House Oversight Committee’s Revelations are Merely the Tip of Trump’s Iceberg of Graft
“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses.” House Oversight Committee Chairwoman Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney.
It’s not clear whether the opportunity to funnel taxpayer funds into his private business was Donald Trump’s primary motivation for seeking the presidency. What is crystal clear, however, is that he took every opportunity to do just that – and lied about it along the way.
The House Oversight Committee this week revealed that the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service up to $1,185 per night for hotel rooms used by agents protecting Trump family members. That’s five times the government rate and nearly
24 times the $50-a-night rate the Trump Org claimed to be charging.
Trump visited his own properties more than 500 times during his presidency, and the Trump Organization has continued to bill the Secret Service since he left office and began living in his properties full-time.
The records released by the Oversight Committee, which cover more than $1.4 million in self-dealing, are merely the tip of Trump’s iceberg of graft. The cost to the taxpayer of tax dodges, deceit, and self-dealing by Trump’s family and companies reaches into the
hundreds of millions.
A
Washington Post investigation found that Trump’s company raked in at least $2.5 million in taxpayer money and $5.6 million in campaign funds during his presidency, -- an incomplete accounting, as several federal agencies refused to turn over records to the Post. The Trumps’ illicit taxpayer-funded windfall included exorbitant overcharges like $2,600 per night for a house at Mar-a-Lago, $50 per palm for decorative palm trees, $7,700 for a catered dinner for 30 – more than $250 a plate -- and more than $1,000 in liquor for a White House staff meeting.
Eric Trump, Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, falsely claimed the business was required by law to charge the federal government, and that government employees were charged only “like 50 bucks” per night for hotel rooms.
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