Trump hotels exempted from ban on foreign payments under new stance

[Ramsey Barner]

Source: The Guardian

A narrow justice department interpretation of the emoluments clause gives countries leeway to curry favor with the president via commercial deals

The Department of Justice has adopted a narrow interpretation of a law meant to bar foreign interests from corrupting federal officials, giving Saudi Arabia, China and other countries leeway to curry favor with Donald Trump via deals with his hotels, condos, trademarks and golf courses, legal and national security experts say.

The so-called foreign emoluments clause was intended to curb presidents and other government officials from accepting gifts and benefits from foreign governments unless Congress consents.

But in a forthcoming article in the Indiana Law Journal, the Washington University Law professor Kathleen Clark reveals justice department filings have recently changed tack. The new interpretation, Clark says, is contained in justice filings responding to recent lawsuits lodged by attorneys generals and members of Congress.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/apr/09/dojs-new-stance-on-foreign-payments-or-gifts-to-trump-blurs-lines-experts

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Trump is getting his money's worth out of Barr.

[Baitball Blogger]

1. They're so fucking compromised.

A government within a government.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Hmm, is it possible they think they are above the law?

(yes)

[FiveGoodMen]

18. They ARE above the law if we don't/can't punish them

[NNYCDN51]

2. And the beat goes on .....

Fuck the Law ... I'm tRump the First


Keep On Thinking Free

[Still In Wisconsin]

3. So basically the Executive Branch is now part and parcel to the Trump organization.

Princess Ivanka and Prince Jared are going to LOOOOOVE this!

[Cartaphelius]

4. Narrow?

I would never call Barr narrow...

We are at war, act like it.

[mountain grammy]

16. Agree!

[MrsMatt]

6. This whole administration

is corrupt as f*&%.

[iluvtennis]

20. Ditto

[Pepsidog]

7. Holy F*ck!!

[jmowreader]

8. If the emoluments law is designed to keep the president from becoming corrupt, it isn't needed now

The president we have was corrupt before he decided to run for president, he was corrupt while he was running, and he's even more corrupt now.

At this point the Framers of the Constitution are sitting wherever dead framers sit and saying to themselves, "I know we put an orderly procedure for removing a criminal president in the Constitution to keep the citizenry from taking matters into their own hands as happened in Europe so many times...but none of us ever counted on Donald Fucking Trump!"

Two hundred years ago, a man like Trump would have been shunned by any community he tried to move to. They wouldn't have put up with his shit for any reason. Now he's a certifiable (in more ways than one) hero to WAY too many of our citizens.

[erronis]

13. Donald Fucking Trump - or to abbreviate: dFt.

I sense that there will be a dramatic conclusion to this tragedy.

Not sure if the losers will be trumpRepuglicons, or the rest of the country/world.

[pansypoo53219]

9. SWAMPY.

[muntrv]

10. Time to use the power of the purse on Barr.

[Lonestarblue]

11. Isn't Barr once again usurping the Congressional role and power?

The Constitution says, “And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, 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.”

How is Barr allowed to make this decision on emoluments when the law clearly says “without the consent of Congress?” Congress has not consented, and someone needs to remind Barr that hebis not Congress.

[Varaddem]

15. Can they take it to court?

WTF! And bids start at half $1 billion to influence our foreign policy from the looks of it.

[Ford_Prefect]

12. Once again Ketchup is a vegetable...

[Texin]

14. This is a lot worse than ketchup as a vegetable.

[Ford_Prefect]

21. It is exactly the same disingenuous reasoning for exactly the same purpose.

They are doing it, illegally in my view, to support their perversion of the truth and to legitimate their tenure. Yes I know about the fantastic amounts of money involved, and their influence pedaling. This is as much about making all things Trump says true as it is about avoiding legal dire straits.

The principle purpose for doing this is it makes them right and anyone trying to apply reason wrong, just as they have done elsewhere in government. I suspect this will not stand legal challenge since it was composed by Barr and presumes to make a special legal class out of the Trump owned properties. Can you imagine if they were told to apply the same standard to properties owned by a Democratic supporter?

[moonseller66]

17. and so it begins...

this means Republican Senators and Congress people can keep all the Russian Money they got from the NRA and Vlad the Prepayer?

The real embarrassment isn't Trump...it's the Republicans in Congress who support this POS. People need to call those who represent (resent?) them and tell them to their faces they are an embarrassment to us and this country and just maybe they should all emigrate to Russia or China or Saudi Arabia.

I'll gladly drive them to their Boeing Max 8 Flights!

Republican politicians...the REAL American Terrorists!

[world wide wally]

19. So now we change the law to please this asshole?

Fuck you, GOP

[sinkingfeeling]

22. Wait just a cotton pickin' minute. We're talking about Article1, Section 9, Clause 8

of the US Constitution. How can the DOJ reinterpret that? I thought that was the responsibility of the SCOTUS.