Supreme Court rules out lawsuits over Trump income

The US Supreme Court on Monday ended lawsuits that accused Donald Trump of improperly enriching himself during his presidency.

The magistrates dismissed Trump’s appeals to the lower court rulings that had allowed proceeding with the lawsuits that accused the now former president of violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting payments from national and international officials who stayed at the Trump International Hotel or that other businesses used properties of the ex-president and his relatives.

The highest court also ordered the ruling of the other instances to be discarded and asked the courts of appeals of New York and Richmond, Virginia to do the same, affirming that the matter is irrelevant since Trump is no longer president.

The result leaves without judicial opinion an issue that has rarely been analyzed by legal experts in the United States.

The cases involve lawsuits brought by the state of Maryland, the District of Columbia, and several hotels and restaurants in the New York and Washington DC area that “find themselves in the unfortunate position of having to compete with businesses owned by the president. of the United States ”.

The lawsuits called for publishing records showing how much money national or international governments invested in getting their officials to use Trump-owned hotels and restaurants.

Other cases persist against the former president in the Supreme Court and in lower courts.

Trump is currently resisting attempts by the Manhattan District Attorney to force him to turn over his tax returns. Lower courts are evaluating subpoenas from Congress to obtain Trump’s financial records. The Supreme Court also weighs Trump’s appeal on the decision that prohibits him from blocking critical messages on his Twitter account. As in the case of emoluments, that appeal is likely to be considered irrelevant now that Trump is not in the presidency and also does not have a Twitter account.