President-elect Donald Trump may be handing over the reins of his global real estate empire to his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump and to a longtime business executive, but he still risks violating the U.S. Constitution, some experts have warned.
Sheri Dillon, a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the law firm she said Donald Trump Sr. directed “to design a structure for his business empire,” told reporters Wednesday that the financial trust Trump signed would “completely isolate [Trump] from the management of the company.”
“The Constitution does not require President-elect Trump to do anything here, but just like with conflicts of interest, he wants to do more than what the Constitution requires,” she said. “He is going to voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the United States Treasury. This way it is the American people who will profit.”
Legal experts, however, tell ABC News that the plan fails to comply with the Constitution by not adequately separating the future president from his myriad business interests.
Constitutional law expert and Harvard professor Laurence Tribe argues that Trump will be “a walking, tweeting violation” of the Constitution from the moment he takes office.
“His lawyer wouldn’t get a passing grade in constitutional law,” Tribe told ABC News. “From the very moment he takes the oath, he will be violating a provision of the Constitution that he takes an oath to uphold every minute of every day.”
It all comes down to the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which forbids elected officials, including the president, from accepting gifts from a foreign government.
“Emolument” is a fancy word that means compensation, profit or benefit.
With a business empire that spans the world and includes a network of real estate properties and hotels that are patronized by representatives of foreign governments, ethics experts say Trump needs to divest himself from the company to be in compliance with the nation’s laws.
I saw what Trump and his representative said.
It is a lot more complicated than a blind trust. If he completely severed all ties and sold it outright, the value (without his name) is greatly diminished.
Meanwhile Soros and company has paid millions to dem operatives who have benefited greatly. But nothing to see there.
i don’t recall the O admin removing themselves from the boards, of any of the foundations they sit on, that also receive taxpayer money
Just declare soros a domestic terrorist and 80% of our problems are gone. Seize All his assets.
I got as far as “ABC news says” before I knew it was bullshit.
but there was no intent found on the part of hillary and her e-mails.
was there any intent found for trump, otherwise no persecutor would take the case, I have comey’s word on that.
Isn’t Tribe the one who said Electors will “vote their conscience” and not vote for Trump or was that another Ivy League law professor expert idiot?
Now the mainstream media are concerned about the Constitution? These people really are clueless on what hypocritical fools they are.
Where was ABC while the “Pen and Phone” trashed our constitution for the last eight years?
It’s fun to watch the pony-tailed law profs and bespectacled TV lefties throw the word “emoluments” around like they knew what it meant the day before yesterday. Who knew that the droll little Emoluments Clause would one day outshine the 2nd Amendment? Maybe they can get a recently unemployed adjunct professor of Constitutional law to give a tutorial on “Emoluments and Trump” next month.
He might be the first to lose money by going into politics! They are insane.
Really strange how the Constitutionality of a presidents actions are front and center now that our Constitutional “scholar” is leaving office.
Gee Wally, you would think that a Constitutional Law Professor shouda brought that up months ago during the election. How come they’re just bringing that up now seven days before that Trump guy is gonna be sworn in? Wont that cause a whole bunch of problems?
I dont know, Beeve, maybe it just skipped their mind. You know if a college professor says something it’s got to be true. Now go to sleep before I have to slug you one.
Larry tribe is a shining example of judicial activism. He’s tormented the wording and intent of laws since he left law school. Yet he never let out a peep about Obozo and his criminal acts. Larry, I wish you a long and torturous struggle with terminal anal polyps.
But having Bill & Chelsea run the “Clinton Foundation” while Hillary was Senator & SOS was OK?
Larry Tribe wouldn’t make a pimple on a real experts ass – he is a leftard hack
The “emoluments” clause is a dead letter.
I believe Mrs. Clinton violated it several times with impunity – as a Senator and later as Secretary of State – so that must now be the “precedent” as it “preceded” Mr. Trump’s election.
Mr. Tribe is a socialist hack who is completely and irrevocably blind to the criminalities and excesses of any, and all, socialists and their criminal conspirators. He has been completely silent, for example, on Obola’s, Jarret’s, and Soros’ “investments” in pharmaceuticals prior to the “bird flu” epidemic and ObolaCare as well as the “vote farming” among the slums owned by Jarrett and others, paid by the taxpayers.
He has, indeed, a very select indignation.
izlamo delenda est …
Constitutional requirements are merely a social construct
As if ABC gives a damn about the Constitution.
ABC reporting what some leftist Harvard kook says? More fake news.
Right and they told the Kennedy’s they had to divest themselves from everything too. Give it a rest already. Just BS to keep him illegitimate and impeachable from day 1.
No lawyer here but isn’t getting benefits or payment from a foreign government (See Hillary Clinton getting $$$ from leaders) different from reaping profits from a competitive, legal business in a foreign land? Those profits are from people freely deciding to lodge or eat at his hotels.
