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Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is among more than 190 Democrats who are suing President Trump over his business deals involving foreign governments. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., is among more than 190 Democrats who are suing President Trump over his business deals involving foreign governments.

More than 190 Democrats in Congress have joined together to sue President Trump on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

They say Trump is violating the U.S. Constitution by profiting from business deals involving foreign governments and doing so without congressional consent. And they want the court to make it stop.

Trump has "repeatedly and flagrantly violated" the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., told reporters on a conference call.

The clause says that "without the Consent of the Congress," the president can't accept benefits "of any kind whatever from any King, Prince, or foreign State."

Blumenthal said Trump "has never sought the consent of Congress" for the profits from deals in the more than 20 countries where he has business operations.

Just one example he offered: Trump has sought and obtained valuable trademarks from China's government, but did not clear those transactions with Congress.

Blumenthal, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said it took "a lot of research" involving legal experts to determine who would have legal standing to successfully sue the president. "We have standing that no one else has" because the Constitution makes it clear "the consent of Congress is absolutely essential," he said.

The Democrats believe that Trump "must either sell his vast holdings ... or he must tell us and disclose now" all of the benefits he gets from foreign governments, he said. They want to see the president's tax returns and business records.

This suit is just the latest in a series of legal efforts to force Trump to fully separate himself from this business interests. Other suits have been filed by a public-interest group representing private businesses and the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia representing their jurisdictions.

That means Trump is now facing a triple threat in court, with plaintiffs coming at him from 1) the private sector, 2) the state level and 3) Congress. Each group must try to convince a court that it has the legal standing to challenge a president.

The private businesses say they are being harmed because Trump's D.C. hotel is presenting unfair competition, i.e., foreign officials take their business to Trump to win his favor. And Maryland's attorney general says that state's National Harbor resort just across the river from Washington also faces unfair competition.

But the Democratic lawmakers are focused on what they call the harm being done by being stripped of the consent power granted by the Constitution.

Trump has stepped back from daily management of the Trump Organization, but he has moved the assets into a trust, headed by his two oldest sons and a business associate. Trump is the sole beneficiary of the trust, and his son Eric Trump has said the president gets regular updates on profits.

On Monday, White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about the attorneys general lawsuit, and he replied that Trump's business interests "do not violate the Emoluments Clause."

Spicer noted that the lawsuits are being brought by Democrats. "It's not hard to conclude that partisan politics may be one of the motivations" for filing suit, Spicer said.

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Democratic Lawmakers Sue Trump, Handing The President Another Legal Challenge - NPR

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California Today: Division Among Democrats New York Times LOS ANGELES The Democratic Party is so dominant in California that there are barely enough Republicans around for even the most rudimentary political brawl. So state Democrats are turning to the next best thing: Democrats. The state party here has ... and more »

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California Today: Division Among Democrats - New York Times

(Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post)

Nearly 200 Democratic members of Congress agreed to file a lawsuit Wednesday against President Trump alleging that by retaining interests in a global business empire he has violated constitutional restrictions on taking gifts and benefits from foreign leaders.

The lead senator filing the complaint in federal district court, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), said Tuesday that the lawsuit has already drawn more congressional plaintiffs 196 than any legal action previously taken against a president. No Republicans had joined in the lawsuit so far, although they will be invited to do so, Blumenthal said.

An advance copy of the legal complaint reviewed by The Washington Post argues that those in Congress have special standing because the Constitutions foreign emoluments clause requires the president to obtain the consent of Congress before accepting any gifts.

The legal effort, led in the House by Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), is likely to escalate tensions between the White House and Capitol Hill, where at least five committees are investigating various issues related to the Trump administration.

News of the lawsuit emerged less than 24 hours after attorneys general in the District and Maryland, both Democrats, filed suit alleging that payments to Trump violated the Constitutions anti-corruption clauses. In another lawsuit filed against Trump by business competitors, the Justice Department recently defended Trumps actions, arguing that he violated no restrictions by accepting fair-market payments for services.

