by An investigation by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee has revealed what they call a “staggering” web of at least $7 million in payments from foreign governments directly into President Donald Trump’s coffers.
The committee’s findings, outlined in a newly released staff report, are derived from documents obtained by the panel before Republicans took control of the House last year and later examined the investigation into Mr Trump’s illegal acceptance of payments from foreign governments. in violation of the United States. The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.
The report says Democrats on the committee disclosed “millions of dollars in payments made directly by foreign governments and their agents to businesses owned by Trump” during his term, including a Washington DC hotel where Mr Trump worked. just blocks from the White House.
Payments also flowed from foreign governments to the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, his Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza in New York, and Mr. Trump’s Manhattan skyscraper, Trump Tower.
The payments, the report says, totaled $7.8 million over two of his four years in office, while foreign governments — including China, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and others – “promoting specific foreign policy goals with the Trump. Administration and even, at times, with President Trump himself, as they seek specific actions from the United States to advance their own national policy objectives “.
Specifically, the report outlines payments directly into the then President’s coffers from the following foreign governments, among others.”
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$5.6m from China to Trump Tower, Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, and Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas
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$615,422 from Saudi Arabia to Trump World Tower and Trump International Hotel in DC
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$465,744 from Qatar to Trump World Tower
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$303,372 from Kuwait to Trump World Tower and Trump International Hotel in DC
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$282,764 from India to Trump World Tower and Trump International Hotel in DC
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$248,962 from Malaysia to Trump International Hotel in DC
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$154,750 from Afghanistan to Trump International Hotel in DC
In a statement, Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, said the records in question, obtained by Democrats from Mr. Trump’s former accounting firm, Mazars USA, revealed what was likely “only a small fraction of the payments former President Trump received from foreign governments during that period. in office, in violation of the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution”.
He also noted that the panel found that the then-president took money from 19 foreign governments based on the two years of records the panel obtained before Republicans took control of the lower house.
“After promising ‘the greatest information in political history,’ former President Donald Trump has repeatedly and willfully violated the United States Constitution by failing to deport his businesses and allowing his businesses millions of dollars accepting payments from some of the most corrupt nations. land,” said Mr. Raskin.
“The governments that made these payments sought specific foreign policy outcomes from President Trump and his Administration. Every dollar that former President Trump accepted violated the Constitution’s strict prohibition on payments from foreign governments, which the Founders enacted to prevent presidents from selling US foreign policy to foreign leaders,” he said.
The Maryland Democrat also criticized his Republican colleagues on the panel, led by Chairman James Comer of Kentucky, who he said had blocked “any further evidence of the massive corruption of the Trump family” by ending efforts to compel on Mazars to comply with a subpoena issued when the Democrats issued it. controlled the room during Mr. Trump’s term.
“Despite these efforts, today’s report makes it clear that former President Trump lined his pockets with cash from foreign governments seeking policy favors for the benefit of the American people. By hiding evidence of Trump’s incitement, House Republicans shamefully accept former President Trump’s past behavior and keep the door open for future presidents to take advantage of higher office,” he said.
The House Democrats’ report appears to be the final act in a long-running fight over Mr. Trump’s sprawling business interests that began just days before he was to take office in 2017, when the then-president-elect refused to be expelled from the common name The real estate and branding empire he built over the years.
Instead of placing his assets in a blind trust, Mr. Trump transferred control to his grown sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who claimed that the Trump Organization would not do any “new” foreign business deals during their father’s time in office. White. House.
When Democrats retook the House midway through his term, they launched an investigation into whether Mr Trump’s retention of ownership in his businesses – notably a Washington, DC hotel – violated a provision of the US Constitution that bars presidents or their families from to take anything of value from. other governments, including foreign and state governments.
Mr. Raskin, the panel’s current ranking member, told reporters Thursday that the committee’s work was the result of a process that began under the late Maryland representative Elijah Cummings, who was the oversight committee’s top Democrat when Mr. Trump was elected in 2016. .
“When Donald Trump was elected, Cummings immediately felt that there would be a problem when a president brings more than 500 businesses into office and refuses to divest himself of any of the businesses, or even put them under a blind trust ,” he said.
“That was shocking and ethical enough, but Cummings also noted that Trump said he would not agree not to do business with foreign governments … which immediately put a potential violation of the Constitution in Article One, Section a nine. , clause eight, the foreign government Emoluments Clause,” he said.
The probe that began under Cummings continued into Mr. Trump’s last two years in office, and when the panel tried to publish records from Mr. Trump’s accountants, he sued to block the subpoena. The resulting law eventually made its way to the Supreme Court, which ruled i Trump v Mazars that the House panel could subpoena the then-president’s private business records.
Mr. Raskin, the current Democrat on the committee, said Mr. Trump’s violations of the foreign embezzlement clause were unique in the nearly 250-year history of the American presidency, citing the efforts of his predecessors to scrupulously adhere to the constitutional provision by. issue.
“In the United States, there are no kings and princes and nobles here. And also, that no person holding an office of profit or trust under the United States shall collect from any foreign prince, or king, or government … emoluments, meaning payment, office, or title of any kind whatsoever. It is a big ban against it,” he said.
“No president has come close to doing what Donald Trump has done, receiving money from princes, kings and foreign governments”.
