CONFLICT OF INTEREST/ETHICS/LEGAL/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In a new legal challenge to President Trump, Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit Monday [6-12-17] alleging that his failure to shed his private businesses has undermined public trust and violated constitutional bans against self-dealing.
The lawsuit, filed in a Maryland federal court, makes many of the same arguments in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by a Washington watchdog organization in a New York federal court. But some legal experts said it rested on stronger legal ground because the plaintiffs were governmental entities, which could have stronger standing to sue the president.
The complaint opens uncharted legal territory. No state has accused a president of violating the emoluments clauses of the Constitution. One of those clauses bans federal officials from accepting gifts from foreign governments. A second prohibits the president from accepting economic benefits from the federal or state governments, other than his salary.
Because Mr. Trump continues to own and profit from his business empire, the lawsuit claims, it is unclear whether he is making decisions in the country’s best interest or out of ‘self-interested motivations grounded in the international and domestic business dealings in which President Trump’s personal fortune is at stake.’ “
-Sharon LaFraniere, “Maryland and D.C. Sue Trump Over His Private Businesses,” The New York Times online, June 12, 2017