Fired by Trump after a brief stint as national security adviser, Flynn agreed late last year to aid the special counsel’s probe of Russian meddling into the 2016 election.
Business Council, was chaired at the time by Ekim Alptekin, a Turkish businessman who had hired Michael Flynn’s consulting firm in 2016 to perform lobbying and research. and Turkey also booked the Trump hotel last May for an undisclosed amount. Two pro-Turkish organizations that work to aid business and political relations between the U.S. And Kuwait’s ambassador booked the hotel for an undisclosed amount last February for an annual gala. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak and other Malay officials also stayed at the hotel last September during an official visit, but no figure was made available for the stay. The organization found earlier this year that foreign government advocacy groups were among the most high-profile interests using Trump properties dating back to the 2016 election.Īlthough few records are available showing amounts spent by Trump Organization clients, Justice Department foreign agent records revealed that a public relations firm working with the Saudi government spent $270,000 for lodging and catering at the Trump D.C. Public Citizen sent a letter to the Trump Organization last month because their methodology would seemingly not provide a donation from any unprofitable properties receiving foreign government revenue. It said it would send the Treasury only profits obviously tied to foreign governments, and not ask guests questions about the source of their money because that would “impede upon personal privacy and diminish the guest experience of our brand.” In an eight-page pamphlet provided by the Trump Organization to the House Oversight Committee in May, the company provided more details. Trump’s attorneys have challenged the premise that a hotel room is an “emolument” but announced the pledge to “do more than what the Constitution requires” by donating foreign profits at the news conference. The suits allege that foreign governments’ use of Trump’s hotels and other properties violates the emoluments clause.
Several lawsuits have challenged Trump’s ties to his business ventures and his refusal to divest from them. “They could have paid 10 times more or 100 times more, and we would equally have no way to judge whether the amount paid reflects their actual profits or how they calculated it, and which governments have been patronizing Trump properties,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.Įthics experts have criticized the pledge Trump made at a news conference held days before his inauguration because it didn’t include all his properties, such as his resorts, and left it up to Trump to define “profit.” The pledge was supposedly made to ameliorate the worry that Trump was violating the Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bans the president’s acceptance of foreign gifts and money without Congress’ permission.
Ethics experts have challenged the methodology by which the Trump Organization determines its profits as incomplete and misleading. The amount spent at the Trump-owned commercial properties became an issue of debate on social media as media organizations and watchdogs filed public records requests with the U.S. A representative for the Treasury declined to comment. Treasury has confirmed receipt of the check, it also did not provide any details. The Daily Mail first reported the figure on Friday. The company said last week that it had made a donation, but refused to disclose the amount. 22 voluntary donation fulfills the company’s pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage while Donald Trump is president. George Sorial, the executive vice president and chief compliance counsel, said the Feb.
Treasury, an executive said in a statement Friday. WASHINGTON (AP) - The Trump Organization has donated $151,470 in foreign government profits at its hotels and similar businesses last year to the U.S.
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