Lost in the storm of
Trump outrages is the fact that the lease he signed a couple of years ago to
take over the Old Post Office Building for his Trump International Hotel
included a provision barring elected officials from being parties to the lease.
Of course, now he is an elected official.
Yet, he is still on the lease.
The headline on this article from Government Executive -- "Chaffetz Pushes GSA for Answers on Trump's Old Post Office Lease" -- is
not as reflective of a supposed newly-found sense of responsibility by the
Chair of the House Oversight Committee as it might appear. Rather, if you look at the time-line set
forth in the Jason Chaffetz and Elijah Cummings letters (linked to the Government Executive report), it seems
clear that Rep. Cummings is forcing the hands of both Rep. Chaffetz and GSA.
Moreover, the key
information does not come until the very end:
"In response to a previous
letter, [the General Services Administration] told Cummings officials are assessing new information to determine if the leaseholder is in compliance with the
agreement's terms and conditions.
“'Once GSA has a full and complete
understanding of the tenant’s structure, GSA
will determined whether the tenant remains in compliance with the contract,'” acting GSA Associate
Administrator Saul Japson said."
This
statement from Mr. Japson sounds like bureaucracy speak for, “We know we will
have to take guidance from whoever President Trump puts in charge of GSA.” Senate confirmation hearings on a new GSA
head will be interesting.
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