House committee subpoenas agency for Trump DC hotel documents
Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee issued a subpoena to the General Services Administration on Thursday for documents concerning the Trump International Hotel's lease of its building in downtown Washington, DC. GSA -- the agency which supervises the lease of the Old Post Office building to the Trump Organization -- has refused to fully comply with the committee's document requests, according to the committee.
"Political appointees at the GSA are trying to hide behind a pathetic excuse that Congress -- a co-equal branch of the Federal government tasked with conducting oversight -- can't have key documents regarding a federally-owned property currently leased by the President," Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-Oregon, said in a statement. "The American people have a right to know whether the President of the United States, who is serving as both the landlord and tenant of the Old Post Office Building, is violating the Emoluments Clauses of the US Constitution to enrich himself," he added.
The committee is investigating President Donald Trump's potential conflicts of interest and violation of the Constitution's emolument clause due to his real estate ties. Although Trump resigned from his companies before taking office, he transferred his assets into a trust that he can dissolve anytime he chooses. This arrangement allows him to benefit financially from those businesses, including the DC hotel. The subpoena on Thursday covers all documents that the committee previously asked for in January 22, including legal and financial records that GSA has repeatedly refused to provide, according to the committee.
In January, a watchdog report found that GSA improperly "ignored the Constitution" when deciding to maintain the lease of the Old Post Office Building to the Trump International Hotel after he was elected to the White House.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/10/24/politics/transportation-infrastructure-committee-subpoenas-general-services-administration/index.html
TeamPooka
(24,242 posts)but it's never been enforced.
trump should lose that contract.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)did they not think of going to the Leasing Company for all those documents. That company is most likely a Public Traded Company and those Documents are Public record.
Might embarrass the hell out of someone,but,just do it.
BumRushDaShow
(129,341 posts)then they are doing this for oversight. I.e., the "leasing company" IS GSA. I.e., GSA is leasing this to the Trump Organization.
Wellstone ruled
(34,661 posts)the usual thing is the GSA contracts a Private Company to handle any Government Buildings that they want to rent out or sell. Especially old Post Office and Federal Buildings. So if this was a direct Rental,then I am way out of bounds. Sorry.
BumRushDaShow
(129,341 posts)and had GSA lease it out (and didn't outright sell it probably because it is a historic bulding) to Drumpf (supposedly a 60-year lease) - https://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/donald-trump-lease-deal-old-post-office-dc-095248
GSA doesn't necessarily have to contract out facilities lease management (other than them normally doing other contracting for building maintenance, janitorial services, and food services if the facility has provisions for it).
Their purpose was supposedly to handle this type of function (including also managing the government fleet cars, planes, trucks, etc.) and creating and managing the large government-wide contracts (GWACs) for all sorts of things (telecom services, furniture, etc).
They probably handle that similar to how they would handle a government agency that leases space in a government-owned building, although since this is a private entity in there, that entity would probably take care of the housekeeping/janitorial and food services itself.
(as you might be able to tell, am a retired fed who used to work in an old broken down GSA building for 30+ years... )
The_jackalope
(1,660 posts)gibraltar72
(7,508 posts)it currently is. Because the original plans would have brought competition from another hotel.