Trump to Be Sued By 196 Congress Members

Local Editor

The Washington Post reported that a total of 196 Democratic lawmakers are planning to file a lawsuit Wednesday alleging that President Donald Trump had violated the Constitution's "foreign emoluments clause" by retaining interest in his business empire.

The lawsuit, which is expected to be filed in federal district, would add to the president's legal woes. Earlier this week, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh announced that they had filed a lawsuit against Trump claiming his business ties violate the emoluments clause.

Critics had raised concerns about the number of foreign officials and diplomats booking into Trump properties.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich., are leading the most recent legal effort.

Blumenthal said that no Republicans had joined in the lawsuit so far.

Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the House Judiciary Committee's top-ranking Democrat, said that the lawsuit will have the largest number of congressional plaintiffs of any lawsuit lodged against the president so far in US history.

"We do this not out of any sense of pleasure or partisanship, but because President Trump has left us with no other option," he said.

The emoluments clause states that an officeholder cannot accept, without the consent of Congress, "any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. After the lawsuit was filed by Racine and Frosh, White House Press secretary said that it was "not hard to conclude that partisan politics may be one of the motivations."

The Trump Organization has said profits from customers representing foreign governments will be donated to the US Treasury Department, but added it will not require such customers to identify themselves.

"The president's failure to tell us about these emoluments, to disclose the payments and benefits that he is receiving, mean that we cannot do our job. We cannot consent to what we don't know," said Sen. Blumentha.

In recent months, similar lawsuits have been filed by parties including a nonprofit ethics group, a restaurant trade group, and the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, against Trump.

They say Trump's acceptance of payments from foreign governments through his hospitality empire is an unfair disadvantage for other hotel and restaurant owners and it provides governments an incentive to give preferential treatment to Trump-owned businesses.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team