Who is Donald Trump hanging out with every weekend when he visits Mar-a-Lago or another Trump property? People. Rich ones. That’s all the information Trump thinks peons like you or I deserve to have on that front, but congressional Democrats are pushing to get more information about that and make it public, appealing to Congress and to the Government Accountability Office.
When it comes to who Trump is hanging out with, though, our ignorance is not only because Trump is keeping secrets. It’s also because Trump himself may not be so sure.
Mar-a-Lago also doesn’t keep tabs on the identity of guests who come and go on a routine basis, even while the president is in residence. Club members call the front desk to give the names of their guests, including for parties held in the ballroom. But they don’t have to submit details, like a middle initial or birthdate or Social Security number, that are standard for visitor logs or background checks—which neither the club nor the Secret Service do at the resort.
Foreign agents take note: all you have to do is befriend a Mar-a-Lago member to be brought in as a guest without a the usual background check or record-keeping. Hey, if Melania is there without Donald, you might not even be screened for weapons! But aside from the security concerns, another result is that we don’t know who Trump is talking to. Democrats are introducing a bill—the MAR-A-LAGO Act (“Making Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act” or “check out our snazzy acronym, guys”)—to require the disclosure of visitor records at the White House or “any other location at which the President or the Vice President regularly conducts official business.” Because, oh, by the way, Trump isn’t releasing White House visitor records, either, and obviously—while Democrats are doing the right thing by introducing a bill pushing the issue—Republicans are not going to vote to make him release any information he doesn’t feel like releasing.
But there may be another way. The Government Accountability Office has agreed to a request by four Democrats—Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Tom Udall, and Rep. Elijah Cummings—to take a look at the procedures around Trump’s constant weekend ego-stroking trips:
1) What measures are being used to protect classified information and provide secure communications capabilities while the president is away from the White House and whether a secure communications space has been created at Mar-a-Lago.
2) The type of security screening the Secret Service employs for guests and visitors of Mar-a-Lago.
3) What measures the Secret Service and Defense Department have taken to ensure the fees they are charged for Mar-a-Lago trips are “fair and reasonable.”
The Democrats have included, and the GAO will look into, one other request, aimed at finding out if Trump is keeping his promise to pretend to half-assedly address one of his major conflicts of interest:
4) Whether the U.S. Treasury has received any payments resulting from profits at hotels that are owned or operated by the president.
Ha ha ha. That’s a good one—tell me another.