Trump Beats Maryland, DC

Appeals Court Orders Dismissal Of Emoluments Lawsuit Against Trump

A constitutional challenge to President Trump's continued ownership of his businesses has been ordered dismissed by a federal appeals court.

The case was brought by the attorneys general of Washington, D.C., and Maryland, arguing that Trump had violated the domestic and foreign emoluments clauses of the U.S. Constitution by accepting money from state and foreign governments via his Washington hotel and business empire.

A three-judge panel at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit ruled unanimously that the attorneys general did not have the standing to bring the lawsuit and instructed a lower court to dismiss the lawsuit.

Judge Paul Niemeyer wrote in the opinion: "The District and Maryland's interest in enforcing the Emoluments Clauses is so attenuated and abstract that their prosecution of this case readily provokes the question of whether this action against the President is an appropriate use of the courts, which were created to resolve real cases and controversies between the parties."

The president had filed motions to dismiss the case on the grounds that the District and Maryland lacked standing and argued that he has not received emoluments as prohibited by the Constitution.

I understand emoluments to be pay for government officials to do acts withing their political purview, essentially, bribes to do their jobs. Certainly, George Washington was a businessman before, during and after his presidency, and since the US was an exporter of most of the things his plantations produced,  its almost certain that he sold to foreign buyers. I doubt the founders considered those sorts of transactions to be "emoluments."

Thanks for wasting my money on this, AG Frosh.