This is one of those ongoing stories that doesn’t get a lot of press coverage, because everybody is so busy obsessing on the shiny object at the center of the current news cycle. While we’re glued to William Barr, Lindsey Graham, Mueller, what have you, Donald Trump and his family are systematically raiding the public coffers.
Between 2015 and June of 2018, at least $16.1 million has poured into Trump Organization-managed and branded hotels, golf courses and restaurants from his campaign, Republican organizations and government agencies. Because Trump’s business empire is overseen by a trust of which he is the sole beneficiary, he profits from these hotel stays, banquet hall rentals and meals.
The ProPublica article cited to here describes an expensive private cocktail party at Mar-a-Lago, with the best liquor being consumed by Trump staffers, such as Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, to the tune of $1,076. The bill was sent to the State Department, which wouldn’t pay it, and then to the White House, which ordered it paid.
The unusual cocktail hour underscores a unique push and pull in the current administration: Donald Trump’s White House pays a bill and Donald Trump’s club reaps the revenue. (It’s unclear if the White House asked any of those drinking to reimburse the government; the White House declined to comment.)
The premium liquor costs are only the beginning of government spending at Mar-a-Lago that emerges in hundreds of pages of receipts and email correspondence between Trump Organization employees and staffers for the State Department, which oversees presidential diplomatic travel and works with the Secret Service and White House. The emails show that the president’s company refused to agree to what was essentially a bulk-purchase agreement with the federal government, and that it charged the maximum allowable federal rate for hotel rooms. The Trump Organization could be obstinate when it came to rates for, say, function rooms at Mar-a-Lago, a problem that was eased when the president signed a law lifting the maximum “micro-purchase” the government can make. [It’s noted later in the article that the law allows Mar-a-Lago to avoid additional government contracting rules on bills below $10,000, so signing the law was self-serving.]
The bulk-purchase agreement is part of what the government does in order to keep bids competitive and costs down. Mar-a-Lago is known for separately invoicing meeting spaces, hotel rooms and meals, as a way to side step federal spending rules.
“Mar-a-Lago didn’t want to compete, they wanted to sneak around the requirements, and charge much higher prices than the competition,” said Tiefer, who served as deputy general counsel with the House of Representatives for 11 years. “It’s not the first time in history that vendors have tried to get around the rules by charging individual components. This is familiar to every contracting officer. And it’s wrong. It’s not just a technicality. It’s not a game. The only safeguard the public has against the Trumps swallowing up all the government business is at least minimal competition.”
Several experts contend the State Department is exploiting loopholes in government spending rules to facilitate official gatherings at Mar-a-Lago. “It’s one of the biggest fears coming true, that they are bending over backwards to help the Trump Organization,” said Scott Amey, general counsel of the Project On Government Oversight. “I’m frustrated the State Department would exploit the system to bill Uncle Sam and the taxpayers. To have the government bicker to get a 10% discount shows the Trump Organization isn’t putting the American public first. It’s a worst-case scenario when it comes to conflicts of interest, with the president and his children putting themselves and profits ahead of the public.”
Trump always makes a photo op out of contributing his quarterly salary to some worthy cause. What is really happening is that he takes $200,000 out of one pocket, while stuffing all his other pockets with millions of dollars. This conflict of interest is one of the biggest and most obvious scams of this administration and always has been. Yet it seems to go largely ignored.
It’s particularly insulting to read about these abuses at a time when so many middle class and lower income people are being forced to pay taxes this year, that they didn’t pay before, as a result of recent tax law changes. Do these people realize that their taxes go to pay for Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller to live large?