Trump is the only president that waved his presidential salary. Why doesn’t this get talked about?
Donald Trump billed the government for Secret Service accommodations at his hotels many times over what other guests were charged, particularly foreign dignitaries, according to a report released Friday from members of the House oversight committee.
Describing the former US president’s term in office as “the world’s greatest get-rich-quick scheme”, the report’s authors referred to documents obtained by subpoenas of the Mazars firm, Trump’s accountants, citing guest logs for Trump International hotel in Washington, DC, between September 2017 and August 2018.
The hotel “charged as much as 300% or more above the authorized government per diem”, for Secret Service hotel rooms, according to the report.
It added: “Not only did former President Trump’s D.C. hotel routinely charge the Secret Service more than the government rate, it frequently charged the Secret Service more than it did other patrons, including members of a foreign royal family and a Chinese business interest.”
Eric Trump has
said previously that the Trump organization let Secret Service agents “stay at our properties for free”. But the report calls that assertion into question, noting that the agency was charged “far in excess of approved government per diem rates and even many times the rates charged to hundreds of other patrons—including some of the rooms rented by the Qatari royal family and Chinese business interests—for rooms used by agents protecting members of the Trump family.”
A 156-page
report on Trump’s business dealings by House Democrats released in January noted that four businesses owned by Trump’s family conglomerate received at least $7.8m in payments in total from 20 countries during his four years in the White House.
While Trump was in office, Republicans made regular use of Trump International hotel while visiting Washington. Democrats on the committee cited three people Trump appointed to the federal bench, eight ambassadors, five people who later obtained presidential pardons like Dinesh D’Souza and Ken Kurson, and numerous other state and federal officials who stayed there on official travel.
The US constitution’s emoluments clause states that a president may receive no payments from the federal government other than a salary. Previous presidents have divested from business interests that could conflict with the clause. Jimmy Carter famously sold his peanut farm in Georgia before taking office. Trump refused to do so, and took efforts to shield his personal and business finances from public scrutiny.
Gotta remember, trump is a YUGE liar.
