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Fordham University
Zephyr Teachout is Associate Professor of Law at Fordham University and the author of Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United
PROFILE
Zephyr Teachout
Guest
FROM Zephyr Teachout
To the Point
First big lawsuit against President Trump's hotel The Trump Hotel in Washington is the place to be — at least for the moment. How long will that last? Photo by Mr. Gray As the New President never tires of pointing out, his new Trump Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue is midway between the White House and Capitol Hill. Luxury suites command hundreds of dollars a night as foreign officials and business people compete for overnight bookings. Sounds like a roaring success — but that's exactly the problem, according to some of America's foremost Constitutional scholars. One member of the legal team filing suit today is Zephyr Teachout, Professor of Law at Fordham University and author of Corruption in America .
To the Point
Who will police presidential conflicts of interest? The 538 members of the Electoral College cast their votes today for a Commander-in-Chief with the most extensive potential conflicts of interest in the history of the presidency. Watchdogs say the law requires Donald Trump to sell off his holdings, but he's postponed addressing the issue until January, tweeting that his sons will run the business -- the same sons that are deeply involved in the Trump transition team. Democrats, led by Senator Elizabeth Warren, have vowed to hold Trump to the standard of a little known constitutional principle, the Emoluments Clause , claiming it gives grounds for impeachment if Trump doesn't fully divest himself of his holdings. Why are Republican voters seemingly unconcerned with the blurring of the lines between the Trump Organization and the White House? With a Republican controlled Congress who can hold the President accountable?
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Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.
To the Point
Trump plays scolder-in-chief with NATO allies At the opening of NATO’s dramatic new headquarters in Brussels today, President Trump acknowledged that Article 5 — promising that “an attack on one nation is an attack on all” -- has only been invoked one time: in the aftermath of September 11. But the President failed to provide what 27 other Alliance members have been waiting for: a re-commitment by America’s new leader to Article 5. Instead, they got a scolding.
To the Point
The longest US war: Will Trump send more troops to Afghanistan? The Trump White House is divided over the Pentagon's request for more troops in Afghanistan—where the US has been fighting for the past 16 years. Is there a formula -- either for "victory" or a political settlement? Is there an end in sight for America's longest war?
To the Point
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.