The U.S. Department of Justice argued Friday that President Trump’s businesses are legally permitted to accept payments from foreign governments while he is in office, and thus Trump is not in violation of a constitutional clause barring the acceptance of emoluments. Otherwise, they argued, presidents going back to George Washington would have run afoul of the rules barring domestic and foreign emoluments. Justice Department attorneys referenced a series of Washington’s letters and speeches to support their argument. The Justice Department argued that the claims by the restaurant group and the competing hotel worker didn’t provide sufficient allegations. Chad A. Readler, acting assistant attorney general, filed the brief for the Justice Department along with Jennifer D. Ricketts, Anthony J. Coppolino, Jean Lin and James R. Powers.

Source: Washington Post June 10, 2017 01:10 UTC