Readers Write: The Emoluments Clauses, Trump administration, U regents

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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When the Constitution was drafted, the framers knew that even the best, most honorable people might be tempted to profit from their position in the new republic. To guard against this corruption, the Emoluments Clause was included in Section 9 of Article I. It was called the Foreign Emoluments Clause because it was written to prevent foreign governments from trying to purchase influence in the American government. There is also a second reference to emoluments in Article II. This one is targeted more specifically at presidential compensation.

During his first term, President Donald Trump seldom missed an opportunity to profit from his office. The grifter-in-chief rented his properties to the government at inflated prices. Twice, the Supreme Court turned a blind eye to Trump’s profiteering at the public expense. His Republican sycophants just chuckled and ignored the taint of corruption.

Recently, Trump sold meme coins of himself. If you bid enough, you get dinner at the White House. All money raised went directly into Trump’s pocket. It also seems the Qataris are floating the possibility of buying Trump a new 747.

I have long ago given up the naive belief that there remained enough integrity in the Republican Party to check the excesses of this administration. But these latest violations of the Emoluments Clauses are so blatant and brazen that even the most die-hard Republican must demand that the practice of selling presidential influence must stop. The Oval Office was once occupied by giants. Now we have a felon and con man. President Harry Truman once said that no honest man could ever leave office richer than when he entered it. In this, Truman was right.

Timothy McLean, Blaine

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Kudos to the Star Tribune Editorial Board for calling on the Republicans in Congress to defend the U.S. Constitution back in February. Let’s add to that: urging congressional Republicans to oppose Trump selling access to himself and doling out appointments for political positions.

A 1996 report from the Center for Public Integrity detailed President Bill Clinton’s and the DNC’s use of the Lincoln Bedroom in the White House for fundraising. The Republican Party was aghast at Clinton. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott even urged an independent counsel to investigate. At the end, CNN reported that the contributions to the DNC in 1995-96 for overnights amounted to $5.4 million.

Contrast that with the current White House offering dinner with Trump for $100,000 donations, sales of golden sneakers and a Bible, giving top donors political appointments, crypto memes and much more.

Does anyone think the Trump organization could snag a deal for a $1 billion hotel in Dubai without presidential connections? Donations to his inauguration set a record at $239 million, and there is always the violation of the Emoluments Clause in his first term with the Trump Hotel.

You get the picture.

Why is Trump given carte blanche to rake in the bucks for hundreds of times more money than any previous president has been accused of before Trump?

Melinda Quivik, St. Paul

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I really have no idea about crypto. This is as much as I know, and I imagine it’s what most of us know: The richest people in the world are getting richer from it. Trump, as president of the United States, has a crypto business. So does his wife, Melania. Trump defunded the agency that would have regulated crypto and investigated fraud, so now whoever is buying digital currency from Trump is untraceable.

Mark Zuckerberg of Meta announced he wants to start his own crypto. Private companies want in on this windfall. Next will it be Amazon, Walmart, Chick-fil-A?

Some of us must remember 2008. I do because both of my children, married with young kids, lost their homes. I worked in economic development and suddenly there was no such thing. The silence of my office phone was deafening.

That mess was fueled by fraudulent lending practices and inadequate regulation. Fraud and inadequate regulation are once again staring us in the face, and it appears that we‘re just going to let it.

Mary Alice Divine, White Bear Lake

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After a week of reading about hotels for Trump and planes from Qatar, I am getting a little nostalgic for the “Man from Plains” who wore a cardigan sweater and pounded nails for Habitat for Humanity.

Gene Friesen, Maple Grove

A quote from Secretary of State Steve Simon pertaining to the SAVE Act (“Republicans could keep millions from voting,” May 10) has relevance far beyond the SAVE Act. Simon states that he understands the need to verify that only U.S. citizens vote in U.S. elections, but describes the SAVE Act as “a flawed and chaotic way to do it.”

To date, that descriptor could be applied to Trump administration approaches to trade and the economy, immigration and border security, foreign policy, national security, energy security, the environment, fraud and waste — and just about any other issue that President Donald Trump and his band of blundering sycophants has tackled.

Bumper-sticker solutions to complex issues and chaos are to a successful democratic nation what a sledgehammer is to watch repair.

Gene Case, Andover

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In Cameroon, where I was a crop scientist for seven years, village farmers know they cannot eat the seed needed to plant the next season’s crop. The Department of Government Efficiency and the Trump administration are eating our seeds as they fire and retire scientists in every field, from medicine to agriculture, and eliminate grants supporting research at universities and research institutes. The U.S. has been the world leader in advances in many life-essential arenas. Shutting down potential solutions in medical diagnosis and treatment, crop protection and production, energy sources and every other facet of our lives with no serious analysis of costs and benefits is beyond irresponsible.

If we eat our seed now, we starve later.

Les Everett, Falcon Heights

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On the front page of the Saturday Star Tribune were articles about dropping the use of “disparate-impact liability” for enforcement of the 1964 Civil Rights Act; aggressive pushes to purge all DEI considerations or anything that benefits anyone other than white males; active federal support to ceremonially transport, receive and resettle white South African refugees; and an effort to keep millions of married woman from voting.

That’s just the front page. Further reading discovers more inanities that couldn’t all fit on the first page.

This is not how I see we Make America Great Again.

Robert Downs, Orono

We deserve a vote on the candidates for the University of Minnesota Board of Regents before the Legislature adjourns on May 19. As the Legislature nears the end of session, there is a lot left to accomplish. So it is critically important the Legislature act now to retain its oversight of the selection of the regents and not allow the selection to become just another appointment by the governor.

Higher education is in a very challenging state, and we need highly qualified regents who can help the U system (all five campuses) with the difficult issues it faces. The candidates for regents put in countless hours over a nine-month span: They submitted applications, went through the Regent Candidate Advisory Council interview process, met with numerous legislators, testified at the Joint Higher Education Committee, were voted on and a slate of finalists was put forward to the full Legislature on March 18.

It is not right for members of the Legislature to ignore their responsibilities to vote on the regents. The people of Minnesota are ill-served when their legislators snooze. If regents are not selected before the Legislature adjourns, any new regents appointed by Gov. Tim Walz will serve for only two years, instead of the usual six, forcing the Legislature to elect eight new regents in 2027. This throws off the staggered terms of the regents and creates extra work and resource use that is entirely avoidable.

Members of the Minnesota Legislature, get this important vote done.

Sandy Wiese, Minneapolis

The writer is a U alumna and former regent candidate.