{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://connolly.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=786", "Top Oversight and Transportation Committee Dems Request Briefing and Documents from GSA on President-Elect Trump's D.C. Hotel Lease", "2016-11-30", "2016", "2016-11", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Gerald Connolly", "C001078", "connolly.house.gov", null, null, "legacy", "\"This is not a hypothetical conflict\u2014there is a clear and very real conflict that will be triggered the moment Mr. Trump is sworn in as President of the United States unless concrete steps are taken now to avert it.\"\r\n          share:\r\n          f \r\n          t \r\n        \r\n      \r\n      Today, Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rep. Peter DeFazio, Ranking Member of the and House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Rep. Gerry Connolly, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Government Operations, and Rep. Andr\u00e9 Carson, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management, sent a letter to the General Services Administration requesting information about the \u201cimminent breach-of-lease and conflict of interest issues created by President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s lease with the U.S. Government for the Trump International Hotel building in Washington, D.C.\u201d \u00a0The lease bars any \u201celected official of the Government of the United States\u201d from deriving \u201cany benefit\u201d from the agreement.\r\nClick here and see below to read the letter:\r\nNovember 30, 2016\r\nThe Honorable Denise Turner Roth  \r\nAdministrator  \r\nU.S. General Services Administration  \r\n1800 F Street, NW  \r\nWashington, DC 20405\r\nDear Administrator Roth:\r\nWe write to request information about how the General Services Administration (GSA) plans to address the imminent breach-of-lease and conflict of interest issues created by President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s lease with the U.S. Government for the Trump International Hotel building in Washington, D.C.\r\nMr. Trump\u2019s lease contains a provision specifically barring any \u201celected official of the Government of the United States\u201d from deriving \u201cany benefit\u201d from the agreement.\u00a0 We do not see this as an ambiguous provision, but as a strict and categorical ban.\u00a0 The contractual breach threatened by Mr. Trump\u2019s swearing-in is compounded by the general and egregious conflict of interest posed by his appointing the GSA Administrator who will oversee this lease with his hotel.\r\nThis is not a hypothetical conflict\u2014there is a clear and very real conflict that will be triggered the moment Mr. Trump is sworn in as President of the United States unless concrete steps are taken now to avert it.\r\nThe 60-year, $180 million lease for the Old Post Office building, where Mr. Trump opened the Trump International Hotel, is between the \u201cUnited States of America\u201d and \u201cTrump Old Post Office LLC,\u201d a corporation based in Delaware which the lease identifies as being owned by Mr. Trump and his three adult children, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump.\r\nThe lease agreement explicitly prohibits any elected official of the U.S. Government from serving as a lessee or from obtaining any benefit that may arise from the lease. Article 37.19 of the lease, which is posted on GSA\u2019s FOIA reading room, states:\r\nNo member or delegate to Congress, or elected official of the Government of the United States or the Government of the District of Columbia, shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom; provided, however, that this provision shall not be construed as extended to any Person who may be a shareholder or other beneficial owner of any publicly held corporation or other entity, if this Lease is for the general benefit of such corporation or other entity.\r\nMr. Trump will become \u201can elected official of the Government of the United States\u201d when he takes office as President in January 2017.\u00a0 Even if Mr. Trump transfers control of the Trump International Hotel to his children or places it into a trust, he will still derive a financial benefit, thereby violating the terms of the lease.\r\nOn November 15, 2016, federal procurement experts Steven L. Schooner and Daniel I. Gordon warned that this deal \u201cpresents unprecedented and intolerable conflicts of interest.\u201d\u00a0 They explained that \u201chaving the president\u2019s adult children negotiate with the staff of the president\u2019s appointee at GSA presents what any reasonable person would view as the appearance of a conflict of interest.\u201d\u00a0 As a result, they urged Mr. Trump and GSA to \u201cnegotiate a mutually agreeable termination and transfer to an unrelated firm.\u201d\r\nFederal contracting rules prohibit awarding \u201ca contract to a Government employee or to a business concern or other organization owned or substantially owned or controlled by one or more Government employees.\u201d\u00a0 The rationale for this policy is \u201cto avoid any conflict of interest that might arise between the employees\u2019 interests and their Government duties, and to avoid the appearance of favoritism or preferred treatment by the Government toward its employees.\u201d\u00a0 While the contract has already been awarded to Mr. Trump\u2019s company, the rationale for avoiding conflicts certainly applies to the President-elect.\r\nGSA has authority under Article 5.3 of the lease to obtain \u201cdetailed information\u201d from Mr. Trump about \u201cthe financial affairs of Tenant.\u201d\u00a0 As a result, GSA has the authority to inquire now as to how Mr. Trump plans to address this conflict of interest and divest himself of all \u201cbenefits\u201d from the lease.\r\nThe lease also requires Mr. Trump to make monthly and annual financial reports to GSA, produce an organizational chart, disclose revenues generated by the property, and disclose \u201cwhether to the best of Tenant\u2019s knowledge there exists an event or circumstance which constitutes a default or Event of Default by Tenant.\u201d It appears that an annual statement is required to be filed with GSA by early December.\r\nFor the reasons outlined above, we request a briefing no later than December 7, 2016, to address the following questions:\r\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What communications, if any, did Mr. Trump or his representatives have with GSA after announcing his intention to run for President regarding the potential impact of his candidacy on the lease for the Old Post Office building?\r\n2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What communications, if any, did Mr. Trump or his representatives have with GSA after the election regarding its impact on the lease for the Old Post Office building?\r\n3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What communications, if any, have Mr. Trump or his representatives had with GSA about his proposed or actual approach to addressing the conflict of interest caused by Mr. Trump\u2019s interest in the Old Post Office building lease?\r\n4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What information has GSA requested from Mr. Trump or his representatives pursuant to the terms of the lease, and what information have they provided?\r\n5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What steps is GSA now taking to protect the interest of taxpayers with regard to the lease?\r\nTo further inform this inquiry, we also request unredacted copies of all lease agreements, administration agreements, amendments, attachments, appendixes, and annual and monthly statements between Trump Old Post Office LLC and the United States of America.\r\nWe appreciate your prompt attention to this matter.\u00a0\r\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://connolly.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=786"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8425610139966011, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}