David Post on The Volokh Conspiracy summarizes the finding of Maryland federal district court’s Judge Messitte that the suit by the Attorneys General of Maryland and D.C. concerning foreign emoluments paid to the President can continue:
So when a foreign government makes payments to the Trump Organization for the use of the facilities at the Trump Hotel in Washington – as several have done – this is an “emolument … from [a] foreign State” and therefore violates the Foreign Emoluments Clause. Similarly, the benefits received under the lease issued to the Trump Organization by the federal government for the operation of the Trump Hotel constitutes an “Emolument from the United States,” in violation of the Domestic E.C. …
The court adopted the broader reading pressed by the Plaintiffs, and I have to say that, at least on first reading, I find its analysis to be awfully persuasive. Judge Messitte looks pretty carefully both at internal, textual consistency and the “original public meaning” of the term at the time of the ratification of the Constitution, and all evidence – including pretty overwhelming evidence from Founding-era dictionaries and legal texts – does seem to point to the broader interpretation. …
But however this knotty little problem of constitutional interpretation is ultimately resolved, the ruling means that the suit will proceed for the time being. The political fallout from this ruling could be quite substantial, to put it mildly. Not because it will reveal any “emoluments” that haven’t already been reported on, but because the court could now allow the parties to proceed to discovery, and that could be the first time that the public gets a close look inside the Trump financial empire – at Trump’s tax returns, for example, which would almost certainly be relevant evidence in regard to the nature and scope of the payments that Trump has received to date. I think it is fair to say that that prospect makes Trump very unhappy; I can’t imagine many things he wants less than to have the Attorneys General of DC and Maryland poking around in his financial records. Those of us who harbor serious doubts about our President’s integrity and law-abiding nature have believed for a while that he’s hiding something in there, and we may be about to find out whether we’re right or not.
It’s a Gordian knot of a problem for Trump – to let go the profits he’s supposedly making on his businesses, or to let the process of discovery reveal the inner workings of his empire. The possibilities in the latter are endless – gross incompetency as a business manager, near bankruptcy destroying his mythical reputation, dubious loans from foreign sources … the Trump base will take a lot, but if the wrong thing popped up in those financial records, he could suddenly become dust on the breeze.
But will the judge permit discovery while the inevitable appeals drags on? I hope so, because the potential real damages to the nation are immediate and need to be stopped, if in fact they exist.
And, sure, I have a morbid interest as well.
