News
Jun 11 2017, 11:31 pm ET
Major Lawsuit Against Trump Promised by D.C., Maryland Officials
by Alex Johnson
The attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C., plan to file a "major
lawsuit" against President Donald Trump as early as Monday, they said Sunday
night.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and his D.C. counterpart, Karl Racine,
didn't disclose the focus of the litigation, which they said in a statement they
would formally announce Monday afternoon.
Image: Donald Trump
President Donald Trump signs executive orders at the Pentagon on Jan. 27.
0Olivier Douliery / EPA File
The Washington Post reported that the lawsuit would allege that Trump has
violated constitutional anti-corruption restrictions by accepting payments and
benefits from foreign governments since he became president.
No further details were immediately available.
The lawsuit would be the first related to Trump's business interests brought by
government entities. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a
nonprofit activist group, has separately sued Trump in U.S. District Court in
Manhattan alleging "countless conflicts of interest" in violation of the
Constitution's so-called emoluments clause.
In January, Trump promised to track and donate all profits from foreign
government travel and commerce at his companies to the U.S. Treasury. But NBC
News and MSNBC reported last month that the Trump Organization hasn't been
tracking all possible payments it receives from foreign governments.
Jan. 23: Trump Brushes Off Lawsuit Over Foreign Payments 2:01
Company policy detailed in a new pamphlet suggests that it is up to foreign
governments, not Trump's hotels, to determine whether foreign governments
self-report their business dealings.
"To attempt to individually track and distinctly attribute certain
business-related costs as specifically identifiable to a particular customer
group is not practical," the pamphlet states.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very
wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
We gave the Goblin King control of our nation!
