January 22, 2019

Chairman DeFazio, Rep. Titus Press GSA on the Repeated Refusal to Respond to Questions Surrounding Trump’s Conflicts of Interest

January 22, 2019

Ms. Emily W. Murphy

Administrator

U.S. General Services Administration

1800 F Street, NW

Washington, DC 20405

Dear Administrator Murphy:

We are writing again for answers to several questions regarding the leasing of the Old Post Office Building (OPO) – especially in light of the myriad constitutional, legal, and ethical issues raised by President Trump serving as both a landlord and tenant of the OPO; your agency’s repeated refusal to provide requested documents; and the release this week of a report from the General Services Administration Office of Inspector General (GSA OIG) finding a failure on the part of the GSA to properly address constitutional concerns about conflicts of interest given the relationship of President Trump and the Trump Old Post Office LLC.

This letter is the sixth formal request ofthe GSA during the last 26 months seeking information regarding the lease of the OPO to the Trump Old Post Office LLC. To date, the GSA has either been unresponsive to these letters and related inquiries, or the limited GSA responses have been unsatisfactory.

The GSA has declined to answer questions in the past because they were not those of then Chairman Shuster or Chairman Barletta. Now, as Chairman for the full House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and member of the Committee, we are resubmitting these questions—questions that have gone unanswered by the GSA since before the President’s inauguration:

  1. Please provide the following records in the possession of the GSA to the Committee in unredacted form:
    1. All communications that took place from June 16, 2015 to the present related to the Old Post Office building lease agreement (GS-LS-11-1307) between contracting officer Kevin Terry, or any other GSA employee, and

                                                               i.       Donald J. Trump

                                                              ii.      Ivanka Trump,

                                                            iii.      Donald Trump Jr.,

                                                            iv.      Eric Trump

                                                              v.      David Orowitz

 

  1. All communications between Timothy Horne and

                                                               i.       the Donald J. Trump campaign for president, or

                                                              ii.      the Donald J. Trump presidential transition

  1. All Legal Memos or opinions created pursuant to the Old Post Office lease agreement.
  2. All formal notices pursuant to the Old Post Office lease agreement

                                                               i.       from GSA to the tenant

                                                              ii.      from the tenant to GSA

  1. All monthly reports submitted by the tenant describing revenues, expenses, and budgets, pursuant to the Old Post Office lease agreement.
  2. All guidance provided by the White House or any other federal agency related to the Old Post Office lease agreement.

 

  1. Please provide an explanation of how profits generated by the Trump International Hotel are calculated, and the amounts that GSA is entitled to receive on an annual or monthly basis. Specifically, please describe:
    1. How often Trump International Hotel calculates the profits,
    2. How often profit information is provided to GSA,
    3. Eligible expenses that are itemized by Trump International Hotel,
    4. Projected revenue information provided by Trump International Hotel, and
    5. Any mechanisms GSA is entitled to use to validate profit calculations.

 

  1. Please provide profit statements for the Trump International Hotel for 2016, 2017, 2018, and January 2019.

 

  1. Please provide any guidance provided by the White House or any other federal agency to GSA with regard to the Old Post Office lease agreement.

 

  1. Are any of the following White House employees recused from participating in decisions related to the Old Post Office lease?  Please provide documentation; of none, please explain.

 

  1. Ivanka Trump
  2. Jared Kushner

 

Your prompt responses to these requests are appreciated and expected no later than Friday, February 8, 2019. Failure to respond will result in a request for your testimony, under oath, before the committee to address these questions and requests for information.

Should you have any questions, please contact Aaron Davis, Professional Staff for the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Subcommittee, at (202) 225-4472. Please provide an electronic version of your responses to Aaron.Davis@mail.house.gov.

                                               

Sincerely,

 

                       Peter A. DeFazio                                                         Dina Titus

Chairman                                                                     Member of Congress