Dems want to know how much prez costs
WASHINGTON — As U.S. President Donald Trump spends much of August at his New Jersey golf club, Democratic lawmakers are making a new push for information about how much money the federal government is spending at his for-profit properties.
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee on Tuesday asked departments to hand over information about their Trumprelated spending by Aug. 25.
“The American people deserve to know how their tax dollars are spent, including the amount of federal funds that are being provided to private businesses owned by the president and the purposes of these expenditures,” reads the lawmakers’ letter to Elaine Duke, the acting secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The lawmakers sent similar requests to all Cabinet secretaries.
Their request seeks documents about any payments the departments made to the Trump Organization or any business in which the Trump organization has an ownership stake.
Trump has visited his own properties 48 times since his inauguration, including a dozen overnight stays such as the one he’s on now, according to an Associated Press tally.
He’s planning an excursion to New York City next week, raising the possibility he’ll stop by Trump Tower, where he lived before moving into the White House.
Trump turned over company leadership to his adult sons and a senior business executive, but he did not divest as previous presidents have done.
The trust in which he placed his business assets includes a clause that he can draw down money at any time.
The Democratic Oversight letter cites reports about the State Department booking rooms at a new Trump hotel in Vancouver, B.C., where his adult sons were on site for the grand opening, and the Defence Department and Homeland Security renting space at Trump Tower, where first lady Melania Trump and the couple’s 11-year-old son lived until the end of the school year.
“President Trump also makes frequent trips to properties he owns, and these trips may result in U.S. taxpayers’ money flowing into President Trump’s pockets,” the letter to Duke reads.