Grab ‘Em By The Emoluments: The Crumbling Ethical Foundation of Donald Trump's Presidency

Abstract

Does Donald Trump believe that over 200 years of constitutional law doesn’t apply to him? This paper explores two important areas of U.S. Constitutional law: the constitutional prohibition against acceptance of emoluments (anything of value); and the constitutional provision for presidential impeachment ̶ and is written before findings are available from any special investigations or results from the many Congressional inquiries about matters surrounding the Russian tampering with the American 2016 presidential election. Therefore, this article is an inquiry into other matters that raise many serious questions about the ethical fitness of Donald Trump to be President. Among grounds for Trump’s impeachment are his numerous ongoing Emoluments Clause violations. At this time it seems unlikely that President Trump will face impeachment. Given that both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate are in control of the Republican Party, President Trump should be immune from impeachment proceedings unless the Republican Party leadership determines that it is in their best interest to allow for impeachment and removal, not a zero probability. Will President Trump’s lifelong propensity for lying ultimately lead to his eventual demise?

Keywords: Active Measures, Bribery, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Michael D. Cohen, Conflicts of Interest, Constitutional Law, Corruption, Disinformation, Donald J. Trump Foundation, Emoluments Clause, Ethics, Gen. Michael Flynn, Rudolph Giuliani, Foundation, Emoluments Clause

JEL Classification: H19, H89, K00, K3, K10, K19, K33, K39, K40, K42, K49, N4