Ethics

Ethicists File Lawsuit Against Trump for Violating the Constitution

Written by SK Ashby

Ethics experts, former officials and lawyers said it as clearly as they can that Trump would be in violation of the Constitution on his first day in office if he did not fully divest from his businesses.

That time has come and a group of ethicists and legal scholars have filed a lawsuit to prove it in court.

For example, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is owned by the Chinese government, is a tenant at Trump Tower in New York, and its lease is due to expire during Trump's term, the suit says. This could mean that the Chinese government will be in negotiations with the Trump Organization to renew the lease.

Another tenant is the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which is owned by the government of the United Arab Emirates, the lawsuit notes.

The suit also says that Trump collects royalties from his TV show The Apprentice and its various spinoffs, many of which air on broadcast networks owned or controlled by foreign governments.

This barely scratches the surface of the ways in which Trump could be violating the Constitution and selling out the United States. The full extent to which he is a duplicitous traitor is actually unknowable because he never released his tax returns and congressional Republicans refuse to hold him accountable or even investigate his conflicts of interest and foreign holdings.

The consequences of Trump's conflicts of interest may already be playing out. Trump reportedly owes hundreds of millions of dollars to Chinese banks and Trump signed an executive order this morning to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). China is developing its own trade deal that excludes the United States and other countries in the region will have little reason not to sign it without us. Corks are undoubtedly popping in China tonight.

The legality of subpoenaing the president of the United States is not clear to me, but I would guess the group challenging Trump in court will ask to see his tax returns if doing so is legally possible.

You can read the lawsuit here.