General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Emoluments Clauses of the U.S. Constitution
Congressional Research Service
Updated August 23, 2019
... The Foreign Emoluments Clause (art. I, § 9, cl. 8): <N>o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under
<the United States>, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or
Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
The Domestic Emoluments Clause (a.k.a. the Presidential Emoluments Clause) (art. II, § 1, cl. 7):
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation which shall neither be
encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within
that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them ...
... The purpose of the Foreign Emoluments Clause is to prevent corruption and limit foreign influence on federal
officers. The Clause grew out of the Framers experience with the European custom of gift-giving to foreign
diplomats, which the Articles of Confederation prohibited. Following that precedent, the Foreign Emoluments Clause prohibits federal officers from accepting foreign emoluments without congressional consent. The purpose of the Domestic Emoluments Clause is to preserve the Presidents independence. Under the Clause, Congress may neither increase nor decrease the Presidents compensation during his term, preventing the legislature
from using its control over the Presidents salary to exert influence over him. To further preserve presidential
independence, the Clause prohibits a sitting President from receiving emoluments from federal or state governments, except for his fixed salary ...
Blacks Law Dictionary defines an emolument as an advantage, profit, or gain received as a result of ones
employment or ones holding of office. There is significant debate as to precisely what constitutes an
emolument within the meaning of the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses, particularly as to whether it
includes private, arms-length market transactions. The only two courts to decide this issue adopted a broad definition of Emolument as reaching any benefit, gain, or advantage, including profits from private market transactions not arising from an office or employ ...
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/IF11086.pdf
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)Kicking and bookmarking!
PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)RainCaster
(10,874 posts)And then there's her emails...
dalton99a
(81,486 posts)StarryNite
(9,444 posts)TreasonousBastard
(43,049 posts)Impeachment means the House defines things, but the Senate is under no obligation to agree with those definitions.
The foreign clause seems clear-- no federal worker can receive anything of value from a foreigner, or foreign government. The other clause says he can't get any money over his salary from the state or federal governments.
So, he can't raise his pay, and he can't take "presents" from furriners. If the Saudis pay rack rates for the rooms, is that a foreign "gift"? Is there any specific law that's broken when Barr rents his club for a party?
Since there are myriad other tax and corruption laws and rules involves, this could get interesting.
And many lawyers could get rich-- I assume Trump pays his own legal fees for impeachment or criminal investigtion.1