Lawsuit looks to revoke Trump International Hotel's liquor license
WASHINGTON - A D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission is supporting a petition that seeks to revoke the Trump International Hotel's liquor license.
The commissioners in ANC 4C unanimously voted to support a petition to revoke the Trump Hotel's liquor license because the law says licensees should be people of "good moral character," and the commissioners believe President Donald Trump is not of good moral character.
"What the complaint says is that the owner of the Trump International Hotel doesn't meet that definition and so ABRA, the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration, should take action," Zach Teutsch, ANC Commissioner 4C, said.
D.C. attorney Joshua Levy filed the petition to revoke the license on behalf of 7 D.C. residents and the move by the ANC 4C commissioners is to support that filing.
But ANC 4C is located about three miles from the Trump Hotel, which means the hotel isn't in their jurisdiction. While the Trump Hotel is not in their jurisdiction, D.C.'s Alcoholic Beverage Regulatory Administration says any civic group can file a complaint against a licensee any time.
The Trump Hotel's license is up for renewal in 2019, but not everybody's on board with the effort to revoke the license. Some, even those who disagree with the president's politics, say his opponents are trying to score a symbolic shot at Trump but will hurt bartenders, servers and other workers at the hotel who earn a living and put tax dollars back into the District thanks to the liquor license.
The Trump Hotel has already been under fire as the Democratic attorney generals of D.C. and Maryland teamed up to file a lawsuit in federal court, claiming the hotel violates the constitution's emoluments clause prohibiting presidents from accepting gifts from foreign governments.
FOX 5 reached out to the Trump organization for comment, but they have not reached back.