No lawyer here but isn’t getting benefits or payment from a foreign government (See Hillary Clinton getting $$$ from leaders) different from reaping profits from a competitive, legal business in a foreign land? Those profits are from people freely deciding to lodge or eat at his hotels.
Kennedy, Roosevelt, John Kerry, all the fat cat, hypocritical congress persons- peloton, Reid and on and on. They all swear to uphold the Constitition!
George Washington had the largest whiskey business in the Colonies and later the USA which sold to the British and Canada during his lifetime. He had a coastal flour shipping business and a flour milling business plus sold cotton to the world. This whole disgusting Left wing argument is not just about Trump, it would create a Mandarin Class of government not populated by and with an Animus towards the businessman. This is the goal. Hillary the Vile became a Billionaire by trading influence but that seems to be OK…note that her Foundation is never included in her Net Worth figures even though it will hire and enrich her family for a 1000 years. Trump is already falling into the traps by not taking a salary, hindering the hotel income etc…The Left will still pound him into sand and destroy his life, it is what they do and as Sociopathic Democrats, it is all that they know how to do..
So… WHERE WAS ALL THIS ETHICAL CONCERN WHEN HILLARY WAS SECRETARY OF STATE?
I man, talk about CONFLICT of INTEREST!!??!!!!
Yesterday, in Trump’s press conference, he said that any profits from foreign government representatives staying in his hotels will be donated directly to the US treasury.
Here, EMOLUMENT THIS! Arseholes.
Stupid. Journalists and constitutional law “experts” don’t know the difference between bribery and commerce. The constitution does not demand that presidents have no connection to business or that they depend only on their presidential paycheck.
What Prof Hale said.
So is this Laurence Tribe a “Constitutional Law Professor” like Obama was? You know, where Obama taught a class in constitutional law to try to pick up a few bucks, where what he taught was one step up from a TA? I wonder how many layers of crap ABC had to turn over to find this one?
It’s time for the FCC to look into corporate network news.
May be time to bust up some big corporate media monopolies and mega conglomerates.
If presented right, I believe 70%+ of the American public would applaud.
T
Also time to break up the Tenure system that allows commie infiltrators like Larry Tribe to flourish in public institutions in the taxpayers dime.
Trump’s new DoEduc Secretary can announce that Tenure is a matter of choice for each individual school.
However, effective immediately, schools that do not immediately renounce Tenure will forfeit all Federal financial programs.
No government research contracts.
No Federal grants or subsidies.
No Federally-insured student loans allowed for tuition. That’s the real nuclear option.
Employees of any institution receiving any type of Federal funds, especially faculty, who advocate for crimes or violent acts (“white genocide”, “hey I need some muscle over here!”) will be subject to immediate dismissal. On pain of immediate loss of all Federal funds. Indefinitely.
This will be necessary to take back our public higher education from the Left.
MAGA.
Tribe is the Ivy League law professor expert idiot who, with the assistance of one Barack Hussein Obama, wrote “The Curvature of Constitutional Space: What Lawyers Can Learn from Modern Physics”. It is said that Tribe acknowledged the assistance of Obama on the physics part in particular.
The mind reels at the thought of the Coryphaeus of Science’s musings on physics, but even more in pondering the breathtaking stupidity of anyone who’d look to him as an authority on the subject. Or constitutional law either, for that matter.
Lawrence Tribe is an idiot.
According to Tribe, public officials are constitutionally limited to making money the old fashioned way – through bribery, pay for play and laundered “campaign contributions.” This explains how the Clintons, who claimed to be broke when they left the White House, can now be worth over $200 million dollars. It explains how Harry Reid, a public servant all of his life, can become a millionaire on a government salary. It explains how the Kennedy clan can remain rich even though few of them have had a real job since Joe quit bootlegging.
We know Donald Trump is rich, and that he has business interests world wide. As his attorney said, this is a reason many people voted for him – he was a successful businessman. The left, and in particular leftist politicians (I’m look at you, Bernie Sanders) need to look at the domestic corruption in our government instead of whining about emoluments and worrying about the improbable influence of foreign governments on a President whose private enterprise occasionally makes a buck from foreign officials. Besides, the United States is the big dog in the world – we buy far more influence than they can.
@Moe Tom January 13, 2017 at 11:50 am
For some reason that sounds so… drrty.
This got me to thinking; any guesses who will be the first dimocrat to attempt to file articles of impeachment against DJT? Or will it come from McStain of Gramnesty?
Tony,
I bet on lefty John. Whye should a Dem do something so clearly bogus; when John is such a tool?
Old Rod
@TWP, I’m kind of surprised he didn’t thank Bill Ayers because if Obama’s name is on it, Bill Ayers wrote it.
When ABC talks, nobody listens.
Lil’ bammie’s crying in his pot, as the End is Nigh for him !!
So let me see if I have this straight….I’m born in the land of the free, make it big, run for President and if I win I have to give it all up? Yeah, no. Stupid libs.