NEW YORK — Judges seeking appointments to the federal bench. Wealthy Republicans hoping for ambassadorships. Criminals who wanted pardons.
They were among the big spenders at Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel while he was president — and many got what they wanted, according to a report released Friday by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee.
The 57-page report said spending at Trump’s luxury hotel by those seeking favors helped him turn the presidency into a “money-making opportunity,” raising the specter of more “pay to play” schemes should the GOP nominee be reelected next month. But the report, which focused on spending by U.S.
officials rather than foreign governments, offered few new revelations from earlier findings as it was limited in scope. The committee’s Democrats, who are in the minority, documented $300,000 of such spending in just 11 months of Trump’s presidency spanning 2017 and 2018. Records examined by the committee also did not always include whether the money was personal or from taxpayer sources.
That distinction is necessary to show whether the payments amounted to a violation of the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bars presidents from receiving payments or gifts from government officials without congressional approvals. Among the examples cited: Two former ambassadors — one eventually sent to Germany and the other Switzerland — spending thousands of dollars at the hotel before and after they were confirmed for.
