4th Circuit to reconsider claim that Trump is violating the emoluments clause
President Donald Trump. Photo from Shutterstock.
A federal appeals court on Tuesday agreed to an en banc rehearing in a suit claiming President Donald Trump is violating the Constitution’s ban on presidents accepting emoluments from foreign states.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Richmond, Virginia, had tossed the constitutional challenge in July. The unanimous July decision held that the state of Maryland and Washington, D.C., had no standing to sue over money collected from foreign officials for stays at Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel.
In September, a different federal appeals court, the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, revived a different suit claiming an emoluments clause violation by the president. That court said the plaintiffs—who own and operate businesses in the hospitality industry—did have legal standing to sue.
The 2nd Circuit had disagreed with the 4th Circuit’s July ruling in “a point-by-point takedown,” according to Above the Law coverage at the time.
Arguments in the 4th Circuit rehearing are scheduled for Dec. 12.
Hat tip to @MikeScarcella and @ZoeTillman.
