The Huffington Post reports that Republican National Committee is planning to hold their annual Christmas party at President-elect Donald Trump’s Washington hotel.
The new hotel, located a few blocks from the White House, is owned by Trump. The federal government owns the building, but the Trump business organization took out a 60-year lease on the property. This puts Trump in the position of pocketing profits from the hotel business while his government collects the rent. Ethics experts inside and outside the government have questioned this situation as a major conflict of interest.
The President-elect has dismissed concerns by saying that he will put his businesses in a “blind trust” to be run by his children. But this does not nearly go far enough to satisfy the conflicts. Kathleen Clark of the DC Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct Committee commented:
“Handing off management of the assets does nothing to minimize the conflict of interest that he has because he has a financial interest as the holder of the lease and then has indirectly an official role to play as the head of the U.S. government.”
In addition, it’s possible to renegotiate the lease terms every year. The Trump organization could reduce its rent payments.
Worse, the President selects the head of the General Service Administration, which administers the lease. The GSA could simply rewrite the lease’s clause that prevents any elected official from being a part of the deal.
The General Service Agency’s top administrator must be approved by Congress. With an incoming Republican majority, Trump’s choice will likely meet little resistance.
At this point, Trump is planning to turn over operations to his children but keep holdings in his business.
Business at the DC Trump hotel is already booming with diplomats and others seeking to please the President-elect by choosing to stay in his establishment. This is itself an ethical concern that’s been viewed as a violation of the Constitution’s Emoluments clause.
The Republican National Committee’s choice to hold its Christmas party at the Trump Hotel is a clear indicator that the new majority doesn’t care about ethical or Constitutional conflict. They just gave us all a middle finger.
Featured Image by Elvert Barnes via Flickr/CC BY-SA 2.0
