Investigation reveals Trump Corp 'jacked up prices' of hotel rooms for Secret Service at Washington hotel

An investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee reveals Donald Trump “overcharged Secret Service agents protecting him and his family for rooms at his hotel in Washington while he was president,” NBC News reports.

According to NBC News, House Democrats released a two-part investigation “into financial benefits Trump received in office,” alleging Trump “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.”

Democrats analyzed records of $300,000 in payments to the Trump Corporation from September 2017 to August 2018, finding the organization “[jacked] up the prices of hotel rooms at the property for the Secret Service, in some instances to the tune of 300% more than the approved government per diem rate and beyond what other guests were being charged for rooms on the same nights,” NBC News reports. In addition, “eight U.S. ambassadors, three people Trump appointed to be federal judges, two state governors, a state legislative delegation and a Trump Cabinet secretary stayed and spent money at the Trump hotel while they were serving as state or federal officials.”

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The report notes the 11-month scope of the investigation “is an exceedingly small window into the opaque web of more than 500 corporations, limited liability companies, and trusts that Donald Trump carried with him into the presidency,” but adds "it is enough to reveal hundreds of unconstitutional and ethically suspect payments he accepted while in office from domestic sources—including a federal agency, numerous federal and state officials, and individuals who sought, and frequently obtained, federal offices as well as presidential pardons.”

“The findings of these Democratic staff reports reveal significant shortcomings in the current federal anti-corruption framework—shortcomings that Donald Trump exploited to the tune of millions of dollars and intends to exploit again if he is returned to the Oval Office,” Democrats wrote.

Read the full report at NBC News.

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