PoTP’s work has provided the strongest evidence to date that Donald Trump’s refusal to divest from his sprawling business empire has resulted in his violation of the Constitution’s anti-corruption Domestic Emoluments Clause. This constitutional provision prohibits the President from receiving emoluments (profitable payments, benefits, or advantages) paid by federal or state governments, beyond the salary approved by Congress.

In the past, presidents possessing significant business holdings have divested themselves of their holdings or placed them in a blind trust prior to assuming office. President Trump, however, has adamantly refused to do either. Instead, he has placed his business empire into a revocable trust administered by his sons, a move widely viewed by experts as insufficient. The trust is set up to allow Donald Trump to withdraw any amount of money at any time for any reason “at his request.”

Through our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and litigation, PoTP has exposed over $138,000 in Department of Defense payments to Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties, over $1,700 in General Services Administration payments to the Trump International Hotel in D.C. and other Trump properties, and thousands of dollars of National Security Council and U.S. Embassy payments to Mar-a-Lago other Trump properties.

These payments are strong evidence of Trump’s violation of the Domestic Emoluments Clause, and they belong in any forthcoming articles of impeachment.

PoTP’s exposés of Trump’s Emoluments Clause violations have been repeatedly featured as exclusives by CNN and the Washington Post, and have already led Senators Tom Udall (D-NM) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to introduce the HOTEL Act in the Senate, and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to introduce it in the House. The HOTEL Act would prohibit federal officials from spending taxpayer dollars at properties owned by the President, Vice President, Cabinet members, or their families. PoTP’s exposés of Trump’s Emoluments Clause violations have also been used by public interest groups chronicling the President’s grifting, such as Public Citizen’s excellent report, “The Art of the (Self) Deal”.

President Trump has his hand deep in the taxpayer’s pocket. PoTP continues our work exposing Trump’s violations of the Domestic Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.