Ethics Experts Just Filed a Lawsuit Accusing Trump of Violating the Constitution

It probably won’t be the last.

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Donald Trump brought many conflicts of interest with him when he moved into the White House last week. Chief among them are the Trump Organization’s dealings with foreign power and players, including leasing office space to one Chinese state-owned bank and borrowing money from another. According to ethics experts, these ties and others violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which prohibits federal officials from receiving financial benefits from foreign governments. On Monday, a group of prominent ethics experts—including the former ethics attorneys for George W. Bush and Barack Obama—filed suit against Trump on constitutional grounds. 

The lawsuit, which you can read in full below, faces several tough challenges—notably, whether or not the plaintiffs have legal standing to make their case.

 

DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

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DONALD TRUMP & DEMOCRACY

Mother Jones was founded to do journalism differently. We stand for justice and democracy. We reject false equivalence. We go after stories others don’t. We’re a nonprofit newsroom, because the kind of truth-telling investigations we do doesn’t happen under corporate ownership.

And we need your support like never before, to fight back against the existential threats American democracy faces. Fundraising for nonprofit media is always a challenge, and we need all hands on deck right now. We have no cushion; we leave it all on the field.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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