Donald Trump, early May – BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP
US court relaunched lawsuits on foreign income received by the president on Thursday Donald trump thanks to its hotel Washington. Without ruling on the merits, a federal court of appeal, convened in plenary, overturned a decision made by three of its judges who had closed the file in July 2019 for procedural reasons.
The President’s personal attorney, Jay Sekulow, and the Department of Justice regretted this reversal and announced that they were going to appeal to the Supreme Court of United States. In the meantime, the ruling re-launches lawsuits launched by prosecutors in Washington and neighboring Maryland who accuse the Republican billionaire of violating the Constitution’s “pay clause”.
Congress must agree
This article prohibits anyone in public office from “accepting gift, emolument, office or title of any kind from a king, prince, or foreign state” without congressional approval. Prosecutors say foreign delegations favor the Trump International Hotel near the White House in the hope of winning the president’s favor. Since 2016, his hotel has hosted events organized by the embassies of Kuwait, Bahrain and the Philippines.
After moving to the White House in January 2017, the former real estate tycoon entrusted his sons with the management of his affairs but kept all his shares in the Trump Organization, which has made more than 400 million d euros of revenue in 2018. The president and the Ministry of Justice argue that the emoluments clause aims to prevent public officials from taking bribes and not from doing business.
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