Day 1: Trump Sworn in at 12:00; Officially Violates Constitution at 12:01
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution reads:
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.
This clause, commonly known as the Emoluments Clause, is vital to ensuring transparency in government and prevents bribery, or the appearance of such, from seeping into the federal government. As The Atlantic eloquently noted:
“The Framers included this provision in the Constitution to guarantee that private entanglements with foreign states would not blur the loyalties of federal officials, above all the president.”
By failing to liquidate his assets — or at the very least putting them in a blind trust — Donald Trump violated the clause the moment he was sworn in as the nation’s next president.
For instance, Donald Trump owns hotels and other properties around the world. Foreign dignitaries have already indicated that staying there may allow them to curry favor with Trump. Others will try to engage the Trump Organization in new deals. (For example, Trump, at his only press conference since his election, bragged about recently turning down a multi-billion dollar deal in Dubai.)
Trump and his lawyer proposed getting out of an Emoluments Clause pickle by donating any profits from such hotel stays to the U.S. Treasury.
Some problems that immediately become apparent:
- Profit on individual hotel rooms is almost impossible to track, and the term “profit” itself can mean so many things. Essentially, Trump’s team could assign any number they want to the profit line.
- How will indirect benefits — such as additional, free exposure for the properties — from foreign dignitaries staying at the hotel be calculated? Will that require remuneration?
- These agreements must be made with “Consent of Congress” — Trump can’t just do them unilaterally. There’s been zero indication that Congress has been approached, much less approved, any such scheme.
- Hotels are far from Trump’s only assets (or debts) that could trigger Emoluments Clause issues, as he other hundreds or thousands of assets (or debts) around the world, some known and others unknown.
- Where are the checks-and-balances or oversight of this proposal?
Ethics lawyers for both Barack Obama and George W. Bush have warned about the type of behavior Trump is exhibiting.
Obama’s ethics lawyer stated that business entanglements were “frankly and nakedly unconstitutional.” Bush’s ethics lawyer concurred, stating, “I really hope that President Trump takes the steps he needs to, to be free of conflict of interest in that endeavor.”
The Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel has on numerous prior occasions prohibited federal government employees from accepting payments, no matter the value, from foreign governments.
Because Trump failed to untangle this ethical mess in any appreciable way, he has opened himself up to impeachable offenses.
Many Republicans — both private citizens and elected officials — falsely decried Obama for stomping on the Constitution for eight years.
Where are they now that a real violation is occurring?
1 day in, 1461 to go
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