In a legal victory for the White House, a federal appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a challenge from the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C. over the issue of emoluments, ruling that those two governments had no right to bring such a lawsuit against the President of the United States.
"The District and Maryland's interest in enforcing the Emoluments Clause 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," wrote a three judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a 36 page opinion, the judges said the case simply boiled down to the question of whether Maryland and D.C. had the legal right to bring such a case.
"The District and Maryland do not have Article III standing to pursue their claims against the President," the judges ruled.
Breaking: US appeals court orders *dismissal* of emoluments case brought against Trump by Maryland, DC attorneys general. OPINION: https://t.co/T5Fnv21W9O Trump's separate appeal still pending in DC Circuit https://t.co/JzrhA1fscU pic.twitter.com/XIOTZMUoW3
— Mike Scarcella (@MikeScarcella) July 10, 2019
Maryland and D.C. had argued that President Trump was violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, because his hotels and other properties were getting money from government entities, both foreign and domestic.
That issue came up as part of the blow back to President Trump's decision to hold the G7 Summit next year at his Doral Resort near Miami.
Facing criticism in both parties, the President decided against hosting the G7 at Doral, as he told reporters talk of him lining his pockets by hosting the event were overblown.
"You people, with this phony Emoluments Clause," the President told reporters as he conducted a Cabinet Meeting on Monday at the White House.
Democrats in both the House and Senate have now introduced legislation which would block President Trump from hosting summits or meetings with foreign heads of state as any Trump properties.
Shame on all the President’s men who sat silently around the Cabinet table while he lied about the "phony emoluments clause." Nothing phony about the SWAMP Act, which will prohibit Donald Trump’s profiting off the presidency. https://t.co/YWMYd6csC2
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) October 22, 2019
While the President won this round, there are still legal challenges on the issue, with a hearing set for early December in a separate case before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Cox Media Group
