Petition to Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch:
Headlining the Fund for American Studies’ event at the Trump International Hotel is an unacceptable conflict of interest, helping line Trump’s pockets and undermining public trust in the independence of the Supreme Court. Please withdraw as a speaker at the Trump hotel and announce you will not speak at Trump-owned properties in the future.
The Trump hotel in DC has become ground zero for lobbyists, foreign diplomats, and corporate insiders looking to buy power in Trump’s Washington by funneling money to the president.
In a jaw dropping ethical breach, Neil Gorsuch – the justice Trump put on the Supreme Court – is getting in on the act.
He’s scheduled to headline a paying right-wing event at the Trump hotel this month1 – just 2 weeks before the Supreme Court hears a case on whether to strike down Trump’s Muslim ban.
Sign the petition: Neil Gorsuch must drop out as keynote speaker at the Trump International Hotel.
By holding their event at the Trump hotel, the right-wing Fund for American Studies is enriching Trump – he still owns the hotel through LLCs and a revocable trust. And Gorsuch is legitimizing the event by giving the keynote speech.
In fact, all the lobbyists and influence seekers funneling money to Trump through his DC hotel have helped turn the hotel’s projected $2 million LOSS into a $2 million PROFIT.2
It’s so bad that the hotel is a centerpiece of no less than 3 major lawsuits alleging Trump is violating the Constitution’s ban on public officials taking payments from foreign governments and other “emoluments.”3
But Justice Gorsuch is giving a giant stamp of approval to the Trump hotel – before those cases have even been heard by the Supreme Court.
Stanford legal ethics expert Deborah Rhodes puts it simply: “This is not rocket science in the ethical world… It just violates basic ethical principles about conflicts of interest.”4
Gorsuch’s speech makes the concept of an “independent judiciary” sound like a sick joke. Doubly so after he promised the Senate that, “the independence and integrity of the judiciary is in my bones.”5
Sign the petition: Tell Neil Gorsuch to cancel his speech at the Trump International Hotel.
Sources:
1. NY Times, "Neil Gorsuch Speech at Trump Hotel Raises Ethical Questions," Aug. 17, 2017.
2. Washington Post, "Trump D.C. hotel turns $2 million profit in four months," Aug. 10, 2017.
3. Washington Post, "Neil Gorsuch doesn’t seem to care much about impartiality after all," Aug. 21, 2017.
4. NY Times, "Neil Gorsuch Speech at Trump Hotel Raises Ethical Questions," Aug. 17, 2017.
5. Washington Post, "Neil Gorsuch doesn’t seem to care much about impartiality after all," Aug. 21, 2017.