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IG Report: GSA Ignored Concerns Trump’s Hotel Violates Constitution

A new inspector general report found “serious shortcomings” in the GSA’s decision to overlook concerns that Trump’s ownership of a D.C. hotel violated the Constitution.

The GSA “ignored” the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause when it allowed Trump to keep his D.C. hotel.

Washington Post: “The General Services Administration ‘ignored’ concerns that President Trump’s lease on a government-owned building — the one that houses his Trump International Hotel in Washington — might violate the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took office, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general.”

The GSA IG report said that the GSA’s decision-making process related to Trump’s hotel “included serious shortcomings.”

IG Report: “GSA’s decision-making process related to tenant’s possible breach of the lease included serious shortcomings. GSA had an obligation to uphold and enforce the Constitution. However, GSA opted not to seek any guidance from OLC and did not address the constitutional issues related to the management of the lease.” Continue reading “IG Report: GSA Ignored Concerns Trump’s Hotel Violates Constitution”

Federal agency ‘improperly’ ignored constitutional concerns before allowing Trump to keep lease to his hotel, internal watchdog says

The Trump International Hotel in Washington last month. Credit: Ricky Carioti, The Washington Post

The General Services Administration “ignored” concerns that President Trump’s lease on a government-owned building — the one that houses his Trump International Hotel in Washington — might violate the Constitution when it allowed Trump to keep the lease after he took office, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general.

Trump’s company won the lease several years before he became president. After Trump was elected, the agency had to decide whether his company would be allowed to keep its lease.

At that time, the inspector general found, the agency should have determined whether the lease violates the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, which bar presidents from taking payments from foreign governments or individual U.S. states. But it did not, according to the report issued Wednesday.

View the complete January 16 article by Jonathan O’Connell and David A. Fahrenthold on The Washington Post website here.