AGs ask for Trump’s communications with foreign officials about DC hotel

Two attorneys general are asking a court to order President Trump to hand over any communications with domestic or foreign government officials related to his Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.

The requests were filed Friday in a U.S. District Court in Maryland, as part of discovery in the civil suit alleging Trump violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, according to NPR.

{mosads}D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh claim in the lawsuit that Trump is profiting from foreign governments without congressional approval due to foreign officials staying in his hotel.

Trump has tried to have the case dismissed, but U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte ruled in July that the lawsuit can go forward.

The attorneys general also asked for records of the hotel’s business with foreign government officials, records of cash flow between the hotel and the president and records from the federal agency that leases the hotel building to the Trump business. 

The case is one of multiple lawsuits that Trump has faced, both as president and as an individual, over alleged violations of the Emoluments Clause.

Trump has faced criticism for not fully divesting from his business interests when he took office, instead handing over control of his assets to his two sons.