When Donald Trump was president, he overcharged Secret Service agents who guarded him and his family at his hotel in Washington. A new report from House Democrats Accusing.
According to a report obtained by NBC News, Trump also benefited from foreign and domestic officials, including those seeking jobs in his administration or seeking pardons from him.
This is part two of an investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee into Trump’s financial benefits in office, or, as the party says, Trump’s efforts to enrich himself, often at the expense of taxpayers.
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Democrats’ findings. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky. A spokeswoman called the report “more recycled garbage from the Democrats’ ineffective and near decade-long impeachment of President Trump.”
“Unlike the Bidens, the Trumps actually owned businesses and made money from the services they provided,” a Comer spokeswoman said.
The new report is limited to records of Trump’s time spent at a Washington hotel in the 11 months from September 2017 to August 2018, which the group obtained after a lengthy court battle over subpoenas issued to a former accountant of the Trump Corporation. Company Mazars.
However, Democrats say the way Trump has used the Oval Office to fill his private company coffers and the support of foreign governments and individuals seeking access to and benefits from the Trump administration has given him support.
For one, the report alleges that the Trump Corporation inflated hotel room rates for the Secret Service, sometimes as much as 300% above the government-approved daily rate and beyond what other guests were charged for rooms on the same nights.
Specifically, the report indicated that on November 28, 2017, the Secret Service paid agents protecting Trump’s son Eric and his wife Laura $600 each for several rooms. That same night, more than 80 rooms at the Trump hotel were rented for less than $600 a night, records show.
In addition to the fees paid by the Secret Service, Democratic investigators said eight U.S. ambassadors, three Trump appointees to federal judges, two state governors, one state legislative representative and one Trump cabinet secretary spent money on Trump hotel stays. They served as state or central officials during the 11-month period investigated by the panel.
One is Kelly Craft, whom Trump appointed as US ambassador to Canada and later as ambassador to the United Nations. Kraft booked rooms at Trump hotels for 20 nights over an 11-month period, spending about $30,000. The report shows communications between Kraft, who was ambassador to Canada in May 2018, and his staff, who offered him various hotel options near a conference he planned to attend in National Harbor, Maryland. But emails obtained by the team from the State Department show that he insisted on staying at a Trump hotel.
Democrats found that four of Trump’s nominees for ambassadorships, four who served as Trump administration officials or on federal commissions or boards, one of his nominees for federal judgeship and five of those he ultimately pardoned stayed at his hotel during the 11th. -Month period.
Among those seeking an apology was Albert Brough, the ex-husband of Fox News anchor Jeanine Brough, who spent more than $2,000 on at least four stays at Trump hotels in 2018, the group said. Biro was convicted of federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges in 2000. One in a flurry of apologies Trump released it before he left office. The committee did not allege that Biro was overcharged for his stay and noted that Trump once retained him as a real estate attorney.
In all, the committee examined $300,000 in payments taken by the Trump Corporation over 11 months, which Democrats argued violated the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars the president from receiving compensation from foreign or domestic governments, including states, outside of his official pay. .
The Constitution does not provide a remedy or a clear penalty for violating wage laws, however, and Trump has often tested its limits in office. He originally planned to hold meetings around the 2020 Group of Seven summit at his Doral golf resort in Florida, but changed course after examining how his personal business could benefit from the event. Trump expressed frustration at having to reschedule the event. tells reporters “You have this bogus pay clause,” he charged at a cabinet meeting.
Democrats would have gotten a more complete picture of Trump’s hotel spending, but Trump did not pursue the investigation after Republicans took control of the House in 2022, quashing Democratic subpoenas for Mazars and others.
“While this is a very small window into the opaque web of more than 500 corporations, limited liability companies and trusts that Donald Trump has brought with him to the presidency, it is enough to reveal hundreds of constitutional and ethical principles,” the report said. He is suspected of accepting payments while in office from domestic sources, including a federal agency, several federal and state officials and federal offices, and individuals who sought and often received presidential pardons.
Trump has faced several lawsuits alleging violations of the rule, but courts have dismissed them for various reasons. The new report doesn’t directly fine Trump, but instead encourages Congress to write tougher legislation that would define clear penalties for officeholders who violate pay rules.
“The findings of these Democratic staff reports reveal significant flaws in the current federal anti-corruption framework — flaws that Donald Trump has exploited for millions of dollars and that he intends to exploit again if he returns to the Oval Office,” the report’s authors said. write down “These statements, therefore, are urgent calls to attention to Congress to ensure effective enforcement of the domestic emoluments and foreign emoluments provisions of the Constitution, and to ensure that our government serves only the common interests of the people. than the personal interests of the President.”
Democrats on the Oversight Committee released the first part of their report in January; Trump’s private businesses have received at least $7.8 million from foreign companies during his tenure as president.
