The Secret Service paid more than $1.4 million to former President Donald Trump’s company, renting rooms for as much as $1,185 a night, almost six times the normal maximum hotel rate the federal government pays for travelling employees, according to documents released Monday by a House committee.
House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, called the hotel rates paid by the federal government for Secret Service protection at Trump properties “exorbitant.” She said they raise “significant concerns about the former president’s self-dealing” and may have been “a taxpayer-funded windfall” for Trump properties.
Maloney said her panel has been pressing the Secret Service for a full accounting of taxpayer money spent at Trump properties for more than two years but still hasn’t received complete records.
Maloney said in a letter to Secret Service director Kimberley Cheatle on Monday that the committee found more than 40 instances in which the agency paid Trump properties more than maximum government rate to rent hotel rooms, based on records it has received so far.
The letter cited one instance in which the agency paid $1,185 a night for rooms when a protective detail accompanied Donald Trump junior to the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago resort in November 2017, though the maximum government rate for the area is $201 a night.
In another, Secret Service agents accompanying Eric Trump, another son of the former president, paid $1,160 a night for rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, though the maximum government room rate for the city is $242 a night.
Maloney’s letter said Trump company officials publicly said they charged only “minimal fees” for government officials who travelled with the former president and stayed at his properties.
The Secret Service has received the committee’s letter about the hotel charges, and “the agency will respond directly to the committee with the requested information,” said spokesperson Special Agent Steve Kopek.
Representatives of the Trump Organization didn’t immediately reply to requests for say.
During his presidency, Trump reportedly visited properties he owned 547 times, including 145 visits to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. When it came time for the US to host the Group of Seven Summit for world leaders, he also chose one of his properties, the Trump National Doral Miami, though later backtracked under criticism.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Secret Service paid Trump Hotels ‘exorbitant’ rates, House Panel says
Image: Bloomberg
The Secret Service paid more than $1.4 million to former President Donald Trump’s company, renting rooms for as much as $1,185 a night, almost six times the normal maximum hotel rate the federal government pays for travelling employees, according to documents released Monday by a House committee.
House Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, called the hotel rates paid by the federal government for Secret Service protection at Trump properties “exorbitant.” She said they raise “significant concerns about the former president’s self-dealing” and may have been “a taxpayer-funded windfall” for Trump properties.
Maloney said her panel has been pressing the Secret Service for a full accounting of taxpayer money spent at Trump properties for more than two years but still hasn’t received complete records.
Maloney said in a letter to Secret Service director Kimberley Cheatle on Monday that the committee found more than 40 instances in which the agency paid Trump properties more than maximum government rate to rent hotel rooms, based on records it has received so far.
The letter cited one instance in which the agency paid $1,185 a night for rooms when a protective detail accompanied Donald Trump junior to the Trump-owned Mar-a-Lago resort in November 2017, though the maximum government rate for the area is $201 a night.
In another, Secret Service agents accompanying Eric Trump, another son of the former president, paid $1,160 a night for rooms at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, though the maximum government room rate for the city is $242 a night.
Maloney’s letter said Trump company officials publicly said they charged only “minimal fees” for government officials who travelled with the former president and stayed at his properties.
The Secret Service has received the committee’s letter about the hotel charges, and “the agency will respond directly to the committee with the requested information,” said spokesperson Special Agent Steve Kopek.
Representatives of the Trump Organization didn’t immediately reply to requests for say.
During his presidency, Trump reportedly visited properties he owned 547 times, including 145 visits to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. When it came time for the US to host the Group of Seven Summit for world leaders, he also chose one of his properties, the Trump National Doral Miami, though later backtracked under criticism.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
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