Democrats ask GSA to consider canceling Trump DC hotel lease

Democrats are asking the General Services Administration (GSA) to consider canceling the lease of the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., after the Trump Organization’s former accounting firm said it could no longer stand by the financial statements it had prepared for the company.

Accounting firm Mazars said in a letter submitted in court filings earlier this week the Trump Organization should tell any recipient to whom it has provided financial statements they should no longer rely on the documents and announced the end of the business relationship between the two.

New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office last month said it had discovered “significant additional evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions.”

In light of the developments with the Trump Organization, top Democrats from the House Oversight Committee — Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney (N.Y.) and Rep. Gerald Connolly (Va.) — wrote a letter to GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan asking the GSA to consider terminating the lease on the hotel.

“Given the longstanding ethical questions and concerning new developments surrounding former President Trump’s lease of the Old Post Office Building, we call on GSA to consider terminating the lease by exercising its authority under Article 27 of the lease,” the two wrote. “No one should be rewarded for providing false or misleading information to the federal government or for seeking to profit off the presidency.”

The two also pointed to concerns over the price tag of the deal between Miami-based investment firm CGI Merchant Group and the Trump Organization to sell the lease for $375 million. 

“The Committee has long focused on the serious conflicts of interest posed by then-President Trump’s continued lease of the Trump Hotel from the federal government during his presidency. Although the sale of former President Trump’s lease of the Old Post Office Building may appear to address some of those conflicts, commentators have raised concerns that the $375 million sale price is at least $100 million above market value,” the two wrote.

The development comes as the Trump Organization is also in the midst of a lawsuit with the Attorney General of the District of Columbia, among other entities, regarding the Trump inaugural committee’s use of funds in Trump International Hotel event space. That lawsuit is set to go to trial in September.

The Hill has reached out to the GSA and Trump Organization for comment.