Reuters reported on April 26 that public pension funds in at least seven U.S. states periodically send millions of dollars to an investment fund that owns the upscale Trump SoHo Hotel and Condominium in New York City and pays a Trump company to run it, according to a Reuters review of public records.
“Trump may be profiting from the retirement plans of millions of our nation’s public servants,” Senator Patty Murray of Washington state wrote in a letter to Walter Shaub, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, citing the Reuters report.
“This looks like exactly the type of monetary flow prohibited by the Constitution,” said the senator.
Murray, who is on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, asked Shaub to assess what steps Trump can take to ensure he is in compliance with Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which bars the president from receiving additional payments beyond his salary from state governments.
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland said Trump was setting “an extremely dangerous precedent” by maintaining ownership.
Senator asks ethics office to review Trump hotel payments
Trump says won't divest from his business while president
“Trump may be profiting from the retirement plans of millions of our nation’s public servants,” Senator Patty Murray of Washington state wrote in a letter to Walter Shaub, the director of the Office of Government Ethics, citing the Reuters report.
“This looks like exactly the type of monetary flow prohibited by the Constitution,” said the senator.
Murray, who is on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, asked Shaub to assess what steps Trump can take to ensure he is in compliance with Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which bars the president from receiving additional payments beyond his salary from state governments.
Democratic Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland said Trump was setting “an extremely dangerous precedent” by maintaining ownership.
Senator asks ethics office to review Trump hotel payments
Trump says won't divest from his business while president