The House Oversight and Reform Committee on Thursday asked a federal agency to consider terminating Donald Trump’s lease of the taxpayer-owned building housing Trump International Hotel in Washington because of new suspicions about Trump Organization financial statements.
Trump’s company reached a deal last year to sell the rights of the money-losing hotel to Miami investment firm CGI Merchant Group for $375 million, which could net him a $100 million profit, according to reports.
The House committee is calling for Trump’s lease to be terminated before the sale amid new questions about the accuracy of the Trump Organization’s financial statements. Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA, severed ties with Trump earlier this week, disavowing 10 years of financial statements based on records provided by Trump and his company.
That announcement raised concerns about the accuracy of financial statements the Trump Organization submitted in 2010, when it applied for the hotel lease, and in 2013, when it applied for a construction loan.
Under the Trump Organization contract with the General Services Administration for the Old Post Office building, which became Trump International, financial information must be accurate.
“In light of these new revelations ... we request that you consider terminating the Old Post Office Building lease to former President Trump ... and end, once-and-for-all, the grave damage this inappropriate lease has done to presidential ethics and integrity in government contracting,” said the committee’s letter, signed by Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Gerald Connolly (D-Va.).
“No one should be rewarded for providing false or misleading information to the federal government or for seeking to profit off the presidency,” the letter added.
Trump’s control of the hotel during his presidency was hugely controversial. Critics saw it as an “epicenter of corruption” and bribe conduit for hotel customers to curry favor with Trump.
A GSA spokesperson said in response to the House Oversight letter that the agency will conduct a thorough “and appropriate” review of the lease transfer for the building.