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Group sues Trump, says he violated constitutional ban on foreign gifts

The lawsuit is “totally without merit,” President Trump said.Getty Images/Pool

WASHINGTON — A liberal watchdog group filed a lawsuit against President Trump in federal court Monday, alleging that he is violating a little-known constitutional provision that bars him from taking gifts or payments from foreign governments.

The group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that because Trump-owned buildings take in rent, room rentals, and other payments from foreign governments, the president has breached the Emoluments Clause.

That clause in the Constitution says that ‘‘No Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.’’

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The provision was included because of fear that the young nation’s leaders or ambassadors could be bought off by a richer European power.

The meaning of those words has never truly been tested in court. The watchdog group says that they should be interpreted to mean that Trump’s businesses should cease all business dealings with foreign states.

Trump on Monday called the suit ‘‘without merit, totally without merit.’’ The president was asked about the suit by a reporter after he signed his first few executive orders in the Oval Office.

Trump has handed over control of his global real estate and licensing empire to his two adult sons. But he is retaining his financial stake in the business even while in the White House, a break from the tradition of previous presidents to divest.

The legal complaint, filed in the Southern District of New York, said the clause ‘‘is no relic of a bygone era, but rather an expression of insight into the nature of the human condition and the preconditions of self-governance. And applied to Donald J. Trump’s diverse dealings, the text and purpose of the Foreign Emoluments Clause speak as one: This cannot be allowed.’’

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If the lawsuit were to succeed, it could put a major dent in the business of the Trump Organization, whose businesses lease office space to state-owned companies, and whose Pennsylvania Avenue hotel rents its ballrooms for foreign embassy parties.

The mere process of the suit could prove embarrassing for the president, if it drags out details of those business dealings from the Trump Organization’s private files.