Trump wins court hold on D.C. hotel emoluments suit for appeal

A pedestrian walks past the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C, U.S., on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Although the Trump family business was explicitly prohibited from benefiting from federal aid authorized in the last few weeks by Congress, its hotel in Washington is seeking separate relief on $3 million of annual rent that it pays to the U.S. General Services Administration the New York Times reported this week. , Bloomberg

Erik Larson, Bloomberg News

Jul 9, 2020

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A U.S. appeals court extended a stay on the exchange of information in a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of illegally profiting from his Washington hotel.

The extension all but assures that a pair of Democratic attorneys general won’t get to see financial information from Trump’s businesses before the presidential election.

The federal appeals court in Washington on Thursday granted Trump’s request to continue blocking subpoenas from the AGs of Washington, D.C., and Maryland while the president seeks to have the case tossed out by the U.S. Supreme Court. The president has said he’ll ask the high court to reverse a May appellate ruling that revived a lawsuit alleging he violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.

“This means we will not get discovery before the election in all likelihood -- his delay tactics have succeeded,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said in a phone call. “We still intend to get to the truth, but he is likely to be able to keep hiding the information about the post office hotel until after the election.”