Despite the work of artists and protestors, President Trump’s D.C. hotel has remained open, and reports indicate that the State Department might even be encouraging world leaders to book rooms there. In response, 17 Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have sued the General Services Administration for records related to the hotel that it hasn’t been providing the committee. Per the Washington Post:
At issue are documents that the Democrats say the administration is required by law to provide. Specifically, they seek monthly financial reports the hotel is required to file with the GSA, records of payments from the hotel’s foreign clients and details on how the agency decided to allow Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, to retain the deal after he became president.
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the committee, called the hotel “a glaring symbol of the Trump Administration’s lack of accountability and a daily reminder of the refusal by Republicans in Congress to do their job.”
Several years prior to his election, Trump signed a lease to open the hotel in a building owned by the federal government and managed by the GSA. Under the lease, the Trump Organization pays rent and shares some of the profits. Many expected the lease to be voided after Trump was sworn in because it contains a clause that bars any elected official from gaining “any benefit” from the deal. However, President Trump and Ivanka Trump have kept their stakes in the hotel, which is posting higher profits than expected after GSA records released during the Obama administration showed the hotel was losing money.
The Trump administration now has 60 days to respond to the federal lawsuit.
(Via Washington Post)