Series: Trump, Inc.
An Emoluments Suit Against Trump Is Moving Ahead. We Spoke to a Plaintiff About What's Next. — "Trump, Inc." Podcast Extra
We interview the District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine about the suit, what it might uncover and why the Founding Fathers put the Emoluments Clause in the Constitution.
Nov. 14, 2018, 4 a.m. EST
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine after speaking about filing a lawsuit that claims President Donald Trump has violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, on June 12, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
Exploring the Business of Trump
Find "Trump, Inc." wherever you get your podcasts.
There's lots of talk about congressional investigations of the Trump administration that may be coming. Meanwhile, there is already a push to pull back the veil on the president's conflicts. And it's making progress.
This month, a federal judge ruled that Maryland and Washington, D.C., can move ahead with a lawsuit claiming the president has violated the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which bars presidents from accepting payments from foreign and state governments without congressional approval. That means the president may soon have to turn over all sorts of documents related to his businesses.
We spoke about the case with one of the lawyers behind it, District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine.
Racine explains that the Emoluments Clause is the "country's first anticorruption law." The framers created it to "ensure that a president the United States as well as other federal officers would be loyal to the interest of the United States, not to their purses or to their pocketbooks."
The Department of Justice has fought the case, disputing that the president is violating the Emoluments Clause. "This case, which should have been dismissed, presents important questions that warrant immediate appellate review," a department spokesman said after the judge's order.
Racine also talked with us about what exact documents they're hoping to get, and the time a Republican Congress investigated whether another president was receiving emoluments. (He wasn't.)
Listen to the whole episode.
Get More Trump, Inc.
Stay up to date with email updates from WNYC and ProPublica about their ongoing investigations.
You can contact us via Signal, WhatsApp or voicemail at 347-244-2134. Here's more about how you can contact us securely.
You can always email us at [email protected].
And finally, you can use the postal service:
Trump Inc at ProPublica
155 Ave of the Americas, 13th Floor
"Trump, Inc." is a production of WNYC Studios and ProPublica. Support our work by visiting donate.propublica.org or by becoming a supporting member of WNYC. Subscribe here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Eric Umansky is a deputy managing editor for ProPublica.
@ericuman