Lawsuit: Trump business ties violate Constitution

FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl at a rally in Las Vegas. Trump’s scathing criticism of Bergdahl will prevent the soldier from getting a fair trial on charges he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan, Bergdahl’s attorneys said Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. In a motion filed shortly after Trump was sworn in, defense lawyers asked a military judge to dismiss the charges against Bergdahl and argued the Republican violated his due process rights and military law against unlawful command influence. (AP Photo/John Locher)
FILE - In this Dec. 14, 2015 file photo, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks about Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl at a rally in Las Vegas. Trump’s scathing criticism of Bergdahl will prevent the soldier from getting a fair trial on charges he endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan, Bergdahl’s attorneys said Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. In a motion filed shortly after Trump was sworn in, defense lawyers asked a military judge to dismiss the charges against Bergdahl and argued the Republican violated his due process rights and military law against unlawful command influence. (AP Photo/John Locher)

NEW YORK — To fight what it called a "grave threat" to the country, a watchdog group on Monday filed a lawsuit alleging that President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution by allowing his business to accept payments from foreign governments.

The lawsuit claims that Trump is violating a clause in the Constitution that prohibits him from receiving money from diplomats for stays at his hotels or foreign governments for leases of office space in his buildings. The language in the clause is disputed by legal experts, and some think the suit will fail.

Trump called the lawsuit "without merit, totally without merit" after he signed some of his first executive actions Monday in the Oval Office.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed the lawsuit in the Southern District of New York.

The group is being represented by two former White House chief ethics lawyers: Norman Eisen, who advised Barack Obama, and Richard Painter, who worked under George W. Bush. The two have expressed frustration that Trump has refused to take their recommendation and divest from his business, and feel they had no choice but to take legal action.

"As the Framers were aware, private financial interests can subtly sway even the most virtuous leaders," the lawsuit argues, "and entanglements between American officials and foreign powers could pose a creeping, insidious threat to the Republic."

White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks said that "the president has no conflicts," and referred to arguments made by Trump lawyer Sheri Dillon at the president's press conference earlier this month.

Dillon has said the framers did not intend for the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution to ban fair-value exchanges, such as money for use of venue space or rooms at a hotel.

They didn't think "paying your hotel bill was an emolument," Dillon said at a news conference.

Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

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