Trump overcharged US govt by 300% for accommodation of secret services in his hotels: Report

Democratic members of the House oversight committee released a report on Friday in which it was revealed that former US President Donald Trump overcharged the government by 300 per cent for the accommodation of Secret Services in his hotels. The report released just three weeks before the 2024 US Presidential elections focused on how Trump overcharged the country’s government in comparison to how other guests particularly foreign dignitaries are usually charged.

In the report, the committee also described the ex-president’s term in office as “the world’s greatest get-rich-quick scheme”. The authors of the report substantiated the arguments by referring to the documents obtained by subpoenas of the Mazars firm, Trump’s accountants, citing guest logs for Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, between September 2017 and August 2018, The Guardian reported.

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“The hotel charged as much as 300 per cent or more above the authorized government per diem for Secret Service hotel rooms,” the report read. “Not only did former President Trump’s D.C. hotel routinely charge the Secret Service more than the government rate, it frequently charged the Secret Service more than it did other patrons, including members of a foreign royal family and a Chinese business interest," the committee furthered.

The report contradicts claims made by Trump family

In the past, Trump’s son Eric claimed that the Trump organisation let Secret Service agents “stay at our properties for free”. However, the report contradicts the assertion. It stated that the federal agency was charged “far in excess of approved government per diem rates and even many times the rates charged to hundreds of other patrons—including some of the rooms rented by the Qatari royal family and Chinese business interests—for rooms used by agents protecting members of the Trump family.”

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It is pertinent to note that the report is a follow-up investigation by the Democrats controlled by the House oversight committee. When the Republicans took the House majority in 2023, new committee chairman James Comer ended the investigation abruptly and refused to issue new subpoenas.

In the first 156-page report which was released in January, the committee noted that four businesses owned by Trump’s family conglomerate received at least $7.8m in payments in total from 20 countries during his four years in the White House.

The severity of the situation 

This issue is concerning because according to the American Constitution’s emoluments clause, a president may receive no payments from the federal government other than a salary. In the past, presidents had to divest from business interests that could conflict with the clause.

One of the notable examples of this was the time when former US President Jimmy Carter famously sold his peanut farm in Georgia before taking office. However, Trump refused to divest from any of his business entities. In fact, he was accused of making efforts to shield his personal and business finances from public scrutiny.

Previously, the conservative-led US Supreme Court dismissed two cases accusing Trump of violating the emoluments clause in January 2021. At that time the court stated that the issue was moot because he was no longer president.

With inputs from agencies.