Reading Room Document

Applicability of 18 U.S.C. § 219 to Retired Foreign Service Officers

A retired foreign service officer is not a public official of the United States subject to 18 U.S.C. § 219, which provides criminal penalties for conduct that would usually constitute a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, Article I, § 9, cl. 8. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/23951/download.

June 15, 1987