Kamala Harris on Principles & Values Democratic candidate for President; California Senator

FactCheck: Constitutionally eligible to run for presidency

The constitutional requirements for the office of U.S. president have nothing to do with the naturalization status of one's parents, but do include requirement of 14 years' residency in the US. Though Harris spent her high school years in Canada, she has been resident in the US since 1982. She was born in Oakland California, in 1964, and is a natural-born citizen, fulfilling all the requirements to be constitutionally eligible to run for president.

First Indian-American to serve in the U.S. Senate

Harris' race and ethnicity were never a focal point of the contest, which she was projected to win handily. Many people focused more on the possibility that California might have elected the first Latina to the Senate if Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Orange) had won.

Harris' mother, Dr. Shyamala Harris, emigrated from India. Her father, Donald Harris, emigrated from Jamaica. According to the U.S. Senate's website, just nine black Americans have ever served in the Senate. Democrat Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois became the first black woman to serve in the body in 1993. A handful of Indian Americans have served in the U.S. House, including California's Dalip Singh Saund from 1957 to 1963 and current Rep. Ami Bera (D-Elk Grove), who was first elected in 2012.

Question Trump on Emoluments clause.

Excerpts from Letter from 17 Senators to Trump Organization: The Trump Organization's continuing financial relationship with President Trump raises concerns about whether it is a pass-through for income that violates the Constitution's two Emoluments Clauses: Article I, Section 9, Clause 8 on foreign Emoluments; and Article II, Clause 7 on domestic Emoluments. Please answer the following questions to help Congress understand:

• When the Trump Organization receives income from a government agency, how is that income segregated & reported?
• How does the Trump Organization determine if income is derived from foreign governments?
• Trump promised to "donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotels to the US Treasury." Has the Trump Organization created a mechanism to make such payments?
• What is the estimated value of the 38 Chinese trademarks recently awarded to the Trump Organization? And the reported 157 pending trademark applications in 36 countries?

Legal Analysis: (Cato Institute, "Emoluments Clause vs. Trump Empire," 11/29/16): The wording of the Emoluments clause points one way to resolution: Congress can give consent, as it did in the early years of the Republic to presents received by Ben Franklin. It can decide what it is willing to live with in the way of Trump conflicts. If it misjudges public opinion, it will pay a political price at the next election.

FOIA argument: (ACLU Center for Democracy, "FOIA Request," 1/19/17): We filed our first Freedom of Information Act request of the Trump Era, seeking documents relating President Trump's conflicts of interest relating to his business connections. When Trump took the oath of office, he didn't take the steps necessary to ensure that he and his family's business interests comply with the Constitution. Some have even argued that upon taking the oath of office, the new president is already violating the Emoluments Clause.