Dozens of Democrats in the House and Senate are planning to file a lawsuit against President Trump charging that his vast business empire has created conflicts of interest that violate the emoluments clause of the Constitution, Politico reported Wednesday.
“We’ll be suing to stop his violations of the emoluments clause,” Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) told the outlet.
Democrats won’t file their lawsuit until next week at the earliest, Politico said, but dozens of members from both the House and Senate have already agreed to sign on.
Nadler, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, said 78 House Democrats and 25 Senate Democrats have already signed-on to the suit.
“I’m proud of my Judiciary members for bringing it up,” Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), another House Judiciary Committee member, told Politico. “It’s about time.”
{mosads}Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) have been discussing the proposed lawsuit since April.
“Senator Blumenthal is focused on how to make sure that the Trump administration is held accountable for its unprecedented conflicts of interest, and ensure that no one — not even the president — is above the law,” Blumenthal’s spokeswoman said in April.
{mosads}The emoluments clause of the Constitution states that “no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, 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.”
Earlier this year, government watchdog CREW sued President Trump for allegedly violating the emoluments clause, citing “gratuitous Chinese trademarks” among Trump’s alleged violations.
Trump turned over day-to-day business operations at the Trump Organization to his adult sons after he took office, but critics say he did not go far enough to avoid conflicts of interest.
A recent NBC News report found that the Trump Organization has not been tracking all possible payments it receives from foreign governments, despite President Trump’s promise to donate all profits earned from foreign governments to the U.S. Treasury in an effort to avoid conflicts of interest.