Posted on 12/01/2016 3:08:28 PM PST by mandaladon
Two top Senate Democrats are pressing the government to explain how Donald Trump's federal lease to operate a luxury hotel near the White House can go forward despite what they call the "unmanageable conflicts of interest" presented by the president becoming his own landlord — as well as a provision that bans government officials from the deal.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts joined with Sen. Tom Carper of Delaware, ranking Democrat on the committee that oversees government operations, in sending a letter Thursday to the General Services Administration, which in 2013 awarded a lease to the Trump organization to redevelop and run a hotel in the Old Post Office Pavilion on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Trump committed $200 million to transform the historic building into a hotel, and in return received the exclusive rights to run the hotel and keep the profits for a period of at least 60 years.
While Trump has said he will hand off control of his real estate empire to his children, he has not said whether he will transfer ownership.
First, critics say, that would mean the Trump organization would be negotiating annual rent payments with federal bureaucrats who work for Donald Trump.
And second, the GSA lease includes a standard provision stating that "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…"
"Federal procurement officials include this clause in lease agreements to avoid the appearance of favoritism or preferential treatment toward federal officials," Warren and Carper write. "GSA officials managing the agreement are required to balance their duties to execute the terms of the contract entered into with the building's tenant while also protecting the interests of the building's landlord."
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
Where was Sen. Warren when Hillary & Bill were stealing everything that wasn’t nailed down?
She may be tenacious like a pit bull but he's the guy that nabs and euthanizes the dog....
You nailed, pfony. Trump owns nothing — it’s a lease.
Hey, Lie-a-watha, you dumb squaw or what? Only pale face makum money as Harvard professor. If you want’m real big teepee, every Cherokee know more wampum come from own’n your own casino.
wideminded,
You said that the lease of the old Post Office has a clause that prevents “elected officials” from receiving benefits from that lease.
Are you also saying that paying a competitive rent to the GSA for the use of the old Post Office is a “benefit”?
Hmmm....
Is living rent-free in the GSA-owned White House an illegal “benefit”?
I don’t know the lease payments, but I read on FR yesterday that the lease was for 60 years.
my faux pas.
IF I were President, I would be demanding that ALL EXCESS FEDERAL properties be sold & put into private hands or the individual states. Raw land or otherwise.
NO taxpayer money should be spent maintaining or insuring a building that isn’t in use.
How long did that post office building stand vacant?
Trump should be able to purchase it. Enough of the gnats called Democrats flying into his soup.
This AM, Georgie Stephanopolous tried to challenge Kellyanne Conway about the statement by PE Trump concerning illegals voting & making Shrillary the winner of the ‘popular vote’.
Georgie won’t believe that there were ANY illegals voting.
The high rise bubble that these ‘journalists’ live in is certainly immune from the truth.
IF any of them were really decent journalists-—they would work alot harder to find out about the illegals voting-—how that is happening—and how much of a problem it really is.
Why would I take the opinion of little Georgie over the word of a Border Patrol/ICE officer who stated that he found many illegals who actually had voter registration cards on their persons when they were caught. When interviewed, they clearly stated that they HAD VOTED......
Hold onto your delusions, Georgie—you will have a total breakdown when Trump sets out to change the current atmosphere that allows these invaders to vote.
I also think that Obama should be indicted for his well covered statement to illegals when he was campaigning for Shrillary: GO VOTE—NO ONE WILL STOP YOU....
IMO, this is deliberate attempt to tamper with an election.
I certainly agree that vacant federal properties in the states (especially the vast holdings in the western states) should be liquidated ASAP.
Concerning Trump’s hotel. It is in DC...an area where I would expect the federal government to own property. And, it appears to be in a block that contains nothing but federal office buildings. I suspect that if this building had burned to the ground, the federal government would have built a new office building on it, rather than sell the ground - and I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
The long vacancy of the building likely had to do with the reluctance to tear down a historic building, coupled with a ‘can’t do’ attitude about renovating it for an office building. So the hotel idea is a pretty novel way to get the land utilized. I bristle a little at the thought of the federal government being a landlord...but I can see absolutely no circumstance in which this property would ever go into private hands.
"No member or delegate to Congress, or elected official of the Government of the United States or the Government of the District of Columbia, shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom; provided, however, that his provision shall not be construed as extending to any Person who may be a shareholder or other beneficial owner of any publicly held corporation or other entity, if this Lease is for the general benefit or such corporation or other entity."
The lease is between "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA" and "TRUMP OLD POST OFFICE LLC".
I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me that being granted an exclusive right to use an historic government building to open a hotel near the White House is a benefit (even if you are paying rent for it).
I don't know what normally would happen if the terms of a GSA lease are violated. The GSA is part of the Executive Branch so Trump is going to be their boss.
Is living rent-free in the GSA-owned White House an illegal “benefit”?
Presidents do not sign a lease on the White House and obviously elected officials are not going to be banned from living there. Apparently the White House is owned by the National Park Service.
his -—> this
Thank you for providing the exact language from the lease of the old Post Office.
I have pruned that paragraph to reveal its essential elements:
“No...official...shall be admitted to any share...of this Lease...provided, however, that this provision shall not...extend... to any...beneficial owner of any entity, if this Lease is for the general benefit of such...entity.”
I concluded that, if Mr. Trump was just one of many owners of Trump Old Post Office, LLC, then the provision to prevent his “admitence” does not apply.
IMHO, this clause was designed to prevent “officials” from receiving bribes from lease-holders through being awarded “shares” of a lessee entity AFTER a Lease with the GSA was signed.
Besides, whatever Trump’s “share” may be, his “share” was fully vetted BEFORE the Lease was signed.
Trump Old Post Office LLC is a privately held corporation.
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