Trump overcharged Secret Service agents to stay at his D.C. hotel, new Democratic report says

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Source: NBC News

DONALD TRUMP
Trump overcharged Secret Service agents to stay at his D.C. hotel, new Democratic report says

Then-President Donald Trump also benefited from U.S. officials and others seeking jobs and pardons who paid for stays at his downtown Washington hotel, House Democrats allege.


The Trump International Hotel in 2016. Cheriss May / NurPhoto via Getty Images file

Oct. 18, 2024, 10:00 AM EDT / Updated Oct. 18, 2024, 11:15 AM EDT
By Ryan Nobles

Donald Trump overcharged Secret Service agents protecting him and his family for rooms at his hotel in Washington while he was president, a new report from House Democrats alleges.

Trump also benefited from foreign and domestic officials, including people seeking jobs in his administration or pardons from him, who paid for rooms at what was then the Trump International Hotel in downtown Washington, according to the report, which was obtained by NBC News.

The allegations are part two of an investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee into financial benefits Trump received in office, or, as the party puts it, Trump's attempts to enrich himself, often at taxpayers' expense.

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Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna175714

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Stop the presses.

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Trump hotel overcharged Secret Service, report by House Democrats finds
Trump’s D.C. hotel charged the Secret Service more than normal government rates — and sometimes charged the agency more than it did other patrons, House Democrats found.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/10/18/trump-hotel-secret-service-overcharging/

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By Jacqueline Alemany
October 18, 2024 at 10:42 a.m. EDT

During Donald Trump’s presidency, his D.C. hotel charged the U.S. Secret Service 300 percent or more above standard government rates on multiple occasions, and at times charged the government agency more than it did other patrons — including a Chinese business and members of a foreign royal family, according to a new report released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. ... The authors of the report, which is based on Trump International Hotel room records from September 2017 and August 2018, argue that Trump violated the Constitution’s foreign and domestic emoluments clauses, which were designed to prevent the president and other federal officials from enriching themselves at taxpayer expense.

The House Democrats’ report cites several previously undisclosed instances in which Trump International Hotel charged the Secret Service rates that were not only above the normal government per diem rate but above rates it charged other patrons. The report is based on records Democrats obtained from Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars USA, along with corresponding special waivers authorizing the Secret Service to make payments above normal government rates.

When Eric Trump visited the hotel on Feb. 22, 2018, two of the rooms the Secret Service rented were charged at $895 each, 450 percent more than the government rate, according to the report. The same evening, more than 100 rooms at the 263-room hotel were rented out at rates lower than $895, “including at least one room rented out for just $150,” the Democrats found. ... That night, four rooms for a “Sheikh Al Thani Family Extended Stay” were charged at rates far less than what the Secret Service was charged, according to the report. The Al Thanis, who are a Qatari royal family, were charged $280 for three rooms and $490 for one room.

The Democratic report did not reveal the total number of rooms rented by the Secret Service, which is considered sensitive law enforcement information. Spokespeople for the Secret Service, the Trump campaign and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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By Jacqueline Alemany
Jacqueline Alemany is a Congressional Investigations reporter for The Washington Post. Previously, she was the author of The Early 202, The Post's flagship early morning newsletter featuring news critical to the nation’s many power centers. Alemany is also an on-air contributor to NBC News and MSNBC.follow on X @jaxalemany

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Democrats’ Report Calls Trump Hotel Business Unethical and Unconstitutional
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee said the former president overcharged the Secret Service and accepted money from officials and people who were seeking pardons and appointments.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/18/us/politics/trump-hotel-report.html


The committee has already documented how officials from other countries spent lavishly at Donald J. Trump’s hotel in Washington while he was president. Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

By Luke Broadwater
Reporting from Washington

Oct. 18, 2024
Updated 11:13 a.m. ET

House Democrats on Friday accused former President Donald J. Trump of accepting “hundreds of unconstitutional and ethically suspect payments” through the Trump International Hotel in 2017 and 2018, moving weeks before the election to remind voters of the ethical issues raised by his refusal to divest from his businesses while in office.

The 58-page report (1) from Democrats on the Oversight Committee includes their final findings in a yearslong investigation digging into the Trump Organization’s management of the hotel. It accuses Mr. Trump of ripping off the Secret Service by charging the agency exorbitant rates and of inappropriately accepting payments from clients who worked for state governments or were seeking appointments and pardons from him.

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(1) https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/democrats-oversight.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/2024-10-18COA-DEM-Staff-Report-Domestic-Emoluments.pdf