In a statement, the Republican National Committee called the new lawsuit “absurd.” Lindsay Jancek, a spokeswoman, said, “The actions
by the attorneys general represent the kind of partisan grandstanding voters across the country have come to despise.”
Monday’s complaint claims that businesses owned by Mr. Trump divert customers away from businesses
that the District of Columbia and Maryland either own, license or tax, harming those governments financially.
Maryland and District of Columbia Sue Trump Over His Businesses -
By SHARON LaFRANIEREJUNE 12, 2017
The attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia said President Trump’s business dealings violate the Constitution.
Brian E. Frosh, the Maryland attorney general, said if the lawsuit progressed to the discovery phase, he
and Karl Racine, the attorney general for the District of Columbia, would seek to obtain the president’s tax returns to gauge the extent of his business dealings.
In a new legal challenge to President Trump, the Democratic attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit on Monday claiming
that the president’s failure to shed his businesses has undermined public trust and violated constitutional bans against self-dealing.
Mr. Racine told reporters on Monday that just as states intervened to challenge Mr. Trump’s efforts to limit travel from
predominantly Muslim countries, he hoped to force the court to step in and evaluate Mr. Trump’s business entanglements.
