On Friday, ABC News reported that a federal judge has given congressional Democrats permission to proceed with a lawsuit that would charge President Trump with violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Democrats in Congress believe they have substantial reason to sue Mr. Trump for allegedly failing to report to Congress any payments, or “emoluments” he received from foreign countries. Payments that would fall under this category would be any currency he received in his businesses, including the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
This isn’t the first time someone wanted to sue the president for allegedly unreported emoluments. ABC News says that in Maryland in July, a judge allowed a case to proceed in which local businesses accused Trump of hurting their incomes by allowing his own family business to take payments from foreign sources. In this case, the infamous Trump International Hotel was stated as a culprit as well.
ABC News speculates that the two emoluments cases combined could give Democrats enough leverage to have the president’s tax reports released, which could expose any other conflicts of interest involving his foreign business affairs and could even expose interference from Russia in the 2016 election.
“And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State,” states the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constituion.
This means that under Constitutional law, any foreign gifts or payments received by the president must be disclosed to Congress and voted upon by its members. If the investigation holds water, Trump’s tax documents may reveal payments his businesses received that went unreported to Congress.
Since the federal judge granted permission for the suit to proceed Friday, Trump has yet to post one of his infamous Twitter responses on the topic. His only tweet Friday regarded the ongoing Kavanaugh investigation, which is a far cry from the Twitter storms the president has become known for in light of recent events.
Twitter was quick to respond to the news. So far, most social media comments seem to be in support of the investigation. Like Trump’s absence from the subject, it doesn’t seem his supporters have chimed in much on the matter within trending social media posts.
“Has a sitting Senator ever sued a sitting (lying) president before? Regardless, this is good news!” commented one Twitter user.
“Trump’s Fixer=== Brett Kavanaugh,” claimed another comment.
“This is great news. But brings to light the importance of being sure the right judges are sent to a bench,” commented another user.
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