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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSlate "Trump's G-7 Self-Deal Should End His Presidency"
JURISPRUDENCE
Trumps Doral G-7 Self-Deal Is Worthy of Impeachment All on Its Own
By MARK JOSEPH STERN
OCT 17, 20195:01 PM
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/10/trump-doral-g7-emoluments-impeachment-congress.html
Donald Trump has flagrantly abused the power of his office to line his own pockets. Again.
Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney announced on Thursday that the president selected his own Trump Doral golf resort as the site of Junes G-7 summit. Heads of state and diplomats will congregate at his own propertywhich is in steep decline and needs extra business in June. The move ensures that other nations will spend millions of dollars housing hundreds of personnel at Trumps resort, funneling money from foreign governments into the presidents business. There are myriad other potential locations, but Trump chose to award the contract to himself.
The presidents decision to exploit the G-7 summit for personal enrichment is so obviously corrupt, so shameless and extortionary, that it seems strange to debate whether it is also unlawful. And yet, from the start of Trumps tenure, his opponents have struggled to find an effective line of legal attack against his self-dealing. Government watchdogs have sued him in federal court, but their efforts have stalledin part because judges have struggled with the unprecedented nature of the offense: No other president has bilked his office for so much cash. It seems implausible that the Constitution would provide no mechanism to halt such brazen corruption. And yet, here we are, well more than halfway through Trumps term, and the presidents heists are only getting more blatant. Can anything or anyone stop his raid on the public fisc?
One strategy, initiated shortly after Trump took office, has been to ask the federal judiciary to enforce the Constitutions emoluments clauses. These provisions sound abstruse because nobody uses the word emolument in casual conversation. But the Framers intended it to mean a payment, gift, or service. The foreign emoluments clause bars any federal officeholder, including the president, from receiving an emolument from a foreign state without congressional approval. The domestic emoluments clause explicitly prohibits the president from receiving any emolument (beyond his official salary) from any state or the federal government. Theres no exception for congressional approval.
It is pretty apparent that Trump has repeatedly violated both clauses. For instance, foreign diplomats routinely stay at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, in part to curry favor with the president. By accepting payments at his own property from another governmentwithout obtaining permission from CongressTrump likely violated the foreign emoluments clause. Or consider the allegations that Trump directed the Air Force to stop at his Turnberry resort in Scotland. By funneling federal money into his property, Trump likely violated the domestic emoluments clause.
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Rep. Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of the House Oversight and Judiciary committees, told the Washington Post that the House may pass a resolution disapproving the Doral contract. If Trump refuses to relocate the summit, Raskin said, representatives may consider investigating the deal and adding emoluments to their articles of impeachment. That move would be wise both legally and politically, allowing the House to fulfill its constitutional duties while correctly accusing the president of disregarding his own.
Trumps lawyers, as well as the Department of Justice, have argued that courts cannot prevent the executive from profiting off the presidency. That leaves just one avenue of relief: impeaching Trump and removing him from office. If the Doral disaster doesnt spur House Democrats to prioritize Trumps graft in their impeachment inquiry, its hard to see what will.
BigMin28
(1,186 posts)And their entourage should use other accomadations for their stay. Is there a rule they must stay where the meetings are held? It would be better to stay elsewhere, lest they bring home a bedbug infestation.
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)pass a bill that says no government funds may be used for this.
Let him pay for everything out of his own pocket if he wants to hold it there.
BumRushDaShow
(129,950 posts)and would make money off of foreign heads of states purchasing anything at the facility.
qazplm135
(7,447 posts)but if he had to pay for everything himself, he'd magically find another place.
BumRushDaShow
(129,950 posts)he would never do so regardless! Hell... there are vendors still waiting for payment since the 2016 election!!!!
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,601 posts)because Russia should have never been kicked out of the organization.
Just watch
bdamomma
(63,960 posts)Speaker Pelosi say yesterday "All roads lead to Putin".
I wouldn't doubt it at all having Putin back in the G7/8. tRump is a puppet.
BumRushDaShow
(129,950 posts)He would manufacture a new "G-8" and then embarrass the hell out of the U.S. yet again.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,601 posts)From my OP to Rachel's ears.
ecstatic
(32,782 posts)he's trying to drive the impeachment committees nuts so they can't complete impeachment on time.