Legal scholars consulted by the congressional plaintiffs said their complaint is distinctive because of the special standing granted to Congress.

The Framers of our Constitution gave members of Congress the responsibility to protect our democracy from foreign corruption by determining which benefits the president can and cannot receive from a foreign state, said Erwin Chemerinsky, the incoming dean of the law school at the University of California at Berkeley.

When the president refuses to reveal which benefits he is receiving much less obtain congressional consent before accepting them he robs these members of their ability to perform their constitutional role, Chemerinsky said. Congressional lawmakers ... have a duty to preserve the constitutional order in the only way they can: by asking the courts to make the President obey the law.

Other legal scholars were skeptical, particularly since the lawsuit was filed only by Democrats, the minority party in both houses of Congress.

Just because they cant convince their peers doesnt mean you can go to court to get what you want, said Andy Grewal, a law professor at the University of Iowa.

Generally, a lawmaker can sue if he or she has suffered individual injury, Grewal said. In addition, Congress can sue as a body, as has happened in the past, such as with the lawsuit challenging President Barack Obamas health-care overhaul.

But a case like this is problematic, he said,

Because this is individual legislators who dont have any individual injuries, it will be hard for them to get standing, he said.

However, Norman Eisen who served as a co-counsel in the other two emoluments-clause lawsuits, said he thought the congressional plaintiffs in this case do have proper standing to sue. He pointed out that in the lawsuit filed on behalf of Trump competitors, the Justice Department argued that Congress had special capacity to deal with questions related to emoluments.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night, but on Monday, press secretary Sean Spicer dismissed the lawsuit filed by the two state attorneys general, saying its not hard to conclude that partisan politics may be one of the motivations.

The 37-page congressional complaint contends that the nations founders were concerned that foreign powers could interfere with American affairs. The suit says that the founders were particularly worried that foreign states would give benefits and rewards to the nations chief executive to subvert his loyalty.

As a result, they wrote the emoluments clause of the Constitution with language both sweeping and unqualified, the lawmakers lawsuit says.

The obscure clause in ArticleI of the Constitution says: [N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under [the United States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. The language is interpreted as prohibiting any officeholder including the president from accepting a gift, payment or other benefit from a foreign state without the consent of Congress.

A memo prepared by the Senate plaintiff states that these benefits include any compensation for services rendered in a private capacity such as when a foreign government throws a party at a hotel owned by a federal official.

Although the emoluments clause has a complex history, the request by the lawmakers is rather simple. It asks the court to enjoin the president from accepting any benefits from foreign states without first obtaining Congressional consent.

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Congressional Democrats to file emoluments lawsuit against Trump - Washington Post

(Amber Ferguson,Jorge Ribas,Dalton Bennett/The Washington Post)

Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam won the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia Tuesday by an unexpectedly wide margin, and Republican Ed Gillespie held off a surprising challenge from Donald Trump acolyte Corey A. Stewart for that partys nomination.

With more than 99 percent of precincts reporting, Gillespie edged past Stewart by just over a percentage point fewer than 4,500 votes. State Sen. Frank W. Wagner was a distant third.

The nation was watching Virginia as a political laboratory for how the political parties handle the deep divisions that followed last years election of President Trump. The establishment forces seemed to win out, as Virginia voters resisted efforts to pull further to the right or left.

Perriello channeled the energy and endorsement of progressive leader Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) as he tried to shake up the Democratic Party, but fell short in his bid to bring in enough new voters from among the young and working class to overcome Northams command of the Democratic machine, including the endorsement of nearly every Democratic elected leader in state or federal office.

Celebrating at a restaurant in Arlington, Northam led a giddy crowd in a call-and-response chant, ending with a call to take back the Democratic majority in the GOP-controlled House of Delegates. He said he had spoken with Perriello and we agreed that were going to bring all Democrats under the tent starting tonight. This is too important an election. This is the bellwether of the country.

