Gorsuch Trump Hotel Talk Is “Unsavory Enterprise”

Washington, D.C., August 17, 2017 – In response to reports that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch will headline a luncheon event at the Trump International Hotel in September, just days before the Court is scheduled to hear arguments about the President’s travel ban, AFJ President Nan Aron released the following statement:

“This is as unsavory an enterprise as you can imagine: a Supreme Court justice effectively collaborating in President Trump’s ongoing efforts to monetize the presidency, and doing it just days before he is set to hear a case in which the President himself has an enormous stake.  The Trump Hotel is ground zero for the controversy over whether Trump is violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, a legal debate which may itself end up before the Supreme Court one day.  Justice Gorsuch should have known better than to sign up as the headliner for an event that will line Donald Trump’s pockets in a way that is at best ethically sketchy and at worst downright unconstitutional, and that compromises his own independence to boot.  He should withdraw now.”