Alex Brandon/AP

GSA Back in the Hot Seat Over Trump Hotel Oversight, Potential Sale

"The only thing I know is what I've read in the paper," agency chief says in reference to foreign expenditures at the hotel.  

The head of the agency that oversees the lease of the Trump hotel in Washington said on Tuesday that she only knows about foreign expenditures at the hotel from the news. This reinvigorated Democrats’ concerns over lax oversight of the lease and potential emoluments clause violations.

General Services Administration Administrator Emily Murphy testified before a House Transportation and Infrastructure panel about GSA’s oversight of the Old Post Office Building lease to the Trump International Hotel, which the Trump Organization is looking to sell. Once again, Democrats raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest since the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the president from receiving payments beyond his salary from federal, state or foreign governments, and criticized GSA for failing to keep a close eye on the lease.

When pressed by Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., to confirm that GSA has no idea how much spending by foreign governments contributes to the income and profits at the Trump hotel, Murphy said, “that’s correct.” On foreign expenditures she said, “The only thing I know is what I've read in the paper.” Garamendi noted that foreign spending is considered an emolument. 

According to the watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington’s tracker, 115 foreign government officials have stayed at the D.C. hotel since Trump took office, which is the most among all Trump properties.

Murphy said it would “be the lease contracting officer’s determination” to ask the Trump Organization for such information and that she has not sought it herself because of the three ongoing lawsuits on the matter. She added that the Justice Department argued the hotel’s lease does not violate the emoluments clause and said once there is a decision in the courts, GSA will act accordingly. 

The question of foreign expenditures is part of the ongoing struggle between GSA and committee Democrats for communications, financial records and legal memos related to the lease. The Democrats claimed GSA defied their subpoena for the documents, but the agency pushed back. GSA offered to let them view the financial records as long as they do not publicly disclose the information. Murphy stated during the hearing that those records do not, however, include foreign expenditures and who the hotel guests are. 

GSA would not turn over the agency's legal memos, arguing the Trump organization did not violate the emoluments clause. Murphy said the memos are “highly deliberative in nature and contain attorney-client communications that implicate core confidentiality interests of the executive branch.”

The hotel has been an ongoing point of contention because Trump failed to fully divest from his business interests. Following 57% occupancy in the hotel in 2019, which is well below that of competitors, the Trump organization announced in October that it’s looking to sell hotel lease for up to $500 million, The Washington Post reported. This came as the impeachment inquiry against the president was heating up and Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign was getting underway.

The deadline for initial proposals was last Thursday, but Murphy said the Trump organization has not shared the names of potential buyers yet. Also, Murphy would not rule out the possibility that the Trump organization can sell the lease to a foreign entity. 

“American taxpayers deserve transparency in knowing who is buying this lease; we should all seek to ensure that it’s not some foreign government,” said Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., committee chairman. “That arrangement would not only raise serious ethics questions, but it would also potentially bring into question the emoluments clauses to the U.S. Constitution.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.