WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats on Tuesday banned U.S. officials from accepting money, payments or gifts from foreign governments without Congressional consent, in response to a years-long investigation into former President Donald Trump's overseas dealings. submitted a bill to do so.
The proposal, led by Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, would enforce the Constitution's emoluments ban, which prohibits the president from accepting foreign gifts or money without Congressional authorization. Democrats argue that Trump brazenly ignored this provision as president, allowing foreign government officials to flock to his hotels and grounds.
“For more than two centuries, there has been no need to develop a full-fledged legislative mechanism to enforce the Emoluments Clause, but now Congress must ensure that no president ever sells out the government and abuses the office of president for personal gain ever again. We must enact laws to prevent foreign countries,” Raskin said in a statement Tuesday.
The bill is unlikely to pass Congress, especially the Republican-controlled House. But Democrats say reforms are needed after a long-running investigation by House Oversight Committee staff found that Trump's companies received nearly $8 million from 20 foreign governments during his presidency. are doing.
The documents reveal how foreign governments and their entities funneled vast sums of money into various properties belonging to President Trump, including the Trump International Hotels in Washington and Las Vegas and two Trump properties in New York. Outlined. Recipients ranged from China to Saudi Arabia to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the report, the Chinese government made the largest total payments to President Trump's private business interests through various financial institutions, some of which were the subject of a Justice Department investigation during Trump's presidency. Saudi Arabia is also said to have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Trump's compound around the time the former president signed arms deals with the Saudi government totaling more than $100 billion.
The 156-page report provided concrete evidence of Trump's inappropriate activities that Democrats allege. Republicans have tried unsuccessfully to accuse President Joe Biden of these activities as part of their impeachment inquiry.
Republican lawmakers have tried to link the president's phone calls and dinners with his son Hunter Biden and his business associates while he was vice president and out of the administration. He claimed his family used Biden's name.
But Republicans have failed to present any evidence that Joe Biden was directly involved in or benefited from his family's businesses while in office.
Government ethics lawyers have slammed Trump's decision to try to maintain his vast business empire after taking office, saying it gave ample opportunity for people wanting to influence U.S. policy to ingratiate themselves with the president.
In response, Mr. Trump and his lawyers argue that critics have misunderstood the Emoluments Clause and that the framers of the Constitution did not allow for fair value transactions between businesses and their customers, such as buying hotel rooms. He said that he had no intention of targeting the night for payment.
The bill would, among other things, prohibit federal officials (the president, vice president, cabinet members, members of parliament and other senior government officials) from accepting future payments while in office and for two years after leaving office without prior parliamentary approval, and would be expanded to include direct or indirect payments or gifts from members of the royal family and state-owned enterprises.
To maintain oversight of any disputes, the bill would now require federal agencies to document foreign payments received on annual ethics disclosure forms.
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