Tag: Trump abuse of the U.S. Constitution

Trump tweet touting one of his Scotland golf courses as ‘the greatest’ in the world draws criticism

Donald Trump plays a round of golf during his weekend trip to his Turnberry resort. Credit: Leon Neal, Getty

Ethics watchdogs say early-morning missive advances president’s personal financial interests.

President Trump sent out a predawn tweet Saturday boasting about Trump International Golf Links, constructed near Aberdeen, Scotland, among the high, wind-raked dunes along the North Sea.

“Very proud of perhaps the greatest golf course anywhere in the world. Also, furthers U.K. relationship!” Trump tweeted.

The comment sparked immediate consternation from critics of the president, who suggested he was using his powerful office to advance his financial interests. The U.S. Constitution has two clauses designed to prevent a national leader from using power in such a manner.

View the complete March 2 article by David A. Fahrenthold and Joel Achenbach on The Washington Post website here.

IG Report: GSA Ignored Concerns Trump’s Hotel Violates Constitution

A new inspector general report found “serious shortcomings” in the GSA’s decision to overlook concerns that Trump’s ownership of a D.C. hotel violated the Constitution.

The GSA “ignored” the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause when it allowed Trump to keep his D.C. hotel.

Washington Post: “The General Services Administration ‘ignored’ concerns that President Trump’s lease on a government-owned building — the one that houses his Trump International Hotel in Washington — might violate the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took office, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general.”

The GSA IG report said that the GSA’s decision-making process related to Trump’s hotel “included serious shortcomings.”

IG Report: “GSA’s decision-making process related to tenant’s possible breach of the lease included serious shortcomings. GSA had an obligation to uphold and enforce the Constitution. However, GSA opted not to seek any guidance from OLC and did not address the constitutional issues related to the management of the lease.” Continue reading “IG Report: GSA Ignored Concerns Trump’s Hotel Violates Constitution”

D.C., Maryland begin seeking Trump financial documents in case related to his D.C. hotel

The Trump International Hotel is shown on August 10, 2017 in Washington, DC. Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images

The attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia issued subpoenas for financial records and other documents from as many as 13 of President Trump’s private entities Tuesday as part of an ongoing lawsuit alleging that his business violates the Constitution’s ban on gifts or payments from foreign governments.

The subpoenas seek details on some of the most closely held secrets of Trump’s presidency: Which foreign governments have paid the Trump Organization money? How much? And for what?

All of the documents — among them marketing materials targeted to foreign embassies, credit card receipts and restaurant reservation logs — relate to Trump’s D.C. hotel, which is at the center of the case because of events foreign governments have held there and the federal lease that allows the business to operate.

View the complete December 4 article by Jonathan O’Connell, Ann E. Marimow and David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website  here.

D.C., Maryland begin seeking Trump financial documents in case related to his D.C. hotel

The attorneys general for Maryland and the District of Columbia issued subpoenas for financial records and other documents from as many as 13 of President Trump’s private entities Tuesday as part of an ongoing lawsuit alleging that his business violates the Constitution’s ban on gifts or payments from foreign governments.

The subpoenas seek details on some of the most closely held secrets of Trump’s presidency: Which foreign governments have paid the Trump Organization money? How much? And for what?

All of the documents — among them marketing materials targeted to foreign embassies, credit card receipts and restaurant reservation logs — relate to Trump’s D.C. hotel, which is at the center of the case because of events foreign governments have held there and the federal lease that allows the business to operate.

View the complete December 4 article by Jonathan O’Connell, Ann E. Marimow and David A. Fahrenthold on the Washignton Post website here.

Trump argues in court filing he can restrict reporter access to White House

The Trump administration on Wednesday pushed back against CNN’s request to immediately reinstate reporter Jim Acosta’s press pass, arguing that reporters do not have a Constitutional right to enter the White House.

The claim came in a Justice Department legal filing hours before a federal court hearing on CNN’s lawsuit over the White House’s decision to pull Acosta’s press pass after a heated exchange with President Trump last week during a news conference.

“No journalist has a First Amendment right to enter the White House,” three Justice Department lawyers wrote in the filing.

View the complete November 14 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.

‘The Swampiest Swamp In The History Of The Swamp’

Trump once said that he “could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.” That’s one promise he kept. It is also one of the many reasons why Trump’s swamp is “the swampiest swamp in the history of the swamp.” Here’s the latest:

Since January 2017, Republican campaigns and political groups have spent more than $3.5 million at Trump’s properties.

McClatchy: “In 2014, Political Spending At Trump Properties Was $35K. In 2018, It’s $3.5M” Continue reading “‘The Swampiest Swamp In The History Of The Swamp’”

The framers worried about corruption. Their words may now haunt the president.

The following commentary by the Washington Post Editorial Board was posted on their website July 27, 2018:

Trump International Hotel in Washington. Credit: Astrid Riecken, The Washington Post

SET AGAINST other past and present items in President Trump’s bulging portfolio of legal problems — reported payoffs to a porn star and a former Playboy model; allegations of fraudinvolving his onetime university; charges that he defamed a woman who accused him of groping her; the ongoing criminal probe into Russia’s intervention on his behalf in the 2016 presidential election — the question of the Constitution’s emoluments clauses and whether he has violated them, is arcane. It seems a stretch to suppose that the president might be imperiled by a case that turns partly on definitions of the word “emolument” gleaned from 18th century dictionaries.

Or maybe not much of a stretch for anyone who has spent time in the lobby of the Trump International Hotel, a few blocks from the White House. There, to the tune of $40 million in revenue last year, it’s possible to glimpse just the sort of influence-peddling the framers may have intended to prohibit by those clauses.

The hotel has been the lodging of choice for an unknown (but not unknowable) number of state and foreign officials, some of whom, it is a fair bet, thereby hoped to curry favor with the president. According to the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia, both Democrats, who have sued to stop it, that favor-currying falls squarely within the “emoluments” the framers meant to forbid.

View the complete commentary here.