Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Is AOC a liar, an incompetent, or both?

There was an article I read yesterday in which AOC said emoluments was the number one reason for impeaching Trump. ( It might have been this article, but I don't remember exactly.)

So, what is an emolument?  If you don't know what it is, how can you talk about it?  A search of the US Constitution shows three mentions of the word.


  1. Article I, Section 6, which lays out the Legislative Branch, not the Executive Branch
  2. Article I, Section 9, which prohibits any payments from any King, Prince, or foreign state. and,
  3. Article III, Section 1, which pertains to the Presidency.  It prohibits any "emolument" from any other state, including from the other states in the union.  This is related to how he is paid.
Therefore, to go after Trump, where does AOC have to go within these clauses, and what does she have to prove?  The first pertains only to how Congress is compensated by the US Government, and even then, it only relates to how much. The second pertains to foreign states, and is regulated by Congress.  The third is an additional restriction placed upon the Presidency.

The question is this:  is an investment in a foreign country an "emolument"?  An investment can be strictly private, and not have anything to do with a foreign state, even if it is in a foreign country.  In any case, if Congress hasn't decided, or made a definite prohibition against it already, then any changes now would be ex post facto, or "after the fact".  Ex post facto laws are prohibited under the Constitution.

AOC either knows this, or she doesn't.  If she doesn't, she is an ignoramus.  If she does, then she is a liar.  For if the President is definitely in violation of a law already on the books, then they already have their cause for impeachment.  Except that they probably don't.  She could be making it up, or she doesn't know what she is talking about.

Why bother with Russian collusion if they already have a violation in plain sight?




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