UPDATE 6-12-2017 12:52 p.m.
The attorneys generals of Maryland and the D.C. have announced they've filed suit against President Donald Trump, alleging he violated the Constitution by retaining ties to a sprawling global business empire.
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine and Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh made the announcement at a jointly held news conference in Washington, confirming the suit has been filed in a court in Maryland.
Frosh and Racine cited Trump's leases, properties and other business "entanglements" around the world as the reason for the suit, saying those posed a conflict of interest under a clause of the Constitution.
"The presidents' conflicts of interest threaten our democracy," Frosh told journalists. "We cannot treat the president's ongoing violations of the Constitution and his disregard of the rights of the American people as the new acceptable status quo."
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday. The president called an earlier, similar lawsuit about the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution an issue "without merit, totally without merit."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The attorney generals of both Maryland and Washington, D.C. announced Sunday that they plan to file a major lawsuit against President Donald Trump.
The lawsuit is expected to be filed as early as Monday.
The Washington Post reported that the lawsuit would allege Trump has violated constitutional anti-corruption restrictions by accepting payments and benefits from foreign governments since he became president.
The lawsuit would be the first related to Trump's business interests brought by government entities.
No further details were immediately available.
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and his D.C. counterpart, Karl Racine, said in a statement that they will formally announce the focus of the litigation Monday afternoon.