D.C. and Maryland File Lawsuit Against Trump for Breaching His Constitutional Oath
More trouble for our so-called president today: he’s now being sued by the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland for violating the Constitution by taking millions of dollars in payments and other benefits from foreign governments, and refusing to keep his promise to divest himself of his businesses.
The lawsuit, the first of its kind brought by government entities, centers on the fact that Trump chose to retain ownership of his company when he became president. Trump said in January that he was shifting his business assets into a trust managed by his sons to eliminate potential conflicts of interests.
But D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D) and Maryland Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) say Trump has broken many promises to keep separate his public duties and private business interests. For one, his son Eric Trump has said the president would continue to receive regular updates about his company’s financial health.
The lawsuit, a signed copy of which Racine and Frosh provided to The Washington Post on Sunday night, alleges “unprecedented constitutional violations” by Trump. The suit says Trump’s continued ownership of a global business empire has rendered the president “deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic government actors” and has undermined the integrity of the U.S. political system.
“Fundamental to a President’s fidelity to [faithfully execute his oath of office] is the Constitution’s demand that the President … disentangle his private finances from those of domestic and foreign powers. Never before has a President acted with such disregard for this constitutional prescription.”
Attorney General Racine said specifically that one important reason for this lawsuit is that the GOP-controlled Congress refuses to act on Trump’s glaring conflicts of interest, saying, “We’re getting in here to be the check and balance that it appears Congress is unwilling to be.”
Here’s the document:
