Monday, June 12, 2017

D.C. and Maryland File Suite Against trump in Federal Court

I was prepared, this morning, to write about further evidence of obstruction of justice on the part of trump.  The area that I have been remiss in seeing is that Reince Priebus's pressence just outside the door to the Oval office (you know, the door next to the grandfather clock), along with many other staff members, raises the question for me of why were they all hanging around on the other side of that door?  But alas, I will need to address this question tomorrow, because today I have some really great news that I want to write about.

This morning, while driving to work, I heard, on NPR,  that the Attorneys General of Maryland and The District of Columbia are filing a joint suite against trump.  The suite "allege[s] that trump has violated anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution" per an article in the Washington Post.  A signed copy of the law suite, being filed by D.C Attorney General Karl A. Racine and Maryland Attorney General  Brian E. Frosh, was provided to the Washington Post last night, just ahead of the filing in Federal Court today.

 First of all ................ YES!

 Okay, now I want to look at what this is all about.  It is important to note that a suite of this sort has never been filed against a President of the United States (and in keeping with my strong feelings, tongue firmly planted in cheek, is not being filed against a President today either).  My feelings aside, I now find myself in the position of having to associate trump with the word President, to recognize this unprecedented event.

 The suite 'alleges' that trump has "accept[ed] millions in payments and benefits from foreign governments since moving into the White House."  Simply by looking at the guest registry of the illegally leased property, trump International Hotel, will clearly show that he has financially benefited from foreign dignitaries booking rooms and events at this hotel.  In fact, I'm willing to bet that he has profited at various properties around the world by foreign governments paying to use trump properties, world wide.  The oft quoted emoluments clause of our Constitution (Article I, Section 9, Clause 8) prohibits members of the government from receiving emoluments.  

 That's a funny word Bill, what does it mean?
It's really simple folks, it means making money, compensation, profit, moola, mean green, lettuce, cabbage, you get the picture.  But don't believe me, below are definitions from two respected sources:


Definition of emolument (per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

1: the returns arising from office or employment usually in the form of compensation or perquisites

e·mol·u·ment (definition per Google when looking for the definition of the word 'emolument')
əˈmälyəmənt/
noun
formal
plural noun: emoluments

a salary, fee, or profit from employment or office.
"the directors' emoluments"

synonyms: salary, pay, payment, wage(s), earnings, allowance, stipend, honorarium, reward, premium;More

Some of the wording in the suite is as follows:

“unprecedented constitutional violations” 

“deeply enmeshed with a legion of foreign and domestic government actors” 

“Fundamental to a President’s fidelity to [faithfully execute his oath of office] is the Constitution’s demand that the President ... disentangle his private finances from those of domestic and foreign powers. Never before has a President acted with such disregard for this constitutional prescription.”

If a Federal judge allows the case to go forward, Frosh & Racine say that one of the first actions they will take, as part of the initial discovery process, will be to demand trump's personal tax returns.  Of course, this will educate us as to just how entangled trump is with foreign governments.  The two Attorneys General would expect that skirmish to end up in the hands of The Supreme Court.  In The Supreme Court, trump's attorneys would need to defend why trump's tax returns should remain private.

This my friends is some good shit (if shit can be good, this is it).  Bravo to these two men for standing up for all Americans.  Bravo for standing up for our Constitution.  Bravo for standing up for integrity.  This law suite places another distraction in front of trump.  This will continue to make it difficult for trump to move forward with his agenda, because it will further usurp his attention and slow him down.  This suite continues the persistent & constant drum beat that will lead to trump being impeached and removed from office.

There is a sad side to this story.  When speaking to various acquaintances, I got signals that people were becoming fatigued, pessimistic, cynical and starting to see trump as normalized.  When speaking to four people, I got responses like these:

- "nothin'll happen" (said with resignation)
- "we'll see" (said with an air of disbelief)
- "his sons run his companies" (this is mis-information and indicates to me acceptance of that misinformation, therefore normalization)
- he has divested his interests in his companies and there has to be a time when all of this has to stop (again acceptance of misinformation and fatigue)

These interactions were with people who in the past have been unhappy with trump.  We will get through this, and when people see that progress is being made, their energy level will return.  I have confidence in the basic morality of most Americans.
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