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WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Attorneys General of Maryland and the District of Columbia have officially sought financial documents from US President Donald Trump's companies as part of their lawsuit alleging that his dealings with foreign governments violated anti-corruption clauses of the American Constitution. .
District Attorney General Karl Racine (left) and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh hold a live television interview after their news conference to announce their lawsuit against the President American Donald Trump about the clause of the US Constitution and Trump companies. , Washington, DC, USA, June 12, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst
Attorneys General have issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization Inc., the private real estate company of the President and related corporations.
The numerous subpoenas took place a day after US District Judge Peter Messitte in Greenbelt, Maryland, began the discovery phase of the case, which allows litigants to demand answers to questions. and the production of confidential documents.
The US Department of Justice, which defends the President in litigation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Among other documents, attorneys general request income tax returns and tax returns from Trump Organization entities.
Ignoring subpoenas would result in a contempt conviction, said George Brown, a professor at Boston College Law School.
This development "brings us closer to a discovery imposed by justice on the Trump Empire," Brown said. "It will probably tell us a lot of things that we do not know because no one will hide this kind of thing in front of a subpoena."
US. Government lawyers said Friday in a court file that they were considering asking a court of appeal to suspend the discovery and review Messitte's earlier rulings that had allowed the court to appeal. to continue.
Such expedited appeal applications rarely succeed, Brown said, but in this case the odds are higher because the case raises new legal issues that the court of appeal might want to treat quickly.
The complaint, filed in June 2017, alleged that the Republican president had failed to break free from his hotels and other businesses, making him vulnerable to the incentives of officials seeking favors.
The prosecution accused Trump of violating the provisions of the Constitution relating to "emoluments" intended to prevent corruption and foreign influence. US officials are prohibited from accepting gifts or other emoluments from foreign governments without congressional approval. The other forbids the president to receive emoluments from different states.
Subsequently, Messitte limited the case to claims about the Trump International Hotel in Washington and not the commercial activities of the latter outside the US capital.
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