TIME Magazine - Congress Should Impeach Donald Trump. By James Nelson & John Bonifaz
Nelson is a retired
Justice of the Montana Supreme Court and a member of the Legal Advisory
Committee for Free Speech For People. Bonifaz is the co-founder and president
of Free Speech For People.
It has been widely acknowledged that, upon swearing the Oath of Office, President Donald Trump would be in direct violation of
the foreign-emoluments
clause of the U.S. Constitution.
Never heard of the
foreign-emoluments clause? You’re not alone. It’s tucked away in Article I,
Section 9, of the Constitution. It's clause number 8. It states, in pertinent
part: "... no person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the
United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any
present, Emolument, Office or Title of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince
or foreign State.”
This clause was
included in the Articles of Confederation and, later, in the Constitution
itself. It was borne out of the Framers’ obsession with preventing in the newly
minted United States the sort of corruption that dominated 17th and 18th
century foreign politics and governments — characterized by gift-giving,
back-scratching, foreign interference in other countries and transactions that
might not lead to corruption but, nonetheless, could give the appearance of
impropriety.
Where Trump runs afoul
of the foreign-emoluments clause is that, first and foremost, he is a
businessman with significant financial interests and governmental entanglements
all over the globe. Indeed, as Norman Eisen, Richard Painter and Laurence Tribe
stated at the Brookings Institution, “Never in American history has a
[President] presented more conflict of interest questions and foreign
entanglements than Donald Trump.” Moreover, Trump’s businesses dealings are
veiled in complicated corporate technicalities and lack transparency.
The Trump
Organization does or has done business in Argentina, Azerbaijan,
Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Ireland,
Israel, Panama, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, St.
Martin, St. Vincent, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Uruguay.
And, while serving as President, Trump, through his interest in the Trump
Organization, will continue to receive monetary and other benefits from these
foreign powers and their agents.
Examples of existing
business arrangements that constitute violations of the foreign-emoluments
clause include: China’s state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is
the largest tenant in Trump Tower, and the state-owned Bank of
China is a major lender to Trump. Trump’s business partner in
Trump Tower Century City in Manila, Philippines is Century Properties, which is
run by Jose Antonio, who was just named special envoy to the
United States by the president of the Philippines. Further, many Trump
Organization projects abroad require foreign government permits and approvals,
which amount to substantial financial benefits that also constitute foreign
emoluments.
Presidents and public
officers often utilize blind trusts so as not to violate the foreign-emoluments
clause. A truly blind trust involves an arrangement wherein the public officer
has no control whatsoever over the assets placed in the trust — that means no
communications with, from or about the trust, and no knowledge of the specific
assets held for his benefit in the trust. In the case of Trump’s ownership in
the Trump Organization, this could be achieved only by a complete liquidation
of the assets, with the proceeds to be invested by an independent Trustee,
without Trump’s involvement or knowledge. Trump’s decision to continue the
business of the Trump Organization, continue to maintain his substantial
ownership of the organization and turn the management of it over to his
children, is woefully inadequate in addressing the emoluments clause.
Worse, taking the
position that the foreign-emoluments clause doesn’t even apply to him, Trump
has stated that: “I can be President of the United States and run my business
100 percent, sign checks on my business.” And: “The law is totally on my side,
meaning, the president can’t have a conflict of interest.”
To address this
unprecedented corruption of the Oval Office and this threat to our Constitution
and our democracy, we believe Congress must move forward now with an
impeachment investigation of President Trump. More than 575,000 people from
across the country have already called for this, joining a new campaign launched
moments after President Trump took the Oath of Office. The President’s possible
conflicts of interest have become increasingly apparent.
In the meantime,
instead of starting to “make America great again,” the 45th President should
read the Constitution and “make the President honest again.” After all, he swore to
uphold the Constitution.
see also
