Maryland, DC plan flurry of subpoenas in emoluments lawsuit

The Maryland and D.C. attorneys general are planning a flurry of subpoenas to prove that President Trump has illegally profited from the presidency.

The subpoenas are part of the discovery phase of a lawsuit Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine have against the president alleging Trump violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by accepting payments from foreign and state governments through the Trump International Hotel.

{mosads}Racine’s office said subpoenas will go to the state of Maine, 13 Trump organizations, five federal agencies and 18 entities that compete with the Trump Hotel. The five agencies include the departments of the Treasury, Defense, Commerce and Agriculture as well as the General Services Administration.

The Portland Press Harold reported that Maine is likely included in the list of entities being served because Republican Gov. Paul LePage has stayed at Trump’s hotel for business. On one such trip, the outlet reported that Trump and LePage appeared together at a news conference announcing the Trump administration would be reviewing Obama-era orders that established national monuments within the National Park Service and that LePage had opposed one of these monuments in Maine, the outlet reported.

A federal district court judge on Monday issued an order agreeing to a schedule that wraps up discovering in early August.

The Justice Department has notified the court of its plan to appeal the earlier court order that allowed the case to proceed.