Lawyers Step Up As Democrats Cave In

This lawsuit is still important, because it shows that private citizens will use what they have to fight Trump.

(Photo by Michele Tantussi/Getty Images)

(Photo by Michele Tantussi/Getty Images)

Donald Trump is actually President now, and Democrats in Washington still haven’t joined the fight. You can literally list the few Democrats who that the stones to skip Trump’s installation as despot. Trump’s nominees are going to get confirmed to their appointments without much fight or even delay. The French fought the Nazis harder than this.

Given that Democrats didn’t wield power all that effectively when they had it, it’s no surprise that they seem totally rudderless without it. Elected Democrats are acting like they lost a round in a game, not fighting like a guerilla force against an occupying enemy. By participating in government, they legitimize their enemy. If there’s one lesson to be taken from the Republicans during the Obama years, it’s that obstinance works. As I’ve said before, if Democrats were serious they’d have impeachment charges drawn up for Trump by day one. It wouldn’t go anywhere, it didn’t go anywhere the first 60 times Congress voted to repeal Obamacare. But either you fight Trump, or you appease him. He leaves you with no middle ground.

Luckily, while the Appease-o-crats in Washington muddle along, people outside of Washington are ready for action. You might have heard that the largest protest in U.S. history took place this weekend. Unless you only watch Fox News in which case you heard willful lies disguised as “alternative facts.”

The people lined up to fight Trump are willing to ready to do more than rally and punch Richard Spencer. Monday, a group of constitutional scholars and lawyers filed what one hopes will be an unending stream of legal challenges to the Trump administration. The first line of attack will be over the Emoluments Clause. From Bloomberg Law:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said in a complaint filed in federal court in New York that Trump, who has retained his ownership stake in his businesses, violated the provision, known as the emoluments clause, in several ways.

These include a lease with the state-owned Industrial & Commercial Bank of China in Trump Tower, bookings by foreign diplomats at Trump’s Washington hotel and payments from broadcasters owned by foreign governments for airing his television show “The Apprentice.”

I’ve previously written about how the Emoluments Clause is untested. It can be read to be directly prohibitive of Trump’s business activities, it can be read to have nothing to do with what Trump is doing. One threshold issue will be who — if anybody — even has standing to bring this kind of challenge.

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Any decision against Trump will surely be appealed, and eventually Trump’s hand picked Supreme Court justice, stolen from the Obama administration by Republicans who know how to fight, will be waiting there to cast judgement. One can imagine a 5-4 decision favorable to the Trump administration. One can imagine a 9-0 decision favorable to the Trump administration. And one can imaging a 9-0 decision unfavorable to Trump that he simply ignores because he’s DONALD F***ING TRUMP and he’s shown absolutely no willingness to abide by American norms and rules.

But this lawsuit is still valuable and important, because it shows that private citizens will use what they have to frustrate the Trump regime. The fight against Trump will not come from Washington. The opposition party in Washington is weak and leaderless. The fight must be brought to Washington. By women, by lawyers, by anybody who isn’t interested in playing nice with a dictator.

Trump has been President for three days. He’s already defeated the Democrats. But it’s going to take a lot more than that for him to win.

Lawsuit Over Trump’s Foreign Dealings Plows Uncharted Ground [Bloomberg Law]

Earlier: Impeachment Primer: (Spoiler: Congress Is Full Of Cowards)
Morgan Lewis Joins Trump’s Reich, Shills For Toothless Interpretation Of Emoluments Clause

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Elie Mystal is an editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.