Friday, January 27, 2017

From the National Constitution Center: Podcast: Has President Trump violated the Emoluments Clause?

In a couple weeks I'll ask 2305 students about the emoluments clause of the Constitution.

Here's a head start on it.

- Click here for the podcast.

On January 23, the nonprofit legal watchdog group CREW filed a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump is violating the Foreign Emoluments Clause in Article 1, Section 9, which states: “[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”
CREW points out that foreign governments are doing business at Trump hotels and other buildings in the United States, and that the Trump organization is conducting business abroad.
There are also questions about the Domestic Emoluments Clause in Article II, Section 1, which states that “The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation … and he shall not receive … any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”
Joining We the People to discuss are two experts in constitutional law who are actively writing and thinking on these issues.