He said he planned to start campaigning right away with the newly minted Democratic ticket, including lieutenant governor candidate Justin Fairfax, who beat two opponents, and Attorney General Mark R. Herring, who was unopposed for the nomination.

Northam and Perriello planned to gather Wednesday with Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez at a unity rally but cancelled the event after a gunman shot and wounded House Republican Whip Steve Scalise (R-La) and several others during a practice for a GOP congressional baseball team earlier in the morning in Alexandria.

The Republican ticket will be Gillespie; lieutenant governor candidate Jill Holtzman Vogel, a state senator from Fauquier County who beat two opponents; and attorney general nominee John Adams, who had no primary opponent.

But there was less unity among Republicans, with Stewart refusing to concede and saying he wouldnt support Gillespie, a man he derided throughout the campaign as Establishment Ed.

There is one word you will never hear from me, and thats unity, Stewart told supporters at a restaurant in Woodbridge. Weve been backing down too long. Weve been backing down too long in defense of our culture, and our heritage and our country.

Stewart huddled with his campaign staffers, who said they wanted to wait until all absentee ballots were counted and were weighing a request for a recount.

Stewarts strength on the Republican ballot was the biggest surprise of the evening. He had been running as more Trump than Trump, making provocative statements and campaigning on the issue of preserving Confederate monuments. Polls had shown him with a fraction of Gillespies support, but a low turnout among Republican voters gave Stewarts committed base an outsize influence, and Wagner drew significant votes in Hampton Roads that might otherwise have gone to Gillespie.

Overall, Democrats turned out in far greater numbers than Republicans. About 540,000 voters cast ballots in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, while just over 360,000 voters cast ballots on the Republican side, with nearly all precincts reporting.

Both showings outstripped the Democratic primary for governor in 2009, when about 320,000 voters cast ballots.

Gillespies support in Fairfax County cushioned his slight edge as final returns came trickling in. Stewart scored big wins in Washingtons exurbs Loudoun, Fauquier and his home base of Prince William County as well as in the rural central and southwest regions of the state.

Stewarts showing rattled Republicans at Gillespies party at a Hilton Hotel ballroom in the Richmond suburbs, where supporters who had expected a blowout were concerned to see Stewart running a close second.

Gillespie had remained upstairs at the Hilton most of the evening, but finally took the stage at 10:46 p.m. to chants of Ed! Ed! Ed!

Sorry to keep you waiting, he said with a small laugh.

He spun the squeaker as sign of fiscal prudence. I always tell our donors, obviously we did not waste a penny any more than we needed to win this nomination.

In his remarks, Gillespie reached out to Republicans who had supported Stewart and Wagner. We want you to know that we not only will listen to you, we will fight for you through November, he said.

He did not invoke Trump, who has cast a shadow over the governors race all year. The presidents approval rating in Virginia is even lower than it is nationwide: Just 36 percent of Virginians were satisfied with his performance in a poll conducted last month by The Washington Post and the Schar School at George Mason University.

That creates a challenge for Republican candidates this fall, because the partys base still supports the president, said Mark Rozell, dean of the Schar School. Virginias race, he said, will show whether a prominent Republican in a major campaign is able to separate himself in the publics mind from the unpopular policies and actions of the Trump administration, while at the same time not losing much of the Republican support a candidate is going to need to win a general election.

Gillespies narrow win, coming from a small and apparently unenthusiastic electorate, suggests that he faces a major challenge as he tries to both woo Stewart voters and attract moderates and independents while he fights a highly motivated Democratic opposition.

A former consultant to President George W. Bush and former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Gillespie played it down the middle during the primary campaign as Stewart kept trying to provoke him. He has been a lukewarm supporter of Trump, but cast himself as a true conservative who will cut taxes and promote business.

But Gillespie, apparently trying to conserve resources and cement his front-runner status, had avoided appearances with his campaign rivals in recent weeks, preferring smaller, more controlled settings. He never seemed to inspire as much passion as Stewart, for good or ill.

