Tea Party Youth
  • Home
  • Constitution Challenge
    • Module 1
    • Module 2
    • Student Essays
  • Profiles In Courage
  • Blog
  • Cautionary Tales
  • Homeschool Curricula
  • Gallery
    • Archives
  • About
  • Links
  • Contact

Youth Truth

Trumpian Conflicts of Interest and the Little Known Emoluments Clause

11/28/2016

 
Constitution Minute
from Tea Party Patriots
November 27, 2016


It isn’t every day a little known provision of the U.S Constitution makes the news, but now it’s all over the place.  The Emoluments Clause - Article 1, Section 9, Clause 8 of the Constitution - prohibits President-elect Trump from accepting gifts from foreign countries without consent of Congress.  The concern is that officeholders could be bribed to use their office for the benefit of other nations.  The media is making a big deal out of this, but funny how the Emoluments Clause never came up when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State.  As for why there is such a clause, Louis the Sixteenth threw gifts around to diplomats who signed treaties with France, and the Framers wanted to prevent that kind of corruption through the Emoluments Clause.   There hasn’t been a court case on this clause, as far as I can tell, but there is a long record of Attorney General opinions.  What does all this have to do with Trump?  He has overseas business dealings in 20 countries.  Do you want him trading the national interest for business favors in meetings with foreign dignitaries?  I heard a commentator on NPR claim this problem has already come up in conversations Trump has had with foreign leaders since the election.  If you’re upset about this kind of conflict of interest when Hillary Clinton does it, you should also be upset if Donald Trump were to do it.  As Senator Ben Sasse recently put it in a speech to the Federalist Society, constitutional questions are constitutional questions, regardless of the color of the jersey the player has on.  By the way, the Sasse speech is quite good on separation of powers and limited government, and I commend the whole thing to you. Links in the wrap-up.
 
Links
 
“Emoluments Clause”
http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/articles/1/essays/68/emoluments-clause
 
“The Emoluments Clause — is Donald Trump violating its letter or spirit?”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2016/11/21/the-emoluments-clause-is-donald-trump-violating-its-letter-or-spirit/
 
“Trump's International Business Dealings Could Violate The Constitution”
http://www.npr.org/2016/11/22/503091109/can-trumps-international-business-dealings-violate-the-constitution
 
Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention, Senator Sasse
https://www.c-span.org/video/?418724-4/federalist-society-national-lawyers-convention-senator-sasse
 


Comments are closed.

    Author

    various


    Archives

    February 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    February 2024
    August 2023
    June 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    October 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016

    Categories

    All
    Constitution Minute
    Contributed Articles
    In The News

  • Home
  • Constitution Challenge
    • Module 1
    • Module 2
    • Student Essays
  • Profiles In Courage
  • Blog
  • Cautionary Tales
  • Homeschool Curricula
  • Gallery
    • Archives
  • About
  • Links
  • Contact