A night view of the main entrance to the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. : Glynn Wilson

By Glynn Wilson –

WASHINGTON, D.C. – One year ago today, a historic federal lawsuit was filed against a sitting president of the United States alleging that Donald Trump’s wide-ranging business entanglements violate the U.S. Constitution emoluments clauses against accepting gifts and engaging in private financial transactions with foreign governments.

The first-of-its-kind case was filed in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland by state Attorney General Brian E. Frosh and Attorney General Karl A. Racine of the District of Columbia. The lawsuit, which moved forward in a court hearing on Monday, is seeking an injunction “to put a stop to the president’s constitutional violations.”

The federal District Court building in Greenbelt, Maryland: Glynn Wilson

The emoluments clause is 49 words in Article I of the Constitution.

“No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: 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.”

The emoluments clauses were included in the Constitution as anti-corruption provisions, meant to shield the president from outside influence and ensure that he works in the nation’s interest rather than focusing on his own bottom line, according to the lawsuit and the press release announcing its filing. Specifically, the Foreign Emoluments Clause bars foreign powers from influencing or inducing the president with money or other items of value. The Domestic Emoluments Clause prevents individual states from competing against each other by giving the president money or other things of value.

“Elected leaders must serve the people, and not their personal financial interests. That is the indispensable foundation of a democracy,” Attorney General Frosh said. “We cannot treat a president’s ongoing violations of the Constitution and disregard for the rights of the American people as the new and acceptable status quo. The president, above all other elected officials, must have only the interests of Americans at the heart of every decision.”

According to the complaint, uncertainty about whether the president is acting in the best interests of the American people, or rather for his own ends or personal enrichment, “inflicts lasting harm on our democracy.” The framers of the Constitution foresaw that possibility, and acted to prevent that harm.

“President Trump has violated important anti-corruption provisions of the U.S. Constitution. We are a nation of laws and no one — including the President of the United States — is above the law,” Attorney General Racine said. “As state attorneys general representing the people, we have a duty to serve as a check and balance against the president, whose business activities have opened the door to the type of corruption the framers of our Constitution aimed to prevent.”

President Trump’s continued ownership interest in a global business empire, which renders him deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic government actors, violates the Constitution, according to the complaint, “calling into question the rule of law and the integrity of our political system.”

For example, the President continues to own luxury hotel and resort properties — including a new one just down the street from the White House — catering to foreign and state government business. He continues to seek — and in fact recently obtained from China — valuable trademarks from foreign countries for his business ventures. Foreign and U.S. government entities rent space in Trump-owned buildings.

The case is being heard before U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton in 1993. According to knowledgeable sources in the legal system in Maryland there is a general feeling that Judge Messitte “is thorough, well-prepared, and generally fair.” He is expected to make a decision this summer about whether the case can continue to move forward in a full trial, which would be unprecedented. If found guilty, a federal court conviction would surely be grounds for Trump’s impeachment and removal from office.

Senator Jeff Sessions dons Trump’s signature Make America Great Again cap at Trump victory tour rally in Mobile: Glynn Wilson

U.S. Justice Department lawyers representing the president claim Trump is not breaking the law when foreign officials book rooms at his hotel in the capital because he is not trading favors in exchange for a benefit. It is not clear why Trump is being represented by government lawyers at taxpayer expense and not private counsel. Justice Department lawyers work for Attorney General Jeff Sessions of Alabama, who has already recused himself from the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2106 election because of his direct involvement in meeting with Russians while working in the campaign to elect Trump. His latest lawyer is Rudy Giuiliani of New York.

Trump lawyer and former Mayor of New York Rudy Giuiliani hanging out with the tourists in the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Seen here with Rebecca Seekford of Arlington, Virginia.

According to coverage of the hearing Monday by the Washington Post, Judge Messitte sounded skeptical of the Justice Department’s narrow definition of the gift ban, asking the government’s lawyer whether the clause would apply to foreign governments’ booking rooms and touting their patronage at Trump’s hotel to “get in good” with the president.

“That’s not covered?” Messitte asked.

At stake is the appearance of impropriety as well as legality.

The emoluments clauses have never been the subject of a major court case and have never been taken up by the U.S. Supreme Court, leaving great uncertainty about what they mean. But if they mean anything, according to the complaint, “President Trump’s continued ownership interest in a global business empire, which renders him deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic actors, violates the Constitution and calls into question the rule of law and the integrity of the country’s political system.”

“Vested by the Constitution with extraordinary power, the president is bound by oath to ‘faithfully execute’ his office and ‘preserve, protect and defend’ the Constitution of the United States. Since 1789, each president, regardless of temperament or ideology, has sought, in his own way, to honor that solemn vow. Yet fundamental to a president’s fidelity to that oath is the Constitution’s demand that the president, as the highest officeholder in the land, disentangle his private finances from those of domestic and foreign powers. Never before has a president acted with such disregard for this constitutional prescription.”

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President Trump, acting through companies he owns or controls, has violated both the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause by receiving millions of dollars in payments, benefits, and other valuable consideration from foreign governments and persons acting on their behalf, as well as federal agencies and state governments. His repeated, ongoing violations include remuneration derived from: (a) leases of Trump properties held by foreign-government-owned entities; (b) purchase and ownership of condominiums in Trump properties by foreign governments or foreign-government-controlled entities; (c) other property interests or business dealings tied to foreign governments; (d) hotel accommodations, restaurant purchases, the use of venues for events, and purchases of other services and goods by foreign governments and diplomats at hotels, restaurants, and other domestic and international properties owned, operated or licensed by President Trump; (e) continuation of the General Services Administration lease for President Trump’s Washington, D.C. hotel despite his breach of the lease’s terms, and potential provision of federal tax credits in connection with the same property; and (f) payments from foreign government-owned broadcasters related to rebroadcasts and foreign versions of the television program ‘The Apprentice’ and its spinoffs. Moreover, President Trump, by asserting that he will maintain the interests at issue, is poised to engage in similar constitutional violations for the duration of his presidency.

The front entrance on Pennsylvania of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.: Glynn Wilson

The complaint is attached. For more information about the lawsuit, see this list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).