The Patriot Post® · Selective Constitutional Outrage

In the latest salvo in the Demo campaign to delegitimize and derail President Donald Trump, nearly 200 Democrats filed a lawsuit this morning alleging the Trump has violated the Constitution. (The attorneys general of Maryland and DC, as well as a group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have filed the same suit.) His supposed crime? Retaining interests in his global businesses and thus receiving gifts and benefits from foreign leaders. The relevant clause is found in Article I: “[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 Daily Signal notes, “As explained in The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, the framers adopted this clause to prevent the corruption of U.S. officeholders, particularly foreign ministers, through the receipt of bribes and other improper benefits from foreign officials — not to bar the president from having private business interests.” And that’s an important distinction evidently lost on Democrats.

Oddly enough, Barack Obama earned $10 million from an international book deal while he was president, and nobody on the Left said a word in complaint. Maybe that’s because they know it’s a phony issue. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe — four of our first five presidents — all had businesses that exported goods.

Peggy Noonan warned just after the election that Democrats might use Trump’s businesses to attack him. Indeed, Trump-deranged Democrats will do whatever it takes to weigh the president down with “scandal,” with the ultimate goal of impeachment.