D.C. and Maryland v. Trump
D.C. and Maryland v. Trump was a lawsuit filed on June 12, 2017, in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The plaintiffs, the U.S. state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, alleged that the defendant, President Donald Trump, had violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution by accepting gifts from foreign governments. The lawsuit was filed by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh. The suit alleged that Trump had committed "unprecedented constitutional violations" by not disentangling his business interests from his presidential responsibilities. The attorneys general cited the Trump International Hotel's effect on business in the Washington D.C. area as one reason for filing the lawsuit. The suit sought an injunction to stop Trump from violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. The attorneys general stated they would seek Trump's tax returns as part of their case. A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the case in July 2019, ruling that the attorneys general lacked legal standing to sue. All three of the judges were appointed by Republican presidents. New arguments in an en banc rehearing of the appeal were heard on December 12, 2019. On May 14, 2020, the full Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the defense's attempt to have the case dismissed on the grounds of presidential immunity by a 9-to-6 majority, reviving the lawsuit. On January 25, 2021, five days after Trump left office, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a summary disposition ordering the Fourth Circuit to dismiss the case as moot. Context The Maryland filing follows a lawsuit filed in January 2017 by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, CREW v. Trump, which also alleged that Trump has violated the emoluments clause. The D.C. and Maryland lawsuit is the first time a government entity has sued a president for violating the clause. In response to the lawsuit on the day of the filing, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer stated that the president was not in violation of the emoluments cause, and would "move to dismiss this case", which Spicer characterized as "partisan politics". Spicer noted that both attorneys general filing the suit are Democrats. Republican National Committee spokesperson Lindsay Jancek also stated that President Trump was in compliance with the law, and called the lawsuit "absurd". President Trump was served on June 27, 2017. On November 28, 2017, the plaintiffs won the right to subpoena documents from the Trump Organization, forcing it to retain any documents relevant to the suit. On July 25, 2018, Federal District Judge Peter Messitte allowed the case to proceed; denying DOJ's motion to dismiss. The Justice Department argued that the clause was not relevant to Trump's businesses. On November 2, Judge Messitte ordered discovery to begin. On December 3, Maryland and the District of Columbia issued subpoenas for Trump's financial records related to his D.C.