The Trump International Hotel, Washington DC
Janhvi Bhojwani | CNBC
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed two cases about whether former President Donald Trump illegally profited from his business while in office.
The lawsuits, which were filed by a nonprofit organization, as well as the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, alleged that the former president violated the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, little-known clauses that prevent presidents from receiving gifts from governments local or foreign.
The cases were expected to be closed after President Joe Biden was elected in November. Maryland, DC and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the nonprofit organization that opened one case, urged judges not to hear the matter.
The lawsuits simmered for much of Trump’s presidency, a marker of the unusual ethical conflicts inspired by the president’s refusal to abandon his business empire on taking office. The Supreme Court’s action came in an order without notable dissent.
Maryland and DC claimed that Trump violated this ban by receiving money when guests – often foreign officials – stayed at his Washington hotel.
CREW, which represented sophisticated companies that it said was competing with Trump’s own establishments, made similar complaints about Trump’s hotel and restaurant properties in New York.
CREW’s lawyer Deepak Gupta argued in court documents that his clients were “at a distinct disadvantage in competition for national and foreign government clientele: while they may offer the best hospitality, they cannot offer the ability to obtain favors from the president.”
Two federal appeals courts, based in New York and Richmond, have issued decisions that advance the cases. In September, the Justice Department asked the higher court to overturn these decisions and eliminate disputes.
After Biden’s election, the state and DC governments and CREW urged the court not to accept the cases.
At a briefing, Karl Racine, DC’s attorney general, told the court that “In any case, the result of the recent presidential election eliminates any need for intervention by this court.”
CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder said in a statement on Monday that “this important litigation has made the American people aware for four years of the widespread corruption that came from a president maintaining a global business and receiving benefits and payments from foreign governments. and domestic. ”
“Only Trump, losing the presidency and stepping down, ended these corrupt constitutional violations and stopped these innovative processes,” said Bookbinder.
Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a joint statement that “we are proud that, because of our case, a court has ruled on the meaning of ’emoluments’ for the first time in American history, concluding that the Constitution prohibits federal officials from accepting almost anything of value from foreign or domestic governments. “
“Our case proves once again that in our country no one – not even the President of the United States – is above the law,” they said.
The Trump Organization did not return a request for comment.