "absurd", and said it represented "the kind of partisan grandstanding voters across the country have come to despise". "The American people elected President Trump to lead this country, and it is time Democrats end their efforts to de-legitimize his presidency".
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "It's the same lawyers", he said. "We'll continue to move to dismiss this case in the normal course of business", he added.
The Justice Department also said the group had defined emoluments too broadly, and that the concept applies only to payments given to the president in his official capacity.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh filed the lawsuit.
Deputy AG Rosenstein: Sessions Doesn't Know What We're Investigating
If Trump were to make such a move, he would have to order Rosenstein to fire Mueller. "There's some real conflicts", Ruddy said. A year ago, it would have seemed inconceivable for a president to fire his FBI Director, and yet that's exactly what Trump did.
But in recent years, states and their politically minded state attorneys have been getting in the courthouse door. They also have planned new businesses in the United States.
This is not the first time the president has been sued under the emoluments clauses.
As I said in a previous post, I think Donald Trump eventually will resign the USA presidency and that he'll concoct some excuse for doing so, which might be that the federal government is treating him unfairly regarding his financial empire.
University of California Los Angeles School of Law professor Adam Winkler has a different take.
"We have economic interests that are impacted", they said.
Trump has refused to release his tax returns to date, breaking with decades of precedent set by previous USA presidential nominees. The suit asks the court to block Trump from accepting foreign money.
The President has continually brushed off calls from Democrats to release his tax returns. "Approval of this credit is at the discretion of the National Park Service", it said. "The president's conflicts of interest threaten our democracy".
This story was originally published at 1:40 p.m.
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