Four Democratic House members revealed Wednesday that the General Services Administration has told them that President-elect Trump is legally required to divest in his stake in the newly-opened Trump International Hotel in Washington before he takes office as the nation’s 45th president next month.
In a letter sent by the House Democrats to Denise Roth, the administrator at GSA, they cite the lease agreement between Trump and GSA, which issued a 60-year lease on the property since it sits on federal land. That lease holds that no “elected official of the Government of the United States … shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease.”
“[T]he Deputy Commissioner informed our staff that GSA assesses that Mr. Trump will be in breach of the lease agreement the moment he takes office on January 20, 2017, unless he fully divests himself of all financial interests in the lease for the Washington D.C. hotel,” Democrats wrote. “The Deputy Commissioner made clear that Mr. Trump must divest himself not only of managerial control, but of all ownership interest as well.”
The letter asked broadly how GSA plans to deal with the “imminent breach-of-lease and conflict-of-interest issues” posed by Trump’s presidency. It was sent by Democrats Elijah Cummings, Gerry Connolly, Peter DeFazio, and Andre Carson, and it was copied to key House Republicans.
The letter also said that if Trump does not divest his stake in the hotel, GSA will give him 30 days to work something out and then could take the matter to U.S. Civilian Board of Contract Appeals.
The letter was released just two days after Trump postponed a press conference that was aimed at explaining how he plans to leave his businesses and hand over day-to-day operations to his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump.
In tweets sent out after news emerged of the postponed news conference, Trump also revealed that there will be “no new deal(s)” while he is in office. The news conference was postponed to Trump’s recent focus on his cabinet selections and ongoing appointments to his cabinet. A spokesman for Trump added that the news conference will be held at some point in January.
