Attorney General William Barr reserved space in President Trump’s hotel, blocks from the White House, for a holiday party.
The December booking at Trump International Hotel could bring Trump’s business more than $30,000.
Barr signed a contract, obtained by the Washington Post, for what was described as a family holiday party for 200 people in the hotel’s presidential ballroom on Dec. 8. The party will have a buffet and a four-hour open bar.
The attorney general, who hosts a holiday party each year, is picking up the tab himself and only reserved space in the hotel after other prominent hotels in the city were booked, a Justice Department official said. The official said Barr was not trying to score points with his boss.
“Career ethics officials were consulted and they determined that ethics rules did not prohibit him from hosting his annual party at the Trump hotel,” the official said.
The booking creates at least an appearance of a conflict of interest because Justice Department lawyers are defending Trump’s business in federal court as he faces lawsuits from attorneys general in Maryland and D.C. and hundreds of Democratic lawmakers, who allege he is violating the emoluments clause in the Constitution.
The federal government and Republicans have spent more than $1.6 million at Trump’s properties since he became president.
