WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Thursday handed President Donald Trump a setback, rejecting his bid to end a lawsuit that accused him of violating anti-corruption provisions of the U.S. Constitution with his ownership of a hotel in Washington while in office.
FILE PHOTO: Cyclists wearing masks ride past the Trump Hotel, amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Washington, U.S., April 25, 2020. REUTERS/Erin Scott
The decision by the Richmond, Virginia-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sitting as a whole – reversing a ruling in favor of Trump last July by a three-judge panel of the same court – marked a victory for the Democratic attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia who brought the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleged violations of the Constitution’s “emoluments” clauses – rarely tested in courts – that ban a president from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments without congressional consent.
Judge Diana Gribbon Motz wrote on behalf of the court in the 9-6 decision that “in the United States, every person – even the President – has a dut