A lawsuit by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia accusing President Trump of accepting gifts from foreign governments will now challenge Trump as both a government official and a private businessman, The Associated Press reports.
Plaintiffs argue that the president is in violation of the Constitution's "emoluments" clause, which prohibits the president from accepting gifts from foreign governments, because he has failed to divest himself from his lucrative businesses.
The Trump Organization, which is now run by the president's two adult sons, owns a number of international hotels, including one in Washington just blocks from the White House, where foreign government officials have often stayed during visits to the capital.
U.S. District Court Judge Peter Messitte has suggested he was not persuaded by another judge's decision to toss out a previous lawsuit against Trump for profiting from foreign governments, citing "very little analysis in his declarations" that hotel stays by foreign nationals did not constitute gifts.
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