Justice Department Declares Foreign Payments to Trump Are Legal

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, has responded to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), who brought suit against Trump in January, alleging that he violated the emoluments clause because his real estate and hotels accept payments from foreign governments.

Trump’s own Justice Department announced it has cleared Trump saying his businesses are legally permitted to accept payments from foreign governments while he is in office, and Trump is not in violation of a constitutional clause barring the acceptance of emoluments.

“Neither the text nor the history of the Clauses shows that they were intended to reach benefits arising from a President’s private business pursuits having nothing to do with his office or personal service to a foreign power,” the administration argued.

“Were Plaintiffs’ interpretation correct, Presidents from the very beginning of the Republic, including George Washington, would have received prohibited ‘emolument.’”

In its response, the Justice Department wrote that “CREW’s voluntary decision to focus on its opposition to the President’s financial holdings does not constitute a concrete, judicially cognizable” injury.

Furthermore, DOJ asked Judge Ronnie Abrams for the U.S. District Court in Southern New York to dismiss the suit “for lack of subject matter jurisdiction or for failure to state a claim.”

People took to Twitter to argue against the DOJ:

The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution reads, “No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.”

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and other countries have held state-sponsored events at Trump’s D.C. hotel, and other entities associated with foreign governments lend money to his businesses or lease space in his properties.