Trump charged Secret Service 'exorbitant' rates at his hotels, records show - The Washington Post

“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ predominant stays astatine Trump-owned properties rise important concerns astir the erstwhile President’s self-dealing and whitethorn person resulted successful a taxpayer-funded windfall for erstwhile President Trump’s struggling businesses,” Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) wrote to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

The records contradict the repeated assertion made by Eric Trump, the president’s lad and the Trump Organization’s enforcement vice president, that the family’s institution often gave the Secret Service agents the edifice rooms “at cost” oregon sometimes free, providing steep discounts for the information squad to enactment astatine Trump properties.

Neither the Secret Service nor the Trump Organization instantly responded to messages from The Washington Post astir the caller legislature report.

While the documents bash not screen each Secret Service expenses astatine Trump properties during his presidency and bespeak lone a fraction of those expenses since helium near office, they offers a much elaborate fiscal accounting than antecedently known of what taxpayers paid for Trump’s predominant prime to enactment astatine his properties. Trump visited his properties much than 500 times during his presidency.

Maloney, chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, obtained the records arsenic portion of her probe into however Trump whitethorn person profited disconnected his information agents’ work to travel him wherever helium traveled. She wrote a missive Monday to Cheatle demanding a implicit accounting of what taxpayers person paid — and proceed to wage — the Trump Organization.

“Given the long-standing concerns surrounding the erstwhile President’s conflicts of involvement and efforts to nett disconnected the presidency, the committee has a beardown involvement successful obtaining a implicit accounting of national authorities spending astatine Trump properties,” Maloney wrote. “The Committee continues to analyse imaginable authorities to forestall statesmanlike self-dealing and profiteering, arsenic good arsenic to curb conflicts of involvement by ensuring that aboriginal presidents are prevented from exercising undue power connected Secret Service spending. ”

In 2019, Eric Trump said the Trump Organization was redeeming the Secret Service agents — and taxpayers who paid the measure — immense sums.

“If my begetter travels, they enactment astatine our properties free,” helium said. “So everyplace that helium goes, if helium stays astatine 1 of his places, the authorities really spends, meaning it saves a luck due to the fact that if they were to spell to a edifice crossed the street, they’d beryllium charging them $500 a night, whereas, you cognize we complaint them, similar $50.”

In 2020, Eric Trump reiterated that Trump Organization was giving these nationalist servants — and yet taxpayers — discounted rates.

“We supply the rooms astatine outgo and could marque acold much wealth renting them to members oregon guests,” helium said.

But the world was different, the records reveal. During Trump’s presidency, Secret Service supervisors often asked for peculiar waivers to fto the bureau wage acold much than the government-approved nightly complaint for a edifice successful D.C. — usually $195 to $240. Instead, they paid the higher costs the Trump Organization was charging.

In April 2017, erstwhile Eric Trump and his wife, Lara, were staying astatine the Trump International Hotel successful D.C., the president’s institution charged the Secret Service agents $1,160 — much than 4 times the authorities complaint astatine the clip — the records show.

In November 2017, erstwhile Donald Trump, Jr., stayed astatine the aforesaid hotel, the authorities was charged $1,185 a nighttime for his information item staying overnight astatine the edifice to support him — astir six times the authorities rate, which varies based connected clip and location.

Maloney stressed that the Secret Service continues to wage the Trump Organization portion protecting Trump since helium near office, and she is acrophobic by reports of excessive fees the bureau is charged for the erstwhile president’s travels. Her committee obtained records that agelong implicit his four-year presidency and proceed from President Biden’s inauguration to September 2021.

Maloney noted successful her missive to the Secret Service manager that records turned implicit to her committee bash not see the agency’s payments for a bid of visits to Trump’s backstage nine astatine Mar-a-Lago; immoderate visits to his spot astatine Bedminster, N.J.; and for stays astatine Trump properties extracurricular the United States during predominant overseas question by Trump and his family.