Trump Emoluments Case: A Blast Of Subpoenas And A Politically Risky Schedule

The presidential limousine, aka “The Beast”, is parked in front of the Trump Hotel as President Trump attends dinner with supporters on April 30, 2018, in Washington, D.C.

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In a case that could shed light on the finances of the secretive Trump Organization, a federal judge has signed orders to issue 30 subpoenas on behalf of the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia in their lawsuit alleging that President Trump is profiting from foreign and state governments’ spending at the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C.

Trump owns a stake in the hotel and profits from those sources would appear to violate the Constitution’s bans on gifts from foreign and state governments — as D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine called them, “our nation’s original anti-corruption laws.”

Subpoenas are directed to 13 entities attached to President Trump, ranging from several involved with the hotel; up to Trump’s umbrella entity, the Trump Organization; and the revocable trust that his lawyers created to insulate him from issues like the emoluments lawsuit.