Trump-owned hotels charged Secret Service ‘exorbitant’ rates: Panel

Hotels owned by Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than $1.4 million over four years for the rooms used by the agents while protecting the former president and his family, documents released by the House Oversight Committee on Monday revealed.

The committee found that the Trump Organization charged $1,185 per night, which is five times more than the recommended government rate, despite the company earlier claiming that the security agents travelling with Trump would stay “for free” or “at cost.”

“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” New York Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney, the panel’s chairwoman, wrote in a letter to the service’s director, reports CNN.

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In one instance, the Secret Service was charged $1,160 for a room at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. for agents protecting Eric Trumpon March 8, 2017. Whereas the government rate on that night was $242, the report said quoting a ledger obtained by the committee.

Another ledger shows that the Secret Service was made to pay $1,185 while protecting Donald Trump Jr on November 8, 2017. The government rate was $201.

The committee has asked the Secret Service to provide two more years of expenditures at Trump-owned properties, but has not yet received complete information on nightly rates, the report noted.

In light of these events, the panel has said that it is looking to bring a new legislation to prevent “presidential self-dealing and profiteering, as well as to curb conflicts of interest by ensuring that future presidents are prevented from exercising undue influence on Secret Service spending.”

(With inputs from agencies)

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