Steven L. Schooner is a Nash & Cibinic Professor of Government Procurement Law and Co-Director of the Government Procurement Law Program at George Washington University Law Center and he says Donald Trump has a huge problem on his tiny hands when it comes to the lease of the Old Post Office building now known as the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. The lease with the General Services Administration appears to specifically forbid such an arrangement:
GSA need not wait for constitutional experts to weigh in, nor for Trump’s lawyers to craft a comprehensive solution to appropriately distance Mr. Trump from his entire web of business interests. The lease presents relatively straightforward government contracting issues, and the contracting agency with responsibility for addressing those issues is GSA. To protect the integrity of the federal government’s procurement process, GSA must end its lease arrangement with President-elect Trump now.
When In Doubt, Read the Contract
The Post Office Lease differs from many of Mr. Trump’s other business arrangements. That’s because, in writing the contract, the federal and D.C. governments determined, in advance, that elected officials could play no role in this lease arrangement. The contract language is clear: “No ... elected official of the Government of the United States ... shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom...”
The language could not be any more specific or clear. Donald Trump will breach the contract on Jan. 20, when, while continuing to benefit from the lease, he will become an “elected official of the Government of the United States.”
The Kingdom of Bahrain has already announced they will host a lavish party at the hotel. Foreign diplomats were drawn to a sales presentation at the hotel and will most assuredly be booking the hotel for visits:
“Believe me, all the delegations will go there,” said one Middle Eastern diplomat who recently toured the hotel and booked an overseas visitor. The diplomat said many stayed away from the hotel before the election for fear of a “Clinton backlash,” but that now it’s the place to be seen.
In interviews with a dozen diplomats, many of whom declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak about anything related to the next U.S. president, some said spending money at Trump’s hotel is an easy, friendly gesture to the new president.
“Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’ ” said one Asian diplomat.
Even if Donald Trump puts his business in his children’s names, there is a clear conflict of interest. Particularly as these same children are sitting in meetings with potential Cabinet candidates and meetings with world leaders. The message is clear. His children speak for him.
The conflict of interest is incomprehensible:
Even if Trump does hand over all his business dealings to his children, these negotiations could still present a problem.
Schooner says, for example, the complicated contract requires that each year Trump disclose financial information, after which the GSA is supposed to sit down and negotiate an adjustment in the rent, which is currently $3 million per year.
"Some civil servant at GSA is going to sit down with the president of the United States' children to negotiate adjustments to a multimillion-dollar lease on an annual basis. That's incomprehensible," he says.