Another in an ongoing series.
Dear Senator;
I am a resident of Pennsylvania and a constituent of yours and I'd like you to answer a question or two.
The New York Times reported that:
The Trump administration plans to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane as a donation from the Qatari royal family that will be upgraded to serve as Air Force One, which would make it one of the biggest foreign gifts ever received by the U.S. government, several American officials with knowledge of the matter said.
The plane would then be donated to President Trump’s presidential library when he leaves office, two senior officials said. Such a gift raises the possibility that Mr. Trump would have use of the plane even after his presidency ends.
And:
An agreement for the government to accept the luxury aircraft and ultimately pass it along to Mr. Trump’s library would be the clearest example yet of how he has further intertwined his personal and presidential business in his second term.
And, given that the Constitution states:
[N]o Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Wouldn't that "gift" of a $300-400 million jet be, more or less, a gross violation of the Constitution's emolument clause?
I realize that recently President Trump said that he "didn't know" whether he had an uphold the Constitution (even though he took an oath to do exactly that in January) but shouldn't he be upholding it?
Isn't the gift from Qatar just one big bribe? Don't we deserve better?
I'll await your answer, Senator.
As always, I'll print verbatim whatever response I get.