New Lawsuit: Donald Trump Is Violating The Constitution, Say Ethics Lawyers

A new lawsuit against President Donald Trump is claiming the new commander in chief is already violating the constitution. A group of ethics lawyers are suing the president for violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, though it is unclear if they will succeed.

Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW), which is a liberal-leaning watchdog organization, have filed the suit against President Trump in New York and are claiming that he has violated the Constitution by accepting money from foreign nations.

“These violations of the Foreign Emoluments Clause pose a grave threat to the United States and its citizens,” the lawsuit says. “As the framers were aware, private financial interests can subtly sway even the most virtuous leaders, and entanglements between American officials and foreign powers could pose a creeping, insidious threat to the Republic.”

“We have never had a president who has, in a significant way, accepted foreign payments,” said Noah Bookbinder, who is executive director of CREW. “There are a lot of issues that have to be litigated for the first time.”

The case will not be easy to prosecute against the president. No president has ever been found to have violated the Emoluments Clause and the Trump administration has presented an interpretation of the clause that would allow President Trump to avoid such lawsuits.