Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) insisted in a new appearance on MSNBC this Friday with host Chris Hayes that former President Donald Trump has simply “no defenses” for the $7.8 million paid to several business entities of his mostly by foreign government interests during the businessman-turned-criminal defendant’s stint as president.
Raskin has accused Trump of brazenly violating what’s known as the Emoluments Clause to the U.S. Constitution, which broadly bars office-holders from receiving a range of things of value from foreign government sources without the consent of Congress. In a letter directly addressing Trump, Raskin even insisted that Trump should return the money in the form of payments to the U.S. Treasury.
“He was bragging about it. His narcissism always interferes with his legal defenses, but he openly embraced it and said he did a lot for that money, and indeed, he did,” Raskin said on the air, referring to recent comments from Trump at an event. “If you read our report you will see how he basically killed an investigation and sanctions against ICBC, the Chinese state-owned company that was renting space from him and paying him lots and lots of money — hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Raskin also noted how Trump is known to have tried pushing scrutiny back from Saudi leader Mohammed bin Salman after the foreign political figure was, it’s believed, involved in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi — a U.S. resident!
“There’s really no defenses,” Raskin said. He mocked the idea that, for instance, Trump ostensibly refusing his federal salary while in office was somehow exculpatory. In his earlier letter directly sent to the former president, Raskin also derided the idea that an ostensible plan (cited by Trump’s adult son Eric Trump) of sending covered “profits” to the U.S. Treasury meant things were fine. Notably, even former President Trump himself has run with the unsupported idea that current President Joe Biden has received millions of dollars from foreign sources, glossing over the evidence pointing the other way!
