It was the very first scandal of the Trump presidency -- and it never went away.

Breaking with modern presidential tradition, Donald Trump refused to sell off his business holdings or put them into a blind trust when he entered office. This flew in the face of the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause, which forbids the president from accepting any money, through any means, from foreign governments.

Watchdog groups quickly filed lawsuits to stop Trump from personally profiting from his White House tenure, insisting such potential earnings might induce him “to compromise what the Constitution insists be his … exclusive loyalty: the best interest of the United States of America.” Those suits have been gummed up in the courts ever since.

Trump has called the emoluments lawsuits “totally without merit.”

Now, as the president faces an impeachment inquiry for using the power of his office to pressure foreign governments to dig up or manufacture political dirt on former Vice President Joe Biden, the emoluments problem is rising up once again.

It appears that foreign governments and lobbyists are booking large blocks of rooms at Trump properties and just leaving the rooms empty, according to House Oversight Committee investigators.

“We’re looking at near raw bribery,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Democrat from Virginia who sits on the Oversight Committee, told Politico. “That was the risk from Day One: foreign governments and others trying to seek favor because we know Trump pays attention to this. ... It’s an obvious attempt to curry favor with him.”

The revelation of paid-for empty rooms in Trump hotels comes on the heels of news that the U.S. Air Force used Trump’s Scotland resort to house military personnel during stopovers in Great Britain, even though there were other hotels closer to the airport they used.

Back in January 2017, when the emoluments issue first came up, Trump said he would “turn over ‘profits’ from foreign governments at his hotels to the U.S. treasury,” the Washington Post reported at the time. There has been no indication this has happened.

In fact, President Trump seems to be daring Congress and the courts to stop him. He recently said he wants to host next year’s G-7 summit of international leaders at his Trump Doral property in Florida.

-- Douglas Perry

@douglasmperry

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