“The exorbitant fees charged to the Secret Service and the agents’ frequent stay at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former president’s self-dealing and may be a result of taxpayer funding of former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (DN.Y.) Secret Service director. Kimberly wrote to Cheatle.
The records contradict repeated claims by Eric Trump, the president’s son and executive vice chairman of the Trump Organization, that the family’s firm provided Secret Service agents with hotel rooms “for a fee” or sometimes for free, giving the security team steep discounts. Stay at Trump properties.
Eric Trump disputes that the Trump Organization profited from the Secret Service’s holdings on his family’s assets.
“Any services provided to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at properties owned by Trump will be provided at their request, at cost, at a substantial discount or for free,” he said in a statement. “If hospitality services were sold to fully paid guests, the company would have been significantly better off, however, the company did whatever it took to ensure that the agencies were able to perform their work at the highest level.”
While the documents don’t cover all Secret Service spending on Trump properties during Trump’s presidency and only reflect a fraction of that spending since he left office, they provide a more comprehensive financial account than what Trump’s often elected taxpayers have paid. His assets. Trump has visited his properties more than 500 times during his tenure as president.
Maloney, who chairs the House Oversight and Reforms Committee, obtained the records as part of her investigation into how Trump profited from the duty of his security agents to follow him wherever he traveled. He wrote to Seattle on Monday demanding a full accounting of what taxpayers have paid and continue to pay to the Trump Organization.
“Given longstanding concerns regarding the former president’s conflicts of interest and efforts to profit from the presidency, the committee has a strong interest in obtaining a full accounting of federal spending on Trump properties,” Maloney wrote. “The committee continues to examine potential legislation to prevent presidential self-dealing and profiteering, as well as prevent conflicts of interest by ensuring that future presidents are prevented from exerting undue influence over Secret Service spending.”
Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the agency is aware of Maloney’s request for a full accounting.
“We have received the letter and we are reviewing it and aim to respond to the committee within their deadline,” he said. “While we don’t comment on any security measures, agents must remain within arms reach of their bodyguards 24 hours a day.
In 2019, Eric Trump said the Trump Organization was saving Secret Service agents — and taxpayers who footed the bill — huge sums of money.
“When my father travels, they stay at our property for free,” she said. “So everywhere he goes, if he stays at his place, the government actually spends, which means it saves a fortune, because if they go to a hotel down the street, they charge $500 a night. , you know we charge them $50.
In 2020, Eric Trump reiterated that the Trump Organization offers these public employees — and ultimately taxpayers — discounted rates.
“We offer rooms at a price and can make more money renting to members or guests,” he said.
But records reveal that the reality was otherwise. During Trump’s presidency, Secret Service supervisors often asked for special discounts to allow the agency to pay more than the government-approved nightly rate for a hotel in DC — usually $195 to $240. Instead, they paid the higher costs charged by the Trump Organization.
In April 2017, when Eric Trump and his wife Laura stayed at the Trump International Hotel in DC, the president’s agency charged Secret Service agents $1,160 — more than four times the government fee at the time — records show.
In November 2017, when Donald Trump, Jr. stayed at the same hotel, the government charged $1,185 a night for his security detail to stay overnight at the hotel — nearly six times the government rate, which varies by time. Place.
Maloney insisted that the Secret Service continues to pay the Trump Organization while protecting Trump since he left office, and that the agency overcharged for the former president’s trips. His team received the nominations that would extend his four-year presidency and continue from President Biden’s inauguration until September 2021.
In a letter to the Secret Service director, Maloney noted that records turned over to his team did not include agency money for repeated visits to Trump’s private club at Mar-a-Lago; A few visits to his property in Bedminster, NJ; Trump and his family frequently travel abroad to stay at Trump properties outside the United States.
