A Washington DC Judge has denied President Trump's efforts to halt a lawsuit brought by 201 Congressional Democrats who have sued to require that Trump seek approval from lawmakers before accepting financial benefits from foreign governments, according to Bloomberg.

US District Judge Emmet Sullivan (who is also presiding over former national security adviser Michael Flynn's case) issued a pair of orders on Tuesday. The first order denied Trump's request to halt the lawsuit in order to immediately appeal Sullivan's previous refusals to dismiss the case.

The second order allows lawmakers to begin collecting financial evidence to support their case.

The legislators assert Trump’s receipt of benefits through his far-flung business holdings -- including his luxury hotel just blocks from the White House -- violates a U.S. constitutional provision barring American presidents from accepting so-called emoluments from foreign governments without the prior permission of Congress. The Democrats previously told the court they want to look at the president’s finances and revenue sources. The president’s lawyers say money flows into his businesses legally. The judge has not yet made a final determination on that issue. -Bloomberg

Sullivan, who ruled that Trump's lawyers did not meet their burden of showing that a mid-case appeal would speed up resolution of the case, noted that the Democratic lawmakers told him they could quickly gather evidence.