An ethics watchdog group has asked the Office of the Inspector General to intervene after it sued the General Services Administration over records relating to Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued the agency earlier this year, saying documents requested through the Freedom of Information Act as far back as February have not been released. It has asked the OIG to take into account an April letter to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee requesting an investigation.
The group wants to know if the lease benefits President Trump, who still has a stake in the Trump Organization. Trump placed earnings from his company into a trust earlier this year.
NEW: We sent a letter to the GSA Inspector General about GSA’s review of @realDonaldTrump‘s lease on his DC hotelhttps://t.co/kEORf1dw17 pic.twitter.com/cazcQqFolh
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) September 7, 2017
The group tweeted Thursday, “We sent a letter to the GSA Inspector General about GSA’s review of @realDonaldTrump’s lease on his DC hotel.”
While GSA previously said Trump wasn’t in violation of the lease because it was signed before his election, CREW has argued that GSA should have terminated the lease or take “other appropriate legal action.”The hotel has generated about $20 million as of June 2017, according to the president’s financial disclosure forms. It opened in October.
The hotel occupies the Old Post Office building on Pennsylvania Avenue. It is located less than a mile from the White House.
