Waldof Astoria, the former Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Building, on August 18, 2022 in Washington, DC
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
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Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Waldof Astoria, the former Trump International Hotel at the Old Post Office Building, on August 18, 2022 in Washington, DC
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Imag
Documents released by the House Oversight and Reform Committee show lavish expenditures by foreign leaders at former President Donald Trump’s luxury hotel in Washington, DC, which the committee said that may have violated his oath of office by distorting U.S. foreign policy for personal financial gain.
Government officials from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and the People’s Republic of China have collectively spent more than $750,000 at the Trump International Hotel during their tenure. his president, according to Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, DN.Y.and, she said, did so “at sensitive times for those countries’ relations with the United States.”
The documents – hotel ledgers from Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP – were released in connection with a letter Maloney sent to the National Archives and Records Administration on Monday. That letter requested the president’s records to determine if Trump’s business practices had conflicts of interest and violated the Constitution. Icon Termsdesigned to prevent corruption and foreign influence over federal officials.
“These documents raise questions about the extent to which President Trump has been guided by his personal financial interests while in office rather than the best interests of the American people,” Maloney said. . “These documents, which the Commission continues to obtain from the Mazars, will inform our legislative efforts to ensure that future presidents do not abuse their positions of power for personal gain. “
The documents released on Monday revealed that in 2017, then-Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak visited the White House in September of that year while he and his family members were Investigated by the Ministry of Justice Because stolen from a Malaysian state investment fund and money laundering. Hotel receipts show that Razak and his entourage spent at least $259,724 at the hotel, including $10,000 a night in the presidential suite.
At least $164,929 was spent between late 2017 and mid-2018 by government officials from Saudi Arabia and UAE when two countries isolating Qatar, an ally of the United States, for allegedly supporting terrorism, which Qatar denies. Trump approved a $1.3 billion arms sale to Saudi Arabia in March 2018, despite concerns from Congress, a The press release of the House Oversight and Reform Committee said.
The documents are taken from a subpoena issued by the late committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings during the 116th Congress.
NPR has reached out to the Trump Organization for comment but has not received a response.