Steve Chapman cast a ballot for Stewart at Mullen Elementary School in Manassas. He said that Stewart may have gone a too far with his embrace of Confederate heritage, but figured it was just a campaign shtick.

Corey, he likes attention so I think he takes controversial stances and I dont know if he believes it, said Chapman, who is 39 and self-employed. Thats whats he does. Its a way to get earned media attention.

But that behavior, combined with the constant flow of controversy from the Trump administration in Washington, also energized Democrats.

Many voters said they were inspired to come out because of events in Washington. Alexandria resident Curt Arledge, 32, had never voted in a gubernatorial primary but decided this year that it was too important for him to miss.

[Live results: Virginia primary election]

Clothed in a T-shirt that displayed Smokey Bear wearing a resist hat, the Democrat voted for Northam because he thought he could win in November.

I cant recall any of the issues, I hate to admit, Arledge said. I want to nominate Democrats who can get elected.

Outside groups have poured money and attention into Virginia, and a vast army of new candidates have flooded the Democratic side of House races including a record number of female candidates.

Perriello drew national attention with his eloquent plea for a new kind of Democratic politics more aggressive, more about persuading others to change than about accommodating the realities of a Virginia legislature controlled by Republicans. He attracted outside money and endorsements from national political figures.

And more than any other candidate, Perriello made the governors race explicitly about standing up to Trump.

In Arlington, Matt Canella, 29, and Mariah Finkel, 30, were inspired to vote for Perriello in large part because they felt he had more aggressively attacked the president.

Finkels vote, she said, was mostly based off what I see on commercials.

But Northam responded in kind, calling Trump a narcissistic maniac and pledging to resist his policies. He and Perriello never really disagreed about many issues, with one notable exception: Perriello opposed a pair of natural-gas pipelines being built in rural parts of the state. Northam refused to condemn them.

That issue will continue to rise up during the general election; anti-pipeline protesters briefly interrupted Northams victory rally.

Perriello wasted no time conceding, making his statement to supporters about 90minutes after polls closed. To screams of Go, Tom, Go!Perriello addressed his supporters gathered at the State Theatre in Falls Church and urged unity against very scary Republicans ... We dont even know how scary that individual might be yet, referring to the down-to-the-wire fight between Stewart and Gillespie.

He credited his own campaign with a great victory for forcing issues of economic inequality into the political conversation. Together we helped elevate mainstream ideas that should have been there all along, he said, citing his support for a $15 minimum wage as an example. I think its movements that change the world, and politicians who work as allies to that movement.

But first, Perriello praised Northam for winning a great victory, and offered him my full and unequivocal support.

Long before Tuesdays voting took place, both Perriello and Northam had agreed to appear at a Democratic unity rally on Wednesday in Northern Virginia, along with Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Democratic National Party Chairman Tom Perez. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), who had endorsed Perriello, tweeted a congratulatory message to Northam on Tuesday night.

In the House of Delegates, all 100 seats were on the ballot. Democrats caught up in anti-Trump fervor say they want to pick up enough seats to take over the majority, but that will be a tough task. Republicans have a 66 to 34 advantage.

Antonio Olivo, Jenna Portnoy, John Woodrow Cox, Fenit Nirappil, Laura Vozzella, Patricia Sullivan, Alejandra Matos, Reis Thebault, Sarah Robertson and Catherine York contributed to this report.

[Just tuning in to Virginia governors race? Well help you do your homework]

[To shake up Democratic Party, progressives turn to primary race in Va.]

[Road to Richmond: Va. governors race is early political test in Trump era]

[Democratic nomination for governor could depend on black voters]

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Northam wins Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia - Washington Post

CGCN Group, a Republican lobbying firm with ties to the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, has formed a new strategic alliance with four Democratic firms that work closely with the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses. The odd quintuple said that despite wildly diverging politics on a slew of issues, they all have one thing in common: high levels of poverty back home.

