Court Dismisses Emoluments-Clause Suit against Trump

A federal appeals court handed President Trump a legal victory Wednesday, dismissing a long-running lawsuit alleging that Trump illegally profits from his official position when foreign dignitaries and diplomats stay at his Washington, D.C. hotel.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit unanimously ruled that the attorney generals of Maryland and the District of Columbia lacked the legal standing to bring a suit alleging that Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by continuing to profit from his hotel’s foreign clientele.

“The District and Maryland’s interest in enforcing the Emoluments Clauses is so attenuated and abstract that their prosecution of this case readily provokes the question of whether this action against the President is an appropriate use of the courts, which were created to resolve real cases and controversies between the parties,” Judge Paul Niemeyer wrote in the 36-page opinion.

Trump immediately celebrated the ruling on Twitter, applying his trademark “witch hunt” label to the lawsuit.

The Democratic plaintiffs, Maryland attorney general Brian Frosh and D.C. attorney general Karl Racine, said they would consider seeking a rehearing before a full panel of the Fourth Circuit and said that the case may eventually reach the Supreme Court. But the pair now face an uphill battle considering Wednesday’s rejection of their argument that Trump’s ownership in the hotel diverts business that would otherwise go to other comparable local establishments.