The argument is that by holding on , even at arms length, his real estate property?
He is violating the Constitutions foreign emoluments clause ban against getting money (and therefore possibly giving influence) by virtue on his office and powers of his control over governmental agencies….
The court could also rule on several of Trump’s rich appointee’s connections to the very businesses they have regulatory influence over….
A federal appeals court is set to wrestle on Tuesday with the legal future of a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by profiting from his business dealings with foreign countries seeking to curry favor with his administration.
The arguments in the so-called foreign emoluments case test largely uncharted areas of constitutional law, but also serve as a reminder of the numerous ethical challenges Trump’s administration has faced, with a series of Cabinet members departing under clouds of scandal.
The suit that is going before a three-judge panel of the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals Tuesday was filed jointly in 2017 by the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C.
At the outset of Trump’s presidency, many ethics experts urged him to divest himself of his far-flung business empire, but he refused. Instead, Trump turned over day-to-day control of his businesses to two of his sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
Just before taking office, Trump announced that he would donate to the U.S. Treasury all profits from foreign government-related business at his hotels and other enterprises. However, critics said the policy was vague and certain not to capture all the income Trump derived from foreign diplomats and others with ties to governments abroad.
Last March, the Trump Organization announced that it had donated just over $151,000 to the U.S. Treasury to divest what the firm said were its profits associated with foreign-government business.
However, the Trump business has said it intends to respect its guests’ privacy and not pry into who might be footing the bill for their stays at Trump hotels. As a result, it’s unclear if Trump’s firms are disgorging profits from hotel rooms booked by lobbyists or other third parties who may not disclose any connection to foreign governments…..