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An artist projected "Pay Trump bribes here" and "emoluments welcome" onto the facade of the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C, on Monday night, in protest of President Donald Trump's failure to divest himself from his business empire.
The artist, Robin Bell, also projected the entire text of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Foreign leaders can literally pay to stay at the president's property, mere steps from the White House, Bell pointed out to CNN in an interview. This appears to violate the Emoluments Clause, which forbids officials from accepting money and gifts from foreign governments.
"It's a pretty clear cut example of impropriety," Bell told CNN. "This is not like politics as usual. The rules and the lines are being pushed so far and this seemed to be so clear to me."
In January, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the president over his business ties, alleging that his businesses accept money and favors from foreign politicians and governments in violation of the Emoluments Clause.
The lawsuit has only grown to encompass more charges and plaintiffs as Trump's term has gone on, as Common Dreams reported, and ethics watchdogs also charge that Trump family members and advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have myriad conflicts of interest.
Bell and observers captured Monday's unique protest on social media:
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
An artist projected "Pay Trump bribes here" and "emoluments welcome" onto the facade of the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C, on Monday night, in protest of President Donald Trump's failure to divest himself from his business empire.
The artist, Robin Bell, also projected the entire text of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Foreign leaders can literally pay to stay at the president's property, mere steps from the White House, Bell pointed out to CNN in an interview. This appears to violate the Emoluments Clause, which forbids officials from accepting money and gifts from foreign governments.
"It's a pretty clear cut example of impropriety," Bell told CNN. "This is not like politics as usual. The rules and the lines are being pushed so far and this seemed to be so clear to me."
In January, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the president over his business ties, alleging that his businesses accept money and favors from foreign politicians and governments in violation of the Emoluments Clause.
The lawsuit has only grown to encompass more charges and plaintiffs as Trump's term has gone on, as Common Dreams reported, and ethics watchdogs also charge that Trump family members and advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have myriad conflicts of interest.
Bell and observers captured Monday's unique protest on social media:
An artist projected "Pay Trump bribes here" and "emoluments welcome" onto the facade of the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C, on Monday night, in protest of President Donald Trump's failure to divest himself from his business empire.
The artist, Robin Bell, also projected the entire text of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
Foreign leaders can literally pay to stay at the president's property, mere steps from the White House, Bell pointed out to CNN in an interview. This appears to violate the Emoluments Clause, which forbids officials from accepting money and gifts from foreign governments.
"It's a pretty clear cut example of impropriety," Bell told CNN. "This is not like politics as usual. The rules and the lines are being pushed so far and this seemed to be so clear to me."
In January, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the president over his business ties, alleging that his businesses accept money and favors from foreign politicians and governments in violation of the Emoluments Clause.
The lawsuit has only grown to encompass more charges and plaintiffs as Trump's term has gone on, as Common Dreams reported, and ethics watchdogs also charge that Trump family members and advisers Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner have myriad conflicts of interest.
Bell and observers captured Monday's unique protest on social media: