White House sees ‘partisan motivation’ in corruption lawsuit

The White House shrugged off a new lawsuit Monday that alleges President Trump violated anti-corruption laws because his businesses accept money from foreign governments, saying the lawsuit was a partisan attack.

“It’s not hard to conclude that partisan politics may be one of the motivations behind the suit,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “We’ll move to dismiss this case in the normal course of business.”

He noted the lawsuit was filed by Democratic attorneys general from Maryland and D.C., and it was a a redo of an early lawsuit by left-leaning advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

“It actually started with a press conference as opposed to filing it, which is interesting,” Mr. Spicer said.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, alleges the president is in violation of the Constitution’s “emoluments” clause due to his business interests.

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said it was not a partisan action.

The Justice Department last week moved to dismiss the CREW lawsuit.

LOAD COMMENTS ()