Episode description

This week on The Breach, we take a closer look at those 49 words that mean so much: the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the United States Constitution.

Law professor Zephyr Teachout joins host Lindsay Beyerstein for an in-depth discussion of one of our founding document’s most critical anti-corruption clauses. Teachout and her legal colleagues at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have launched a groundbreaking lawsuit against Trump to stop him from taking cash from foreign governments through his empire of hotels and rental properties.

The Emoluments Clause has never been tested in court. A loss for Trump will make legal history and could set the stage for divestment, resignation, or even impeachment.