Ethics watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) reports that Trump Hotel DC spiked its daily room rates from the minimum $500 to a whopping $6,719 on December 14 2019, the same day the Trump Victory Committee had an event there(a staggering 13-fold spike in price). Because President Trump has yet to divest from his hotel, it is fair to say, and CREW says as much, that the proceeds from this obscene price hike went straight into Trump’s pockets.
For a month, we had a mystery on our hands: why was one night in December going for 13X its normal rate at the Trump Hotel?
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 26, 2019
We no longer have to wonder why. https://t.co/dPvGStRHg8
The Trump Victory Committee(TVC) is a joint fundraising group that raises funds collectively for the Trump 2020 campaign, the republican national committee(RNC) and the various state republican committees rather than having these entities raise funds individually. It is the best testament to date that the modern GOP is 100% Trump’s party which leaves absolutely no room for a GOP primary challenger to President Trump.
According to CREW which did some digging, the minimum rate for a room at Trump Hotel DC a few days before December 14 was $500. Strangely however, all the “cheap” rooms were unavailable on December 14, meaning patrons had to cough up $6,719 for a room. The $6,719 reportedly came with a few extra political perks namely, a chance to dine with Vice President Mike Pence, attend an event headlined by Trump’s Counselor Kellyanne Conway, and even meet President Trump himself. Nice!!
For the record, political campaigns run by both Republicans and Democrats regularly throw in political perks in an effort maximize their fundraising–$10,000 per plate, a chance to meet the president etc. In this particular case for example, Trump supporters would find it perfectly reasonable to pay $6,719 for a room if that gave them a chance to meet and take pictures with the president. What is different here however, which CREW is absolutely right to take issue with, is the fact that Trump has never divested from his businesses, which include Trump Hotel DC.
Therefore when his hotel spikes its minimum room price from $500 to $6,719 for such an event, it raises glaring conflict of interest questions because one can reasonably assume that the hotel and by extension Trump, pockets all or part of the the $6,719. President Trump is therefore personally profiting from this event, in violation of the domestic emoluments clause.
It also bears pointing out that per CREW, this is not the first time Trump’s DC Hotel has spiked room rates when hosting GOP-related fundraising events. This one particularly troubled the good folks at CREW because of the obscene 13-fold spike in rates, the highest they have ever seen, and an absolute travesty.
Bottom line folks, as Yours Truly has repeatedly stated before, the brazen corruption of the Trump administration is not normal and the only way we can prevent him and his cronies from normalizing it is if we scream about it. Hosting a GOP fundraiser at Trump’s hotel is inherently a conflict of interest. Spiking hotel rates 13-fold on top of that? That’s corruption, plain and simple!!
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Impeach him again!
Why doesn’t this get more coverage? He is despicable.