Trump Hotel Targeted in House Democrats' Demand for Documents
Trump Hotel Targeted in House Democrats' Demand for Documents
(Bloomberg) -- A federal agency cited confidentiality concerns to justify its hesitation to turn over documents related to the Trump International Hotel to a House panel investigating the role of the president’s company at the historic site.
Democrats said the unwillingness to cooperate by the General Services Administration, which is responsible for government buildings, was part of a “large-scale coordinated pattern of obstruction.” They added that the agency had turned over documents during previous administrations.
The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday questioned Robert Borden, the GSA’s chief of staff, on the agency’s failure to submit documents that Congress has been seeking for two years in relation to the lease of the Trump hotel, which is on Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington, and its management.
The GSA failed to meet the April 26 deadline set by Oversight Chairman Elijah Cummings and Government Reform Subcommittee Chairman Gerald Connolly to produce certain documents.
“With regards to the financial documents there is, as with many of our agreements with our business partners, there is a confidentiality provision and the confidentiality provision says that these documents aren’t to be produced outside of GSA,” Borden told Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat.
Cummings threatened to issue a subpoena if the GSA didn’t respond to the panel’s requests. Borden responded that his agency was willing to discuss “possible accommodations.”
In 2013, the GSA leased the Old Post Office, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, to the Trump Organization, which renovated the structure and turned it into a hotel. Democrats on the committee said that once Trump became president and decided to maintain his business holdings, the lease violated the U.S. Constitution.
Power Players
Trump owns the hotel through a trust. Since opening in 2016 it’s become a magnet for high-powered Republicans in Washington, from lobbyists to lawmakers, who rent rooms and spend money at the hotel’s restaurants.
Political campaign organizations required to disclose their finances to the Federal Election Commission have spent at least $2 million at the hotel since 2017, federal figures show.
Trump owns 77.5% of the hotel through his revocable trust. The president reported receiving hotel-related revenue of at least $40.8 million last year, according to his financial disclosure form filed in May. Ivanka Trump, his oldest daughter and a White House adviser, reported receiving about $4 million in hotel revenue, according to her disclosure form.
It’s unclear whether the revenue that flowed to Ivanka Trump, who splits a 22.5% ownership stake in the hotel with her brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., is a portion of the $40.8 million reported by her father or is in addition to that figure.
Raskin cited reports that 24 foreign governments had spent money at the hotel and other Trump enterprises. He said that was a violation of the Constitution’s so-called emoluments clause, which prohibits government officeholders from accepting presents or money from a foreign state.
According to the reports, Raskin said, the GSA gave the Trump Hotel $534,000 to maintain the property’s 315-foot clock tower. Raskin added that because the GSA is a government entity this violates the domestic emolument clause that prohibits the president from receiving additional compensation from the U.S. government above his salary.
Borden said there was an arrangement with the hotel for the clock tower, but that he couldn’t cite exact numbers during the hearing.
--With assistance from Shahien Nasiripour.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jarrell Dillard in Washington at jdillard11@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Joe Sobczyk at jsobczyk@bloomberg.net, Laurie Asséo, Ros Krasny
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