From the beginning of his disastrous presidency, there have been cases brought against President Donald Trump for his repeated violations of the emoluments clause in the Constitution, which prohibit top officeholders from getting financial benefits from foreign governments. This is something that Trump has managed to run away from in the federal court system for almost two years, but it’s finally caught up with him.
Earlier this afternoon, a federal judge ruled that Trump would be forced to turn over business documents related to his Washington, DC, hotel — including balance sheets and how the president’s employees have been handling business from foreign governments that may want to sway the president by staying in his properties. These documents would also reveal how much money Trump is pocketing from his hotel businesses — so this is REALLY bad for the president.
Trump apparently knows he’s in trouble, too — because he tried to get out of it (which the judge smacked down). Washington Post reporter David Farenthold reported that Trump actually tried to convince the judge this emoluments clause lawsuit would put “undue burdens” on his role as POTUS — and the judge used one of the president’s former tweets to dispute that claim and shut it down!
The judge in the emoluments clause case cited this tweet from @realDonaldTrump to reject Trump’s argument that any lawsuit would impose undue burdens on the presidency.
In this tweet, Trump actually invited a lawsuit from one of his enemies! He’s got time, it seems. https://t.co/RTQbWUhahr— David Fahrenthold (@Fahrenthold) November 2, 2018
Truly, Trump is always his worst enemy, and it looks as though he will soon regret not stepping back from his businesses, as he had once promised to do. Considering that many politicians from foreign governments have been patronizing Trump’s Washington hotel, this lawsuit is sure to reveal something that Trump doesn’t want anyone to see.
Featured image via screen capture
