Supreme Court dismisses case alleging Trump illegally profited from his businesses while in office

(Image credit: STEPHANIE LAMY/AFP via Getty Images)

published 25 January 2021

The Supreme Court has dismissed the long-running case claiming former President Donald Trump illegally profited off his businesses while in office.

Two cases alleged Trump violated the Constitution's emoluments clause as he continued to hold his businesses while in office, including by making money from foreign governments. Now that Trump is out of office, the court dismissed the cases as moot on Monday.

A range of hotels and businesses in New York sued Trump years ago as they "found themselves in the unenviable position of having to compete with businesses owned by the president of the United States," The Associated Press reports. They demanded financial records to see just how much Trump had made off state and foreign governments who utilized his properties, especially given that Trump did not put his business interests into a blind trust when he took office. Two lower courts let the cases proceed to the Supreme Court.

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The emoluments issue stretched throughout most of Trump's presidency, and would've established a legal precedent for a part of the Constitution that hadn't really been challenged in the past. But as Bloomberg reports, both sides of the case agreed it became "legally moot" when Trump left office last week. The Supreme Court solidified that decision on Monday, giving no comment as it dismissed the case.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.

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