According to documents released Monday by House Oversight Committee, Trump’s former company charged Secret Service outrageous nightly hotel rates for dozens of trips.
“The Secret Service’s exorbitant rates and the agents’ frequent stays at Trump properties raise serious concerns about former President Trump’s self-dealing and may result in a taxpayer funded windfall for former President Trump,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D.N.Y.), chair of the Oversight panel, wrote a nine-page letter to Secret Service requesting more information.
The Secret Service was charged more than the allowed rate for Eric Trump, former president’s son, executive vice president and chief of staff of Trump Organization. He stayed at Trump-owned hotels in Washington, D.C. with Lara Trump, the House panel stated. The House panel cited new documents from Secret Service and revealed five stays at three times the permitted rate.
According to records, Donald Trump Jr. stayed in a Trump-owned hotel in Washington, 2017 and was charged $1,185 per night. This is nearly six times the per diem rate of $201 per person per night. The records also showed that Secret Service details were charged nightly rates almost twice the per-diem rate when President Trump stayed at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Maloney is seeking more information from the Secret Service regarding taxpayer money spent on Trump Organization properties. In her letter, she suggested that the records the committee received were only a partial snapshot of agency expenses.
Steve Kopek, spokesperson for the Secret Service, stated that the agency had received Maloney’s letter and would respond to the committee directly with the requested information.
This inquiry is part of an ongoing investigation by the Oversight Committee into claims that Trump profited personally from the presidency and created conflicts of interest through Trump Organization’s businesses. Maloney gave the Secret Service until October 31 to provide more information. This includes a complete list of Secret Service stays at Trump Organization properties and details about the total amount paid to the agency for each stay, as well as the nightly rate paid.
The panel claimed that the records it had found contradicted prior claims made by Eric Trump that federal employees traveling along with Donald Trump, such as Secret Service agents, would stay “for free” and “at cost” but that employees must document their request by filling out a variation request many that the House panel discovered during its inquiry.
The Trump Organization did no immediate response to inquiries for comment.
