senate are making a determination about this nomination, and hope that they take those interests and concerns into their deliberations. mr. president, i would yield the floor. >> from earlier today, comments on the brett kavanaugh supreme court nomination. the senate is going to break allowing lawmakers to attend their weekly party conference lunches. they were back at 2:15 p.m. eastern. we expect to hear more on the floor about judge kavanaugh and the fbi investigation into sexual assault claims against him. as we mentioned senators now attending a public meeting. we have a camera outside the meeting room. we'll take you there live if senators speak to reporters. >> robert weissman is back with us. he served as president of public citizen joins us this morning to talk about the trump organization and a potential conflict of interest. senators around the constitutions.

remind us what this is and what it prohibits. >> it's hard because most people never knew in the first place. the cause basically says the president and other officers of the government can't take gifts from foreign governments or foreign entities unless they get approvals in advance from congress. our new country would have been influenced by outside powers and it's remained in effect obviously since the founding. >> a lot of concerns of the trump administration started about what is happening with the trump organization but the conflicts of interest. the lawsuit filed by 200 democratic members of congress. their legend of president trump violated the emoluments cause, how? just how you got this global business and engages and takes from foreign governments at the hotel here in washington d.c. they have held parties and big

events. and the investments around the world we have investments of things fuzzy, money coming in from china, middle eastern power supporting and maybe actually in the form of gifts as well. the constitution unless you get permission from congress. the firstat question when they bring the lawsuit is do they have standing, do they have an actual lifeioy case. it permits them to bring the case forward and the judge last week decided yes they do in the case cano. proceed. poster was public citizen involved in this case? >> guest: the parties to this are the lawyers for them.

we did help encourage members of congress to join the lawsuit. >> host: what is public citizen's interest in this case? s. go we are worried about the emoluments issue. we are worried about foreign influenceum on the president. we are also worried about how the business is doing domestically or influencing policy. there is no precedent for the president to maintain the kind of business interests while he's president of president trump has done. there is reason why we should be worried. so when he has co-investments with china and is getting rent from china, we have to worry about whether certain favors being given to chinese companies, is that being done a good policymaking or some kind of arrangement or understanding for the influence being exercised over the president. domestically when he passes a tax plan and puts forward a tax plan, and it specifically benefit is this his interest and lowers the tax rate on the corporate structure he has good we have to worry very much about

whether that was a good policy or done a good policy sense or just his bottom line. >> host: involved in a separate case with the business interests, correct? >> we are cocounsel for another of members of conference seeking information and the prensa hotel in in washington at least at the hotel through the trumpto organization. post to remind viewers of public citizen is. just go we are consumer and not get the pro-democracy organization almost 50 years old now. we do advocacy in the courts and around the country and the congress and the white house but we do litigate as well. >> for about the next 20 minutes we are talking about the emoluments cause. conflicts of interest. if you have questions about it, you're welcome to call in. (202)748-8001. independence (202)748-8002 is the number as folks are calling

in. explain how president trump chose to handle his business interests as he sits in the oval office. >> the modern tradition has been if you were elected to the presidency. that's by and large what most members of congress do. president trump didn't want to do that. he feels an attachment to it and he said i can keep this business. people knew i had the business when i was elected and i don't see any problem with it. so he put it in a kind of trust, although not really removed from him. he's presumably in supposedly not involved in the day-to-day operations of the business. but he obviously knows what's going on in those with the business interests are. >> host: when it comes to the trump hotel, the explanation of this concern has been brought up over more than the past year. this is from one of the president's lawyers, no one would've thought on the constitution was that paying

your hotel bill was an emolument. and said it would've been thought of as a value for value exchange. not a gift, not a title, not an emolument. just so no one imagined the president owning a hotel whileel he was president. the idea was actually gets, are you going to be given something? the idea that they have payment from a foreign government. in this case, that's an interesting argument. we actually don't know that there were only sort of value for value being given. are they paying for market rate? we have no way of knowing. they try to ingratiate themselves for the president. read a lot of reason to think the answer is yes. diplomats have told the "washington post" of course they would stay at the trump hotel. to be like diplomatic malpractice not to say the trump hotel you can tell when you saw them at a greatou hotel they haa saudi arabia chooses to celebrations of the trump hotel. maybe they made a determination

that was the best hotel in town. there's a lot of venues in washington d.c. they just happen to settle, maybe, maybe not. certainly something the court should be looking at. >> host: monuments have been -- is there precedent here that these cases will be looking back, too? >> the decimal issues really go back to the founding, by and large the issues haven't. so for example, president obama received the nobel peacere priz. by and large there's never been anything like this and so the questions are of these novel over the last 200 years. >> who did he go to for that? s. going up to a special office that gives opinions on questions like this and is not the courts, but usually uses the office of legal counsel. >> host: has the office moved in specifically?

