President Donald Trump has again asked a U.S. court to dismiss a suit accusing him of flouting constitutional safeguards against corruption by refusing to separate himself from his business empire while in office, claiming "absolute immunity."
The lawsuit, filed by the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, accused Trump of violating the U.S. Constitution's "emoluments" clause that bars U.S. officials from accepting gifts or other payments from foreign governments without congressional approval. The same clause also bars the president from receiving gifts and payments from individual states.
"If Plaintiffs want to sue the President for acts taken while in office, they must sue him in official capacity. But he is absolutely immune from any suit, including this one, seeking to impose individual liability premised on his assumption of the Presidency itself," Trump's lawyer, William Consovoy, wrote in a court filing on Tuesday.