Democrats request financial records of Trump DC hotel, which former president had refused to hand over

Former administration refused to hand over documents when asked in 2019

The House Transportation Committee has asked the Biden administration to provide it with detailed financial reports of the DC Trump International Hotel.

The hotel, a federal owned building located on Pennsylvania Avenue that is currently eight years into a 60-year-lease to a company owned by former President Donald Trump, must give the government its financial data as part of an agreement signed in 2013.

The committee first asked for financial information on the hotel in 2019, but the government refused to provide it to them while the Trump administration was its landlord.

However, in a letter on Tuesday that was sent less than two months after Mr Trump left the White House, the committee asked the Biden administration for detailed records on the hotel’s financial information, according to The Washington Post.

The information, which the committee has asked for as part of its role overseeing public buildings, would include details on the profits, losses, expenses and overall revenue of the hotel.

The committee, which is led by Oregon Democrat Peter A DeFazio, also asked whether the General Services Administration (GSA) has reevaluated its relationship with Mr Trump following the Capitol riots on 6 January.

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Five people died and several more were injured that day, as a pro-Trump mob breached the US Capitol shortly after the outgoing president gave a speech at a rally near by.

Although the House impeached Mr Trump for the second time following the riot, he was later acquitted by the Senate despite a majority voting for conviction on the charge of “incitement of insurrection.”

The committee has also asked for the financial information that Mr Trump sent Deutsche Bank while attempting to acquire a loan from them to renovate the property.

This follows a probe into the Trump Organisation from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R Vance Jr, who is investigating whether Mr Trump and his family business inflated the value of assets for better loan terms.

The committee has asked for the GSA to provide the financial information by 30 May. The Independent has contacted the Trump Organisation for comment.

The records would give the committee insight into the hotel, which saw its profits drop over the last 12 months amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Mr Trump’s Washington, DC, based hotel has caused controversy for a number of years, as his business has profited from official visits of delegations travelling to the US and through foreign governments spending tens of thousands of dollars on rooms there.

However, it struggled In 2020 and asked the federal government for rent relief as the hotel’s business all but disappeared during the pandemic, with Eric Trump asking that their landlords “treat us like everyone else”.

However, Democrats on the House’ oversight committee said the request should be denied, describing it as a “blatant conflict of interest”.