>> guest: president trump deciding for himself. >> host: pol is up first we talk about this case and what could happen with a going forward. republican, go ahead. >> caller: [inaudible] how about all those tariffs on china. and they said stay out of his hotel. [inaudible] that's okay. [inaudible] >> host: you're okay with that? >> guest:. >> caller: yes. just so we have tense relations with china but there's been some specific favors done including one particular company called

dte, with the trump tradministration overrode things they would otherwise do and for reasons very unclear except it seemed to be a priority of the leader of china. reason to worry about whether that was influenced by some of these business relationships that president trump house with china. the point about las vegas is true when you go look for a hotel come you're just looking for the best place to stay for the best value. if you're a foreign government deciding where to stay or where to hold a big party and the president owns a hotel, i've got to tell you some different actors are starting to weigh in. diplomats anonymously have been telling media of course that's part of how they think about things. >> host: what is the pat or this case going forward? what to expect with with a few hundred democratic members of congress? >> guest: there's no way of protecting predict any case. this has been going for a while. several other of my human's case is ongoing, but there may be a next phase in this case in the next few months. >> host: brien in michigan.

>> guest: good morning. i've got to believe this is a total waste of time. the president which would have his own personal problem. people stay where they want to say no matter for what reason. no one is forcing them to stay anywhere. about the emolument clause concerning uranium one, which the inspector general in ways that came into the clinton foundation. about an emoluments cause they are? >> in terms of where you say, it's a different calculation that you made as an individual and hoteldu and were foreign government to stay or do business. knowing the president in the hotel or other business around the world. as for the clinton foundation, i think the issues aren't the same that they don't implicate the clause because there were payments to president put in as

president personally when she was in office personally. issues f around the clinton foundation are absolutely right to be worried about that. >> host: does public citizen just not my president trump is the caller said? >> guest: public citizen has huge concerns about president trump absolutely. we are worried about government processes being open and honest and the government being accountable to the people and not be and not being influenced unduly by outside interests. the reason we are worried about the emoluments in the ongoing business interests of president trump is because it opens them up to being influenced other than good policymaking. we see that happening really everyday. poster were involved in legal cases against the obama administration to the similar types of concerns and obviously not a different business interests.

we were not involved in cases like this and because there were no issues >> republican, good morning. >> host: >> caller: good morning. can you hear me. i would like to ask mr. weissman as visitors come over here from other countries and they happen to work in their government, whatever. should they be allowed to stay at any hotel that they want to? you're telling everybody they can't stay at trump's hotel because of you? i don't get it. you're accusing president trump of doing something that if theyt don't have any proof they did anything wrong. it is just you don't want people staying at his hotel. they say that mr. weissman

doesn't want you to stay at this hotel. >> it's not what i want. it's what the constitution says and why the constitution says that. it's not just about the hotel. the visit of the hotel are really the least of it. they're are big events regarding hundreds of thousands of dollars held at the hotel and if you throw an event like that come you got a lot of choices about where to go. your decisions being influenced by the fact the president owns the hotel if you're going expected to be communicated to the president, that's a big problem. why? the reason you're doing it is to tryon to gain improper influence of the president. we know the president appreciates this kind of thing. he says so himself. there's a lot of reason to worry that it actually is having an impact and if you look at things we do in the middle east and complicated alliances with saudi arabia and significant changes from our policies in the past, youas have to look hard about whether some of these is in his

dealings involving president trump as well as his son-in-law, jared kushner are influencing how policymaking is going on. >> host: let's go to the emolument clause in the constitution. no party holding profit or trust under them show without the consent of congress in title of any kind for many friends or foreign state. without the consent of congress part of that. could congress clear this issue out today if they wanted to? >> yes. that's what the lawsuits about. if president trump wants to do this, in advance to seek permission from congress to congressional vote.s it's not a flat prohibition. it is permitted if congress authorizes.. >> has president trump asked for that. republicans in congress and we would give that permission if you ask, what is the state of play there? democrats are moving forward the

