The three-hour hearing in Richmond was the first time that a full federal appeals court has considered the so-called emoluments or anticorruption clauses of the Constitution. The 15-member court in Richmond met to consider whether a three-judge appellate panel had wrongly dismissed a lawsuit over the Trump International Hotel brought by the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland. Once one of the nation’s more conservative benches, the court is now almost evenly made up of appointees by Republican and Democratic presidents. The emoluments clauses of the Constitution restrict the ability of federal officials to accept gifts or financial benefits from foreign or state governments. The local jurisdictions were trying to show that government officials who flock to the president’s hotel are showering him with illegal benefits and hurting hotels and convention centers in which Maryland and the District of Columbia have a financial interest.

Source: International New York Times December 12, 2019 23:53 UTC