The Supreme Court tossed two lawsuits accusing former President Donald Trump of violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution on Monday, ending a roughly four-year legal battle over the former president’s businesses.
One of the lawsuits was filed by a watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), the day after Trump was inaugurated in 2017. The attorneys general of District of Columbia and Maryland brought a similar lawsuit in June of that year, according to Politico.
The lawsuits claimed that Trump was violating the Emoluments Clause prohibition against foreign bribes, which prohibits elected office-holders from receiving payments of any kind from foreign agents without the approval of Congress. The plaintiffs argued that anytime a foreign dignitary or official stayed at or patronized a business owned by Trump, such as the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., that constituted an unapproved payment.
All parties involved in both cases said the issue at the center of the lawsuits is now moot since Trump is out of office. The Supreme Court’s ruling also negated lower court rulings that the cases could move forward with discovery, according to Bloomberg.- READ MORE
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