A report released Thursday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee estimates that former President Donald Trump's businesses received at least $7.8 million from foreign governments during his four years in the White House, payments that appear to violate the Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause—which Trump once dismissed as "phony."

Titled White House for Sale: How Princes, Prime Ministers, and Premiers Paid Off President Trump, the 156-page report uses documents from Trump's former accounting firm to show that businesses owned by the former president received payments from at least 20 foreign governments during his White House tenure, including over $5.5 million from China, $615,422 from Saudi Arabia, $465,744 from Qatar, and $303,372 from Kuwait.

Given that the documents underlying the report only cover payments to four of the more than 500 businesses Trump owned while simultaneously serving as president, the estimated $7.8 million total is likely just a fraction of the true total. In a report released in April 2023, Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) estimated that Trump made up to $160 million from international business dealings while president.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, wrote in the forward to the new report that "by elevating his personal financial interests and the policy priorities of corrupt foreign powers over the American public interest, former President Trump violated both the clear commands of the Constitution and the careful precedent set and observed by every previous commander-in-chief."

"In the face of these stunning findings and conclusions, Oversight Committee Democrats are prepared to act in defense of the Constitution," Raskin added. "We will develop a package of proposed legislative reforms to ensure that all occupants of the Oval Office abide by the Constitution's unequivocal language commanding loyalty to the interests of the American people—not the interests of homicidal Saudi monarchs, totalitarian Chinese bureaucratic state capitalists, or other foreign actors looking to obtain policy favors and indulgences by paying off a president or his wholly owned businesses."

Congressional Republicans responded dismissively to the new report, with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.)—who is currently leading an impeachment push against President Joe Biden—saying in a statement that Trump has "legitimate businesses" and that it was "beyond parody that Democrats continue their obsession with former President Trump."

Raskin called the Republican lawmaker's reaction "amusing because the masochistic obsession with Donald Trump obviously belongs to Chairman Comer and all the Republicans who have used their legislative power to cover up evidence of Trump's lawlessness and to serve his demands for personal vengeance."

"Meantime, Chairman Comer casually admits that Donald Trump was in business while president of the United States, which is precisely what is unlawful when it involves collection of millions of dollars from foreign governments and monarchs," Raskin continued. "Read the report about Trump's systematic violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause, Mr. Chairman, and if you are serious about fighting corruption, I would invite you to join us in passing legislation to make sure no commander-in-chief again flouts the Constitution to sell out American foreign policy for personal profit to princes, prime ministers, premiers, and dictators."

Republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).