Lindsey Graham explains his outrage over Kavanaugh hearing
Judge rules Dems can sue Trump over alleged emoluments clause violations
A federal judge ruled Friday that over 200 Democratic representatives and senators can sue President Trump over claims he violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution regarding his businesses with foreign governments.
The clause states that an elected official cannot accept “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
Democrats claim Trump is violating the clause whenever his hotels or golf courses receive payments from foreign governments because Trump still owns his stakes in them.
“[T]he Court finds that the plaintiffs have standing to sue the President for allegedly violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause,” U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan wrote in response to the suit, which was brought forward by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.).
“Plaintiffs argue that each Member of Congress suffers a particularized and concrete injury when his or her vote is nullified by the President’s denial of the opportunity to vote on the record about whether to approve his acceptance of a prohibited foreign emolument,” Sullivan explained.
A judge in July shot down a request from Trump to block a similar suit brought by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia. That case is ongoing.
After the 2016 presidential election, Trump broke with precedent by refusing to divest his stakes in his businesses. He instead placed his assets in a trust controlled by his two adult sons.
Critics have since claimed that Trump's properties benefit from his contacts with foreign governments, including his hotel in Washington, which has hosted multiple foreign delegations.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/409040-judge-rules-dem-senators-reps-can-sue-trump-over-alleged-emoluments
>The clause states that an elected official cannot accept “any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
FLASHBACK 2015:
The King of Saudi Arabia Gave More Than $1.3M in Gifts to the Obamas Last Year
The State Department's register of gifts – which was recently published in the Federal Register and lists items given to federal agencies by foreign governments – shows most dignitaries presenting mundane, but lovely, tokens to the White House: six boxes of dates from the ambassador of Algeria here, three bottles of wine from the French president there.
Enter the late Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Before his death earlier this year, he gifted the Obamas what can only be described as a whole lot of swag.
For the president himself: a gold and silver watch, estimated to be worth $18,240; a gold-plated brass replica of the Makkah Clock Tower, estimated at $57,000; and another watch, this one white gold, estimated at $67,000.
In total, these items are worth about $142,240 – chump change compared to the money Abdullah dropped on First Lady Michelle Obama.
From the king, FLOTUS accepted a diamond and emerald jewelry set, an estimated $560,000 value, and a diamond and pearl jewelry set, worth about $570,000.
Obama daughters Sasha and Malia received a diamond and emerald jewelry set and a diamond and ruby jewelry set, totaling $80,000. To share – and from Saudi Prince Miteb bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud – the Obama family got a model palm tree, several bottles of perfume, eight robes, three capes, a couple of muumuus, a satin outfit, a velvet gown, and four ornate boxes.
Overall bling total: $1,352,240.
https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/12/02/the-king-of-saudi-arabia-gave-over-13m-in-gifts-to-the-obamas-last-year