A federal judge rejected the president’s effort to stop a lawsuit that alleges he is violating the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign governments.

By Ann E. Marimow, Jonathan O'Connell & David A. Farenthold @ WashingtonPost.com, July 25

[....] The ruling, from U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte in Greenbelt, Md., will allow the plaintiffs — the attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia — to proceed with their case, which says Trump has violated little-used anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution known as the emoluments clauses.

This ruling appeared to mark the first time a federal judge had interpreted those Constitutional provisions and applied their restrictions to a sitting president.

If the ruling stands, it could bring unprecedented scrutiny onto Trump’s businesses — which have sought to keep their transactions with foreign states private, even as their owner sits in the Oval Office. Messitte’s 52-page opinion said that, in the modern context, the Constitution’s ban on “emoluments” could apply to Trump — that it could cover any business transactions with foreign governments where Trump derived a “profit, gain or advantage.” “This includes profits from private transactions, even those involving services given at fair market value,” Messitte wrote [....]