lawsuit. >> their argument is we have a constitutional duty to be a if it's going to be and have an actual live controversy to move forward and federal courts. >> host: in illinois. good morning. >> i've got a big problem with wendy's parking about. they had stacks of papers on a table in front of him, had everybody around him, all of these news agencies around him and he signed off his businesses and i haven't heard weissman say one thing about that. you obviously don't have a problem with iraq obama taking billions of dollars and is enough for cylinder. here's a better thing. you just said you guys have sued all the presidents. you guys don't make your money of the people, so you've got to sue somebody. they president trump says that

you can't make money off the federal governmentde he's an. have a goodd day. >> we are certainly not doing it toot make money. famous for lawsuits. he's comfortable doing not. they thinknk about what the constitution requires. when president trump stood with all the stacks of papers and the press conference are referencing. first of all, most of the stacks of paperwork or blank paper. there wasn't even anything there. what he was purportedly doing with the signing control of his companies to a trusted that he would've no influence or information about what the businesses are doing. it wasn't a real trust. it was a real blind trust to have actual control to an independent trustee who then would solve the businesses and manage the money however he or she decided within the best

interest of the trust deed. that's not what's happening here. in this arrangement, president trump signed on this trust which heea can break anytime he wants. i'm not going to pay attention to what's going on right now, but i still own this stuff in and getting it back when i get out of the presidency. so he did not distance himself in any meaningful way.es it really makes no difference for this ongoing lawsuit. >> how is public citizen funded? >> primarily through individual donations as well as support from foundations. >> host: william in cleveland, ohio. democrat, good morning. >> caller: good morning. yes, i would like to know if there's any way you can go back before he became president and compared that to what he's making now, to make some kind of a judgment off of that. >> that's an interesting question. the short answer is no it can't

because they don't have his income tax return. we don't know what he's been making in any t year. if we could get the information, it would reveal a lot about what is his miss operations are and ul great insight before he became president and what it like now that he is president. the comparison about whether he's making more money or not probably is aey determinative question for whethere he's in violation of the emolument clause has that tends to prohibit him. from taking guesswork presents are things p of value so long as he's president unless he has approval first from congress. are we going to see tax returns from previous figures through the discovery process? >> guest: as possible but we see. it is possible that the democrats take control of the house and get access to the tax

return. it's possible they will come through discovery. no way toth know. >> host: here in fort lauderdale, florida. good morning. >> guest: good morning -- >> caller: good morning. first of all, they are supposed in which the country. not only with this, and he has a $40 million mansion to $90 million direction that he has this deal and all of a sudden0 is $500 million towards the property in indonesia. give me a break, thank you. the second one you mentioned you were right about it. it's very important. president trump was involved in a major resort development on an island in indonesia, partly branded as a trump resort.

a huge amount of co-funding has recently come in from chinese government affiliated interests. at the same time that he was doing favors for this company i mentioned, which you are referencing cte. we don't know if they're connected. close in time and there's reason to worry aboutec it. we shouldn't be worrying about it at all. the constitution has a solution for this which is don't take gifts from foreign government so we don't have to worry about it. in this case i don't think congress would've given approval. if it had we would understand the terms of the deal what's going on and what not to worry about it. >> host: can you talk about your work tracking conflict of interest at president trump? >> guest: we arein worried about how the admin is ration is pursued. we think the most corrupt and conflict did in american history starts at resident trump and his historic decision not to sell these business interests, but

attracts throughout the administration, three cabinet that is drawn from billionaires and ceo serving to reflect the interests they serve prior to coming to government. every regulatory agency the second and third tier and they are doing favor for the public. just to take one example among dozens of the department of education, the administration is rolling back very importantt on protections for victims of predatory for-profit colleges. who's in charge of the decision-making process? people who ran the trade associations from the predatory for-profit college industry. you can lock anywhere from drug policy to clean car standards, to pesticides, wherever you look in the trump administration to people making policy. >> "washingtones journal" live every sunday and available at

c-span.org. we leave this as the senate is about to gavel back in following their weekly party caucus lunches. this week, senators debating the nomination of brett kavanaugh to the associate justice on the u.s. supreme court as the fbi investigation into sexual assault allegations against him continues. majority leader mitch mcconnell reiterating earlier that his plan is for final vote of the nomination this week. senators are also working on a five-year faa reauthorization bill that includes nearly one point of a billion for hurricane florence relief. now life to the senate floor here on c-span2.