Thread: Judge tosses emoluments suit claiming Trump illegally profited from foreign spending

Judge tosses emoluments suit claiming Trump illegally profited from foreign spending at hotel

BY
James Fanelli
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, December 21, 2017, 10:48 PM

A Manhattan federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday that accused President Trump of violating the Constitution by making money off of foreigners threw his Washington, D.C., hotel and eponymous brand.

Good government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a lawsuit against Trump shortly after his inauguration in January, saying that he is breaking the foreign-emoluments clause. The obscure passage in the Constitution prohibits a federal official from receiving a gift or compensation from a foreigner without the approval of Congress.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan Federal Court, said Trump’s pledge to divest himself of his business holdings by putting them in a trust administered by his sons was bogus.

CREW — which was joined by the hospitality association Restaurant Opportunities Center United — said he still benefits from the businesses in the trust and many of those holdings are profiting from him sitting in the Oval Office.

Since Trump won the 2016 election, foreign diplomats have been keen to book rooms and events at the newly opened Trump International Hotel in D.C. to curry favor with him, the lawsuit said.

Also shortly after he took office, China reversed a decision going back to 2006, granting trademark protection to his name in connection with building construction services.

Federal Judge George Daniel didn’t buy the argument, noting that the plaintiffs didn’t prove that Trump’s actions have hurt anyone.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/poli...icle-1.3714702