The General Services Administration (GSA) owns the Old Post Office that is now known as the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. Donald Trump and his family lease the building from the government. There are the obvious conflicts of interest with Ivanka Trump pitching $22,000 a night penthouse suites to foreign diplomats, foreign governments and even U.S. corporations choosing the venue to spend large sums of money on private events. There is a stunning, unprecedented opportunity for corruption massive corruption. There is also the matter of the hotel lease. Donald Trump will have the ability to appoint people to the General Services Administration, which is responsible for negotiating the lease of the hotel property. In short, Donald Trump could appoint people to give the Trump family favorable lease terms—i.e. more corruption. The entire hotel is an ethical minefield.
In a letter to Denise Turner Roth, the Administrator of the GSA, Democratic lawmakers spell out the GSA’s own findings that Donald Trump must sell the hotel before he takes office:
More importantly, the Deputy Commission informed our staff that GSA assesses that Mr. Trump will be in breach of the lease agreement the moment he takes office on January 20, 2017, unless he fully divests himself of all financial interests in the lease for the Washington, D.C. hotel. The Deputy Commissioner made clear that Mr. Trump must divest himself not only of managerial control, but of all ownership interest as well.
Specifically, section 37.19 of the lease agreement provides: “No member or delegate to Congress, or elected official of the government of the United States……...shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom.”
The Deputy Commissioner confirmed repeatedly during the briefing that GSA reads this provision as we do, which is a categorical ban on the President of the United States or any other elected official having any financial interest in this lease, or taking any financial benefit from it. He explained that this provision is a standard clause that is included in many GSA leases to create a “level playing field” and protect the interests of the American people.
That seems uber clear. The letter also makes clear that although the GSA had informed the Trump campaign and later the Trump transition team about this potential violation, they have received no responses from the Trump transition team. They appear to be flatly ignoring this clear breach of ethics and law.
The Old Post Office hotel isn’t the only area where Donald Trump may be breaking ethical and legal boundaries to prevent corruption. Former White House ethics attorney Norman Eisen made the case on This Week with George Stephanopolous that unless Donald Trump completely divests from his financial holdings around the world, he will be in direct violation of the Constitution from the minute he takes the oath of office. Watch Norm Eisen break it down (you can see his full interview here):