Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

With Trump gone, U.S. Supreme Court pulls plug on anti-corruption cases

Published 01/25/2021, 10:08 AM
Updated 01/25/2021, 01:00 PM
© Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport

© Reuters. U.S. President Donald Trump arrives at Palm Beach International Airport

By Andrew Chung

(Reuters) - Five days after the end of Donald Trump's presidency, the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday halted lawsuits accusing him of violating the U.S. Constitution's anti-corruption provisions by maintaining ownership of his business empire including a hotel near the White House while in office.

The action means that after four years of litigation the top U.S. judicial body will not rule on the meaning and scope of the Constitution's so-called emoluments provisions, a largely untested area of constitutional law. The provisions bar presidents from accepting gifts or payments from foreign and state governments without congressional approval.

The justices threw out lower court rulings that had allowed the lawsuits to proceed and ordered the two cases dismissed because they became moot with Trump leaving office. One of the cases was filed by the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland, while the other by plaintiffs including the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). Trump had appealed the lower court rulings.

"Only Trump losing the presidency and leaving office ended these corrupt constitutional violations and stopped these groundbreaking lawsuits," CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine said in a joint statement that their case was significant because a lower court "ruled on the meaning of 'emoluments' for the first time in American history."

Frosh and Racine said Trump and his Justice Department appointees who defended him "went to extreme lengths to prevent us from uncovering the true extent of his corruption."

The Justice Department, now under Democratic President Joe Biden's administration, declined to comment on the Supreme Court's action.

In one of the cases, plaintiffs including CREW, a hotel owner and a restaurant trade group said the Republican former president's failure to disentangle himself from his businesses had made him vulnerable to inducements by officials seeking to curry favor.

The plaintiffs said that they lost patronage, wages and commissions from clients who chose Trump's businesses over theirs because of the ability to gain his favor. After a federal judge initially threw out the case, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived it in 2019.

A 2020 decision by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the similar lawsuit by the District of Columbia and Maryland to proceed. That suit focused on the Trump International Hotel in Washington, which became a favored lodging and event space for some foreign and state officials visiting Washington.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Trump International Hotel is seen in Washington

A third lawsuit filed by congressional Democrats against Trump ended last year after the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal of a lower court ruling that the lawmakers lacked the necessary legal standing to pursue the case.

Latest comments

Looks like the current u.s. supreme court prefers golf to work.
Cases mount, the orange criminal will get his time in jail anyway
It's not because there's no punishment described in the Constitution if he's guilty. The only punishment is political which would be impeachment and that's already happening.
it's moot because...
if anyone ever read the actual part of the Constitution in question...
So if one steals from an employer and then quits that employer, the theft should not be proecuted because the thief is no longer employed.
The only punishment for Emoluments is impeachment and that's already happening.
Not a “moot” issue for the future of this country
Using the left logic, no one should be allowed political donation, fund raising events, etc. all of those activities r corruptions if u look deep.
loool...if only you had any logic mate...laws and rules around this are clear ..he broke them but as usual hes excelent at stalling justice
The USA is in a poor state of law and order. Why have rules if you can bend them the way you like. Maybe just scrap this rule so all presidents can enrich themselves while in Office.
we need new laws to prevent Trump in the future if the courts are so slow and feeble that they csnt handle a clear case in 4 years...he got away with dozens of obvious examples of corruption then refuses to accept defeat and starts and insurrection. total fail by the courts.
you must be afraid that he will be back in office after the next election
you must be a ***mr russian troll
The cases have no merit. Did he receive money? There is no proof.
 Soo what. He made his money before he became President unlike that thief in there now who sold out out country for personal gain.
 "Soo what. He made his money before he became President...." - when you said he made money I know you actually meant he lost like a billion dollars in 5 years......
silence dog, there's Plenty of proof. otherwise the courts would not have taken up and examined the claims and issued judgement. against him. is not solvent on paper he may not be a billionare.
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.