They will not stop coming at him from all angles.
Appeals court revives emoluments suit against Trump
The Fourth Circuit’s full bench will hear arguments in the case brought by D.C. and Maryland.
By JOSH GERSTEIN
10/15/2019 06:28 PM EDT
https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/15/trump-emoluments-dc-maryland-047507
https://archive.is/9f7vS
A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit that the District of Columbia and the state of Maryland brought against President Donald Trump in which they alleged that he violated the Constitution’s ban on federal officials profiting from dealings with foreign and state governments.
The Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Richmond, Va., announced on Tuesday that the full bench of the court would hear arguments Dec. 12 on Trump’s effort to stymie the litigation filed in a federal court in Maryland in 2017 and focused largely on patronage of his luxury Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital.
The announcement of the “en banc” rehearing effectively set aside a ruling that a three-judge panel of the same appeals court had issued in July. Those judges ordered the case dismissed as fatally flawed, contending that the states had no legal right to enforce the so-called emoluments clauses in the Constitution.
https://archive.is/o/9f7vS/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/13/trump-foreign-corruption-lawsuit-1494571
The new development is the second major setback for Trump in emoluments litigation in recent weeks. Last month, the New York-based Second Circuit revived a similar lawsuit that had been dismissed by a federal District Court judge in Manhattan. That suit was brought by restaurant owners and hospitality industry workers, as well as a watchdog group.
https://archive.is/o/9f7vS/https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/13/trump-foreign-corruption-lawsuit-1494571
Another federal appeals court, the D.C. Circuit, is currently considering a bid by Trump to block a separate emoluments suit brought by Democratic senators and House members that a District Court judge in Washington has ruled should proceed to depositions and evidence gathering.
The officials who launched the suit welcomed the news that the appeals court was taking up the case anew.
“Today’s decision by the Fourth Circuit granting the District of Columbia and Maryland a rehearing in our anti-corruption case against President Trump is significant,” D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a joint statement. “We look forward to arguing our case before the full panel to stop President Trump from violating the Constitution and profiting from the presidency.”
The local governments could find more traction for their position at the en banc session in December. Democratic appointees outnumber Republican appointees on the court’s active bench, 8-6. There is also one judge who was recess-appointed by President Bill Clinton and re-nominated by President George W. Bush.
The order setting the case for rehearing did not provide any rationale for the move, but indicated that a majority of the appeals court’s active judges voted to rehear the case.