Seth Meyers: Why Trump's foreign business ties could cause a legal crisis
"Late Night with Seth Meyers"/NBC; YouTube
Previously, Meyers said that Trump has been able to distract Americans from the real news with his feud with the "Hamilton" cast. On Tuesday, Meyers said Trump's cabinet picks have the media "running wild with it."
Meanwhile, Meyers pointed out, the president-elect never released his tax returns, has been able to bury the news that his DC hotel marketed itself to foreign diplomats, and has yet to make good on his promise to place his businesses in a blind trust.
"Trump doesn't seem to be taking any steps to separate his business from his government work," the host said.
He then brought up this week's reports that Trump used a diplomatic call with Argentina's president Mauricio Macri to push a stalled project in Buenos Aires. For the record, both Trump and Macri denied it happened.
In a tweet on Monday, Trump accused the "crooked media" of over-blowing the fact that he has many international businesses.
Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world.Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016
"Yeah, the crooked media has some kind of crooked hard-on for the crooked Constitution," Meyers said. "There aren't any laws prohibiting the president from running a business. But legal experts are warning that if Trump receives foreign money from his hotels or any other part of his company while he's president, not only could that be unethical, it can actually be a violation of a clause in the Constitution that prohibits public officials from accepting gifts from foreign powers."
In a clip, one pundit said that the founders were so worried about bribes that they barred them in two places in the Constitution. In the case of impeachment, it specifically lists two high crimes: treason and bribery.
"Treason and bribery, which incidentally were both majors at Trump University," Meyers quipped. "In the end, this should be a serious concern not just to Trump critics but to his supporters as well."
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