NEW YORK (CNN) - Ethics experts have been pressing President Trump in the media for months. On Wednesday, they'll finally get their day in court.






In its complaint, CREW cites a number of examples, including the decision by the Embassy of Kuwait to move its National Day celebration to Trump's Washington hotel after the election.

"It was our hope that President Trump would take the necessary steps to avoid violating the Constitution before he took office. He did not. His constitutional violations are immediate and serious, so we were forced to take legal action," said Noah Bookbinder, CREW's executive director, when the case was filed back in January.

In April and May, a nonprofit restaurant group, a woman who books events at D.C. hotels, and a New York hotel and restaurant owner joined CREW as plaintiffs.

For its part, the Justice Department says CREW and company don't have a case.

Presidents have long held on to their private businesses while in office, the administration said in a court filing.

The defense lawyers point out that George Washington maintained his plantation at Mount Vernon while he was president, and that Thomas Jefferson kept both his Monticello farm and a nail factory running during his tenure.

The Trump administration also argues that the plaintiffs can't prove that their businesses actually sustained any damage. They need to demonstrate that in order for the case to proceed.

According to the Justice Department, the plaintiffs only speculate about the "loss of business due to competition with restaurants and hotels in which the President has financial interests."

Though CREW has received significant attention because it was the first group to take legal action over emoluments, Trump also faces two other lawsuits related to the clause.

One comes from the state of Maryland and the District of Columbia, while the other was filed by nearly 200 Democratic lawmakers.

A key objective in both suits is to compel Trump to release his tax returns during the legal process known as discovery.