Sue While the Conflicts Are Hot - by the NYT Editorial Board
The president’s son Eric probably said it best: “I think our brand is the hottest it has ever been.” No surprise there — nothing like a presidency to boost business. It is nevertheless shocking to see the brazenness of the ethical conflicts and watch the first family celebrate its good fortune.
But shock is giving way to action, and the lawsuits are starting to pile up. Last week, several public interest groups, including Democracy 21 and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, called on Preet Bharara, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and an aggressive prosecutor of corruption, to investigate the Trump Organization, the New York-based business through which Mr. Trump owns and controls his hotels, golf courses and other holdings. But that effort might not go far because the Department of Justice on Friday asked Mr. Bharara and 45 other United States attorneys appointed by former President Barack Obama to resign.
Some of those groups have also sued Mr. Trump in United States District Court in New York, asserting that he is violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits government officials from accepting profits, gifts and other things of value from foreign governments without approval from Congress. Yet, businesses owned by Mr. Trump are making a mint from the governments of other countries and not even notifying lawmakers.
Foreign diplomats are flocking to his Washington hotel, down the street from the White House, to spend money and curry favor with the administration. The president continues to rent space in Trump Tower to a Chinese government-owned bank and an agency of Abu Dhabi.
Regulators in China, a market that Mr. Trump has long sought to break into, just gave his business 38 valuable trademarks in a process that was unusually speedy for a trademark application. To make matters — or at the very least appearances — worse, this occurred after Mr. Trump toned down his harsh talk toward Beijing.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/10/opinion/sue-while-the-conflicts-are-hot.html?emc=edit_th_20170311&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=57435284
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