House Dems press Secret Service on payments to Trump

After The Washington Post revealed that the Secret Service had been charged up to $650 per night for rooms at Trump-owned clubs, The House Oversight Committee today asked the Secret Service to return a full accounting of all payments made to President Trump's private companies.

Here is the letter to the Secret Service, signed by chair Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) and member Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.).

House Oversight is asking for records of payments to Trump properties, and copies of any contracts that may exist between the Secret Service and Trump.

From David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O'Connell at the Washington Post:

Last week, The Post reported that the Secret Service had been charged up to $650 per night for rooms at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, and charged $17,000 a month for a cottage that agents used at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, N.J. President Trump still owns his companies. These payments show he has an unprecedented - and largely hidden - business relationship with his own government.

The letter said those charges stand "in stark contrast" to the Trump Organization's public statements. Trump's son Eric, who runs the company day-to-day, had previously said that the company charged government employees at a steep discount.

"They stay at our properties for free - meaning, like, cost for housekeeping," Eric Trump said last year in an interview with Yahoo Finance. Eric Trump estimated the charge per room was "like 50 bucks."

The committee set a deadline of February 25.

Read more:

House Democrats ask Secret Service for details about its payments to Trump's company
[washingtonpost.com, David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O'Connell, Feb. 12, 2020 ]