Congress has gotten its hands on a “fraction” of the expenses accrued by the U.S. taxpayer during Trump’s administration, reports the Washington Post. On Monday, the House Oversight Committee released a report on this fraction of expenses. “In 40 cases the Trump Organization billed the Secret Service far higher amounts than the approved government rate—in one case charging agents $1,185 a night to stay at the Trump International Hotel in D.C.” This small sliver of the actual receipts from Trump properties shows that American taxpayers got gouged had to spend at least $1.4 million to protect the Trumps on their property.
Trump’s tenure in office came with open lying about expenditures and monies made by the Trump Organization without offering up, or even pretending to offer up, evidence supporting how much money they were raking in at Trump properties as a direct result of Trump’s presidency. The new details on how the American taxpayer was gouged by the Trump administration do not include any receipts from Mar-a-Lago or the other Trump resorts where the Donald spent no less than a third of his presidency playing golf and hanging out at his properties—swarmed by Secret Service personnel.
RELATED STORY: Trump Organization says they 'donated' hotel 'money,' won't show receipts, and no one believes them
Democratic Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York wrote, “The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses.” Rep. Maloney also said that the committee has been trying unsuccessfully to get an accounting of expenditures by the American taxpayer at Trump properties for the last two years.
You might remember how Trump’s son, Eric, lied to the world by saying that not only were the Secret Service staying for below market rates, they would sometimes only be charged something “like $50.” Previous reporting by watchdog groups like Citizens for Ethics has shown that Eric Trump was lying, and the House Oversight Committee’s work just makes it that much more federally official.
As CNN reports, according to the Trump National Guild Club’s General Services Administration’s website, the “per diem rate was $242 in March 2017 in Washington, DC.” That was the same time the Trump Organization was charging a nightly rate of $1,160 to Secret Service agents that were at a golf club protecting Eric, who was promoting a golf tournament there. I guess Eric forgot to finish his sentence: “like $50 plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50, plus $50...”
The Brief:
Donald Trump and his allies showed how close they were at overturning the last election, and now Republicans have put more voter suppression in place. For this election, we need you to volunteer with Election Protection—a nonpartisan effort to help voters exercise their constitutional right.
Trump tried to steal 2020. He'll try again in 2024. We need to bolster our democratic institutions ahead of 2024. That's why we need you to donate to these 7 state supreme court candidates.