House Oversight Committee: Trump's Business Fleeced Secret Service (Getty Images)
By Charlie McCarthy | Monday, 17 October 2022 02:40 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump's business charged the Secret Service "excessive nightly rates" at its properties during dozens of trips, according to the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
Committee Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., on Monday issued a release saying the Trump Organization charged the Secret Service as much as five times more than the government rate for agents to stay overnight at Trump hotels while protecting the then-president and his family.
Maloney released documents that indicate Trump-owned properties repeatedly charged the Secret Service nightly rates as high as $1,185-per room, and that U.S. taxpayers paid the then-president's company at least $1.4 million for Secret Service agents' stays at Trump properties.
"Despite repeated claims that the former President would use his businesses to save the federal government money, including representations from Eric Trump that government employees traveling with former President Trump 'stay at our properties for free,' documents obtained by the Committee show that the Secret Service was charged rates in excess of the government rate at least 40 times from January 20, 2017 to September 15, 2021," Maloney's press release said.
Eric Trump disputed the claims that the Trump Organization profited off Secret Service stays at his family's properties, The Washington Post reported.
"Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free," Eric Trump said in a statement. "The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels."
Maloney wrote Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to request compliance with the committee's request for a full accounting of the Secret Service's spending at Trump-owned properties during former President Trump's presidency
"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," Maloney wrote in her letter to Cheatle.
Maloney's press release said the Oversight committee, since Feb. 12, has been seeking information from the Secret Service about its expenditures at Trump Organization properties.
However, the Secret Service's offerings have been incomplete and do not provide the committee with a complete picture of its spending at Trump-owned properties.
"Given the longstanding concerns surrounding the former President's conflicts of interest and efforts to profit off the presidency, the Committee has a strong interest in obtaining a complete accounting of federal government spending at Trump properties," Maloney wrote to Cheatle.
The Oversight committee said then-President Trump visited his properties 547 times, including 145 visits to his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to the committee.