Despite their ideological differences, members of the CBC, CHC, and conservative Republicans represent districts that need the most help jump-starting their local economies, according to a memo drafted to explain the budding partnership. Most of these districts have at least 20 percent of their populations living below the federal poverty line and are in desperate need of jobs, transportation infrastructure, outside investment, energy, and economic development.

Jennifer Stewart, of Stewart Strategies & Solutions, one of the Democratic groups involved in the partnership, cited transportation infrastructure, nutrition programs, education, and criminal justice as potential areas the crew could work together. The opportunities are limitless.

Entrenched, generational poverty has bred universal anger at Washington, Wall Street, and other elite institutions, which establishment Democrats have yet to figure out how to channel, according to the memo. That creates an opening for Republicans looking to exploit class politics, while using Democratic identity politics as leverage. The preponderance of white facesat Democratic lobby shops, meanwhile, puts such firms at a disadvantage in challenging the attack.

Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a caucus of conservative Republicans, was ready with praise for the new partnership.

The biggest problems facing our country demand solutions that transcend partisanship, Walker said in a statement to The Intercept. Whether its inter-generational poverty, national security crises, or criminal justice reform, we must bridge traditional political and cultural divides to find lasting resolutions with buy-in from all sides.

At the height of the Democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, Clinton built her critique of Sanders on the argument that issues of class and the economy should not dominate the agenda and divert the focus from racism and sexism.

Not everything is about an economic theory, right? Clinton asked at one rally during the primary. If we broke up the big banks tomorrow and I will, if they deserve it, if they pose a systemic risk, I will would that end racism?

No! shouted the mostly union audience.

Would that end sexism?

No!

Would that end discrimination against the LGBT community?

No!

Would that make people feel more welcoming to immigrants overnight?

No!

Clinton was tilting at a straw-man. Sanders never pretended that breaking up the banks would end racism, but now that the Democrats class vs. race debate has moved from the hot-take corridors of the internet over to K Street, corporate America has a way to leverage the salience of liberal identity politics toward its own ends.

People listen as Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks during the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Gala in Washington on Sept. 15, 2016.

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images

The new lobbying partnership takes this Clinton argument in a direction she was unlikely to have intended: Since breaking up the banks wont end racism overnight, lets not focus on breaking up the banks. Instead, lets find areas where we agree.

A source at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce told The Intercept the lobbying powerhouse was aware of the new effort and supportive of anything that gets policymakers from both sides together to talk about how we can do more to grow the economy and create jobs.

The partnership may be a new one and, unusually, public but the strategy is not. In recent years, bank lobbyists have sought out members of the CBC to co-sponsor deregulatory measures, hoping that the caucuss imprimatur can markbills as OKfor progressives to support.

And corporate America has long relied partly on identity to lobby Congress. Different firms tend to specialize in their ability to lobby different factions, typically as a result of having partners who previously worked on Capitol Hill for someone in a particular orbit. A company looking to influence the CHC, for instance, might turn to Velazquez & Associates, one of the four Democratic firms in the partnership. CGCN has built much of its practice around an ability to reach the Freedom Caucus, but it also has close ties to House Republican leadership.

A partner at CGCN, Sam Geduldig, was a top aide to former House Speaker John Boehner. Geduldig has spent years blasting Democrats both publicly and privately for their lack of diversity on K Street, in leadership positions and in the Senate, going so far as to give money to then-Rep. Donna Edwardss failed bid for the Senate in Maryland.

For Geduldig, the lack of diversity exposes Democrats and, more generally, liberals as hypocrites. As satisfying as the new partnership may be, it could also prove effective, he said.

If you have minority Democrats and conservative Republicans in support of an issue, whether it is infrastructure, access to capital, or lowering your energy bill, you are well on your way to legislative success, he said. This partnership was born out of that concept.

Top photo: Members of the Congressional Black Caucus arrive on stage during the third day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on July 27, 2016.

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GOP Lobby Shop Courts Black and Hispanic Democrats in Vacuum Left by Liberal Establishment - The Intercept