WASHINGTON, DC – The Constitutional Accountability Center and Gelber Schachter & Greenberg jointly filed an opposition to defendants’ motions to dismiss yesterday in our lawsuit to hold President Trump, Governor DeSantis, and others accountable for violating the U.S. Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause, which provides that the President shall “receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.”

CAC Senior Appellate Counsel Miriam Becker-Cohen gave the following statement:

The Framers of our Constitution wrote the Domestic Emoluments Clause to ensure that the President would work to serve the collective interests of our nation rather than catering to any particular state.

President Trump and the State of Florida flouted this critical anti-corruption provision when the State gave, and President Trump accepted, a parcel of state-owned land in Miami worth hundreds of millions of dollars for the President to develop into a luxury hotel. And they seek to avoid accountability for their actions by asking the Southern District of Florida to dismiss the case our clients have brought against them.

Yesterday, we filed a brief explaining why the court should reject this effort to evade accountability. The brief explains how our clients, all of whom have a direct connection to the multimillion-dollar parcel, will be harmed if the Court does not put a stop to this constitutional violation. It also analyzes the text and history of the Domestic Emoluments Clause, demonstrating that this critical constitutional safeguard does more than merely prohibit bribery—it serves as a prophylactic safeguard against even the possibility of corruption.

If the court agrees with our arguments, the case will proceed to discovery, and our effort to seek justice for our clients and vindicate the promise of the Constitution’s anti-corruption principles will continue.

Gerald Greenberg, a partner with the Miami law firm Gelber Schachter & Greenberg, added:

The unlawful transfer of valuable land from Miami Dade College and the State of Florida to President Trump mocks the Constitution and attempts to saddle Miami with a monument to corruption. Yesterday’s filing explains why the court has the power to put an end to this blatant violation of the Domestic Emoluments Clause. We look forward to moving ahead with the case.

The case is Sistrunk Seeds Inc. D/B/A Dunn’s Overtown Farm v. Trump. The team at the Constitutional Accountability Center includes Elizabeth Wydra, Brianne Gorod, Brian Frazelle, Miriam Becker-Cohen, Smita Ghosh, and Joshua Blecher-Cohen, and the team at Gelber Schachter & Greenberg includes Dan Gelber, Gerald Greenberg, Shane Grannum, and Swathi Shanmugasundaram.