Dem
51
GOP
49
Donald Trump is already in plenty of legal hot water, as outlined above. But Trump's problems seem to follow the same rule as do orphanages and Irish families: There's always room for one more. Yesterday, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a report based on several years' worth of investigation. According to the information they collected, Donald Trump and his businesses pocketed $7.8 million from 20 foreign governments while he was serving as president, all in violation of the Constitution's Emoluments Clause.
The biggest spender was China, with $5.5 million. Perhaps that helps explain why Trump's sanctions were less than efficacious. China was followed by Saudi Arabia, the current employer of First-Son-in-Law Jared Kushner, and by Qatar, which was just implicated in paying bribes to Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ).
Obviously, the Democrats could be making things up out of whole cloth, just like the Republicans with their various Joe Biden impeachment reports. However, it doesn't look that way. Most of the report is made up of spreadsheets subpoenaed from, and bearing the hallmark of, Trump's former accounting firm Mazars. If Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) & Co. were making up fake Mazars bookkeeping records, surely the firm would have spoken up, but they didn't. Plus, all things being considered, $7.8 million actually seems a little low to us (and indeed, House Democrats reiterated that the figure is "conservative").
Ultimately, there may not be too much the Democrats can do with this report, since they are in the minority in the House. They could hope the Senate Committee on Finance takes up the matter, and perhaps refers it to the Department of Justice. Or they could hope the DoJ downloads a copy and takes action of its own volition. Certainly, Jack Smith has not been shy about opening up new lines of inquiry.
Failing that, however, this is just going to be yet another hammer for Democrats to wield against Trump as part of the 2024 campaign cycle. (Z)