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Remedies Symposium: The Brand V. The Man: Considering A Constructive Trust As A Remedy For President Trump's Alleged Violations Of The Foreign Emoluments Clause, Kimberly Breedon, A. Christopher Bryant
Remedies Symposium: The Brand V. The Man: Considering A Constructive Trust As A Remedy For President Trump's Alleged Violations Of The Foreign Emoluments Clause, Kimberly Breedon, A. Christopher Bryant
ConLawNOW
When the Framers of our national Constitution included the Foreign Emoluments Clause, they did so as a prophylactic against government corruption, but they provided no specified remedy for violations the clause. In this brief essay, we evaluate the viability of an equitable remedy borrowed from the private law of trusts—specifically, the constructive trust—as a potential retrospective remedy for such violations by a President. We first provide context by reviewing the legal claims and requests for relief in three lawsuits currently pending against Donald J. Trump alleging multiple and ongoing Emoluments Clause violations. We then turn to the doctrines governing the …