Trump Financials Targeted by Democrats Suing Over Emoluments

(Bloomberg) -- Congressional Democrats told a Washington federal judge they want to examine President Donald Trump’s finances and revenue sources as they pursue their claim that he is being enriched by foreign governments without their consent, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.

The disclosure came Tuesday in a filing outlining how the Democrats and the Justice Department see the 2017 lawsuit playing out. Justice Department lawyers representing Trump told U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan they want the case put on hold, at least until he decides whether to let them appeal his refusal to throw out the lawsuit.

The nearly 200 Democratic lawmakers led by Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal aren’t having it, arguing that any hold on the proceedings will enable the president to avoid accountability.

"If the president succeeds in running out the clock, an entire presidential term will have gone by with the nation’s highest officeholder making countless foreign policy decisions while under a cloud of potentially divided loyalty and compromised judgment caused by his enrichment from foreign states," the lawmakers said.

The Democrats want Sullivan to decide whether Trump is violating the Constitution’s so-called foreign emoluments clause and, if he is, bar him from accepting such foreign government-derived benefits without the prior consent of Congress. The president’s lawyers say any money that is flowing into his businesses is doing so legally.

Trump said he only wants to put the case on hold while the judge considers his request to let him appeal, and if the judge allows him to to seek appellate review, to keep it on hold pending the appeal.

If the appeal goes forward, “it would be particularly appropriate to stay proceedings in order to avoid the potentially improper exercise of jurisdiction in a suit against the President in his official capacity," according to Trump’s filing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Heather Smith at hsmith26@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider, Steve Stroth

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