Tag: Trump abuse of the U.S. Constitution

Trump invites new emoluments fight with G-7 resort pitch

The Hill logoPresident Trump stepped into another controversy of his own making Monday by suggesting the U.S. could host world leaders at his golf resort outside Miami for next year’s Group of Seven (G-7) summit.

If Trump were to make his resort the meeting venue, his critics argue it would be another clear violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits presidents from accepting payments from foreign countries, U.S. states or the federal government.

“This is a president who has converted the presidency into an instrument of enrichment from day one. There is simply no line between what is official government business and what is a private money-making enterprise — it is all one big venture,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a House Judiciary Committee member and former constitutional law professor, said Monday in a phone interview with The Hill.

View the complete August 26 article by Scott Wong on The Hill website here.

Federal judge allows Trump to appeal lawsuit over foreign payments accepted by his hotels

Washington Post logoA federal judge Wednesday allowed President Trump to appeal rulings in a lawsuit that accuses him of violating the Constitution by doing business with foreign governments, putting the case on hold in the meantime.

The ruling by District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan effectively pauses a lawsuit brought by more than 200 congressional Democrats, who say Trump’s companies, which include hotels, should be prohibited from taking payments from foreign states. Trump has argued that the Democrats do not have legal standing to sue him in the first place.

Sullivan’s ruling was not a surprise. In July, an appeals court in Washington had strongly signaled to Sullivan that he should allow this unusual appeal — ruling that Sullivan had probably “abused his discretion” when he denied an earlier attempt.

View the complete August 21 article by David A. Fahrenthold and Ann E. Marimow on The Washington Post website here.

As DNI, Ratcliffe May Target Washington Post

Imagine the indictment of a former national security official in the Obama administration for violation of the Espionage Act. Imagine James Clapper or Sally Yates facing the same charges as Julian Assange or Chelsea Manning.

That dream of right-wing media (and some left-wing critics) came one step closer to reality Sunday, when President Trump announced the appointment of Rep. John Ratcliffe of Texas as the new director of national intelligence. On Sunday, Ratcliffe told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, his number one idea for “investigation of the investigators”: prosecute a source of The Washington Post.

Ratcliffe expressed the hope that the Justice Department will investigate the leak to Washington Post columnist David Ignatius in January 2017 that led to the resignation of Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Ignatius’ reporting raised the possibility that Flynn had lied about a pre-inauguration conversation with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Flynn was forced to resign after only 24 days on the job.

View the complete July 31 article by Jefferson Morley on the National Memo website here.

Trump says Washington Post should apologize to McConnell over ‘Russian asset’ column

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Tuesday said The Washington Post should apologize to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after it published an opinion piece titled “Mitch McConnell is a Russian asset” that criticized the senator’s opposition to election security legislation.

“I think The Washington Post is a Russian asset by comparison,” Trump told reporters as he left the White House for a trip to Virginia.

“Mitch McConnell loves our country. He’s done a great job,” Trump added, noting that he did not read the piece. “If they actually said that, that Mitch McConnell is an asset of Russia, they ought to be ashamed of themselves, and they ought to apologize.”

View the complete July 30 article by Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

Trump May Convene Meeting Of World Leaders At His Own Resort

Trump’s golf club in Doral, Florida, is reportedly among the finalists to host the G-7 international summit.

Axios reported on Monday that Trump National Doral is in the running after the Trump administration “completed site surveys of possible locations, and is down to its final few choices.”

If the decision is made to host the meeting at his club, Trump stands to generate income for himself.

View the complete July 22 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Trump wants to profit off meeting with world leaders

He wants to host the G7 at his Doral golf club.

President Donald Trump has yet more plans to try to personally profit off his presidency. According to Axios, one of the top location choices for hosting the G7 summit next year is Trump’s Doral golf resort near Miami.

If the summit were held there, it might be the single biggest windfall of Trump’s presidency for his businesses. Though he’s hosted individual foreign leaders in the past at Mar-a-Lago — and plenty have stayed at his hotel in Washington, D.C. — the G7 summit would bring leaders and their staff from the top economic powers in the world. Equipping the facility with the proper security for such a summit would surely come at great taxpayer expense.

As a frame of reference, the United States last hosted the G7 in 2012, with President Barack Obama using Camp David as the location, which is already equipped to provide such security.

View the complete July 22 article by Zack Ford on the ThinkProgress website here.

Trump blasts ‘bonkers’ media spewing ‘Radical Left Democrat views’

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Monday lashed out at the media, targeting The Washington Post in particular, as he remained fixated on coverage of his ongoing attacks on four progressive congresswomen.

In a series of tweets, the president claimed the “Mainstream Media” has “gone bonkers” and accused the media of pushing “Radical Left Democrat views.”

“It has never been this bad,” Trump tweeted. “They have gone bonkers, & no longer care what is right or wrong. This large scale false reporting is sick!”

View the complete July 22 article by Bret Samuels on The Hill website here.

What the Founding Fathers would say about Trump’s mangling of the Constitution

AlterNet logoIn September 1993, Bill Clinton came to Congress to deliver an address on health care reform. But the wrong speech was in the teleprompter. This would have been an epic calamity for the current occupant of the executive mansion but President Clinton adroitly ad-libbed and remained on topic for some ten minutes while the problem was fixed.

I knew the operator who was running the prompter that night. I worked with him at the White House on several occasions during Clinton’s first term—a good guy and a consummate professional. Nevertheless, he never lived down that momentary gaffe.

In September 1993, Bill Clinton came to Congress to deliver an address on health care reform. But the wrong speech was in the teleprompter. This would have been an epic calamity for the current occupant of the executive mansion but President Clinton adroitly ad-libbed and remained on topic for some ten minutes while the problem was fixed.

I knew the operator who was running the prompter that night. I worked with him at the White House on several occasions during Clinton’s first term—a good guy and a consummate professional. Nevertheless, he never lived down that momentary gaffe.

View the complete July 14 article by Michael Winship from Common Dreams on the AlterNet website here.

‘This is bizarre’: Trump flagrantly contradicts his own administration on census forms

AlterNet logoPresident Donald Trump contradicted two of his cabinet agencies to deny “fake” reports that his administration had agreed to print census forms without a citizenship question.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that the Trump administration had not offered a compelling legal argument to include the question, and the president at first claimed the White House lawyer would seek to delay the census process.

But the Department of Justice and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said this week the administration would go ahead and print forms without the question to meet the constitutionally mandated deadline.

View the complete July 3 article by Travis Gettys from Raw Story on the AlterNet website here.

Trump: Commerce, Justice positions on Census are ‘FAKE’

Administration officials said census would go forward without citizenship question

Contradicting his own Justice and Commerce departments, President Donald Trump on Wednesday said his administration is moving ahead with an effort to place a citizenship question on the census amid a fierce legal battle.

After the Supreme Court called the administration’s census plan “contrived,” administration officials on Tuesday said they were dropping the proposal. But the president tweeted Wednesday he will continue the push.

Despite his own subordinates saying the citizenship question effort had been scrapped, the president called media reports of their plans to end the push “incorrect or, to state it differently, FAKE!”

View the complete July 3 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.