Once again, Donald Trump used his platform to promote his own business, and a former U.S. attorney said on Monday that this is a “blatant violation of the Constitution.”
During an interview with MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, said, “Maybe you give him a pass when he doesn’t understand what the rules are, but he’s already been on notice that this is a violation of the law.”
She added, “To use the platform of the G7 to tout his bungalows in the form of, as you say, of an infomercial is absolutely a blatant violation of the Constitution.”
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McQuade said:
We’ve heard this before under the Emoluments Clause to the Constitution, it says that the president is not supposed to take things of value from foreign governments. The idea is that it would be a conflict of interest. His loyalty is supposed to be to the United States. We’ve seen some lawsuits on this theory relating to his hotel in Washington, D.C. There was a fourth circuit court of appeals opinion that dismissed that lawsuit but only on the basis of standing. It found that the attorneys general in Maryland and D.C. didn’t have standing. It has not addressed the merits. I think if a court were to address the merits by someone who has standing, we could see a lawsuit there or, as you say, grounds for impeachment. He is blatantly violating the Constitution. Maybe you give him a pass when he doesn’t understand what the rules are, but he’s already been on notice that this is a violation of the law and to use the platform of the G7 to tout his bungalows in the form of, as you say, of an infomercial is absolutely a blatant violation of the Constitution.
Time and again we have seen Donald Trump either ignore constitutional norms or simply violate them – but his behavior at the G7 summit could be his most blatant violation of the law yet.
As Barbara McQuade noted on Monday, Trump may be clueless about the Emoluments Clause, but after two and a half years in office and multiple legal challenges, he can no longer play dumb on this particular issue.
On Monday, he didn’t just use his presidential platform to boost his own resort. In this case, he did it while standing on the international stage with other world leaders. It’s one of his most blatant constitutional violations yet.
In a working democracy with two functioning political parties committed to the rule of law, Trump would face immediate legal repercussions or impeachment.
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