We Might See Trump's Tax Returns After All

WASHINGTON — Lawyers battling to prevent President Trump from profiting off of his private businesses — and to potentially force him to divest from those businesses and even reveal his personal tax returns — just notched their biggest victory yet.

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that he would not block a lawsuit filed by the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia that accuses the president of violating the Constitution by accepting emoluments — gifts or payments — from foreign governments. According to the two attorneys general, the decision is the first time in history that a U.S. court has interpreted the emoluments clause and applied it to a sitting president. The clause bans the president from receiving emoluments from a “King, Prince or Foreign State.”

U.S. District Judge Peter Messitte’s decision “represents a major leap forward in being able to understand how Trump is profiting off the presidency, including possibly from Russia,” Norm Eisen, one of the co-counsels on the case, tells Rolling Stone. “The court has already ordered the preservation of Trump business records. Everything is on the table that is necessary to prove our claims, while at the same time moving expeditiously to trial. ‘Follow the money,’ the old adage goes, and we are going to do exactly that thanks to this decision.”

The emoluments clause didn’t become a household phrase until Trump entered office and refused to meaningfully divest from his businesses and other investments in the U.S. and overseas. Multiple lawsuits were filed against the president, citing the various times foreign governments like Kuwait and the Philippines have spent money at Trump’s Washington hotel — money that presumably flowed back into the president’s own pockets.

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/trump-tax-returns-703637/