United States- President Donald Trump has been sued by ethics lawyers, who are seeking to bar his companies from receiving overseas payments.
The group, including former White House ethics attorneys, filed a lawsuit accusing President Trump of allowing his businesses to accept payments from foreign governments, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
The lawsuit, brought by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, alleged that the Constitution’s emoluments clause forbids payments to Trump’s businesses. It will seek a court order forbidding Trump from accepting such payments, said Deepak Gupta, one of the lawyers working on the case.
Trump does business with countries like China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, the group noted in a statement.
A Trump representative referred questions to a law firm representing the president on ethics matters.
The case is part of a wave of litigation expected to be filed against Trump by liberal advocacy groups. It will be filed in a Manhattan federal court, Gupta said, and attorneys for the plaintiffs will include Richard Painter, a former ethics lawyer in Republican President George W. Bush’s White House.
The impending lawsuit was earlier reported by the New York Times.
