The Trump International Hotel, Washington DC
Janhvi Bhojwani | CNBC
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed two cases over whether former President Donald Trump illegally took advantage of his businesses while in office.
The charges, brought by a nonprofit organization as well as the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, allege that the former president violated constitutional clauses, few provisions preventing presidents from receiving gifts from local or foreign governments.
The cases are expected to be rejected after President Joe Biden was elected in November. Maryland, DC and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the non-profit organization that filed one of the cases, asked the judges not to hear the case.
The charges simmer for much of Trump’s presidency, an indication of the unusual ethical conflict inspired by the president’s refusal to relinquish his business empire after taking office. The Supreme Court’s action comes in an order with no notice.
Maryland and DC claim that Trump violated the ban by receiving money when guests – often foreign officials – stayed at his hotel in Washington.
CREW, which represents high-ranking businesses, believes they are competing with Trump’s own institutions, has made similar complaints about Trump’s hotel and restaurant properties in New York.
Deepak Gupta, a CREW lawyer, argued in court documents that his clients have a “clear disadvantage to competing for foreign and domestic government clients: although they may offer the best hospitality, they may not offer the ability to favor the president. to give. “
Two federal appeals courts, based in New York and Richmond, have issued rulings to advance the cases. In September, the Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to overturn the rulings and drop the disputes.
After Biden’s election, the state and DC and CREW asked the court not to take the cases.
In a statement, DC Attorney General Karl Racine told the court that ‘the outcome of the recent presidential election in any case eliminates the need for this court to intervene.
Noah Bookbinder, executive director of CREW, said in a statement on Monday that ‘this important issue has made the American people aware for four years of the pervasive corruption that has resulted from a president running a global business and benefits and take payments from foreign and domestic governments.
“Only Trump lost the presidency and left office, ended these corrupt constitutional violations, halted these groundbreaking actions,” Bookbinder said.
Racine and Maryland’s Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a joint statement that ‘we are proud that a court has ruled on the meaning of’ compensation ‘for the first time in American history and found that the Constitution is federal officials forbid to accept it. almost anything of value to 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.