Then-President Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than 300 percent over government rates for agents to stay at his hotel in Washington, House Democrats alleged.
A 58-page report by minority members of the House Oversight Committee said guest logs from the Trump International Hotel showed the “exorbitant rates” paid by the Secret Service during 11 months in 2017 and 2018.
The Democrats accused Trump of having treated the Secret Service as his “own personal government ATM” while its agents protected him, his children and some foreign leaders.
“Not only did President Trump’s hotel often charge the Secret Service far more than authorized federal government rates, the hotel also charged the agency far more than hundreds of other patrons, including members of a foreign royal family and a Chinese business interest,” the report said.
The Secret Service bills totaled $70,735 and are “net of what appear to be $6,431 in charges refunded to the Secret Service,” according to the staff report titled “Room Rates May Vary.”
The Trump Organization denied the allegations in the report released Friday ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election that pits Republican nominee Trump against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
“This is just another desperate attempt by House Democrats to rehash an old unsubstantiated story just two weeks before the upcoming Presidential Election,” company spokesperson Kimberly Benza said in a statement. “To be clear, The Trump Organization does not profit whatsoever from any government officials staying at our properties.”
The Republican-controlled Oversight Committee also called the report “more recycled garbage from the Democrats’ fruitless and close to a decade-long investigation of President Trump.”
The report alleged that bills paid by the Secret Service were among “hundreds of unconstitutional and ethically suspect payments (Trump) accepted while in office from domestic sources.”
In addition to the Secret Service, guests who stayed at the hotel during the period covered by the report included four future federal judges, two future ambassadors and three convicted criminals who later received pardons from him, according to the Associated Press.
The Democrats’ report followed others with allegations that included foreign governments and officials from 20 countries spending nearly $8 million at Trump-owned properties, often while important police decisions were being debated, AP said.
The Trump hotel was located in the historic, government-owned Old Post Office building, which was leased by the Trump Organization in 2012, before Trump became president.
His company spent $200 million on renovations and sold its rights to the building in 2022 for $375 million.
The property is now a Waldorf Astoria hotel.
