Two plaintiffs on Monday joined a federal lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump is in breach of the Constitution by continuing to host foreign governments at his resorts while in the Oval Office, according to the Washington Post.
The Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), an association of restaurants and restaurant workers, and Jill Phaneuf, a contractor who books events for two Washington D.C. hotels, are joining the suit first filed in January by the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
“The Administration’s conflicts of interest are glaring and dangerous,” ROC said in a Tuesday press release. “As a hotel and restaurant owner, the President puts restaurateurs and restaurant workers nationwide at a grave disadvantage, pushing foreign dignitaries to patronize his establishments rather than go to others.”
The original suit alleged that Trump was profiting unconstitutionally from his presidency. CREW maintained that it was a violation of the Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal office holders from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments, for the President to maintain ownership of the Trump Organization while in office.
The addition of the new plaintiffs is an effort to address questions about whether the watchdog group could prove it was directly affected by Trump’s business arrangement, thus giving it standing to sue.
No doubt about standing. These business owners have been verifiably damaged by Trump’s willful refusal to separate himself from his businesses. I hope more sign on to make this a real serious lawsuit.
Great news.
Gotta get past that first biggest hurdle. I’ve read that this is a great way to get the taxes, but no court will hear such a request without first granting plaintiffs standing, so good luck.
And OT, but close: Schneiderman hired a corruption prosecutor from Bharara’s office, doesn’t look like it’s Preet himself. He’s at NYU now?
Once the American people have access to his tax returns, I presume that universe of people having standing will expand exponentially. In many ways, he is robbing us all…and his policies vis a vis his tax liabilities will go a long way to highlight that in regards to his business ventures.
In using the authority of his office to ameliorate any of those loses and liabilities, we all are subject to his decisions, that lack any transparency one way or another. For all we know, he is making those unprecedented Un-Presidential decisions based purely on how it will benefit him personally in which we will all be affected.
Nothing will bring Trump down until he becomes too much of a liability for too many Republicans on Capitol Hill. As despicable as Mike Farb’s list is,without consequences for the R’s in DC, impeachment won’t happen.