On January 19, 2017—the day before President Trump's Inauguration—the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking documents relating to his actual or potential conflicts of interest relating to his business and family connections. The United States has a variety of legal safeguards, including the U.S. Constitution's Foreign Emoluments Clause, which are designed to make sure that our public officials aren't influenced by money when they make decisions affecting people's lives.

Want to know why conflicts of interests are so important? Molly the Emoluments Mole can explain.
 

 

By Hallie Jay Pope of the Graphic Advocacy Project

 


Click comic to download. Follow Graphic Advocacy Project on Twitter at @GraphicAdvocacy.
 
As national ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said after we filed our request, "Trump took the oath, but he didn't take the steps necessary to ensure that he and his family's business interests comply with the Constitution and other federal statutes. Freedom of information requests are our democracy's X-ray and they will be vitally important to expose and curb the abuses of a president who believes the rules don't apply to him and his family."

Learn more about the ACLU's 7-point plan to take on the Trump administration, and the ACLU of Massachusetts' legislative agenda.