Carper Statement on the Sale of the Trump Hotel Lease

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over the General Services Administration (GSA), released the following statement on the final sale of the Trump Hotel’s lease for the Old Post Office Building.

“This sale closes a shameful five year chapter at the General Service Administrations. The only relief I find by this news is the removal of the Trump name on this building, signaling an end of the federal government entanglements with the previous President’s moral, ethical, and legal shortcomings.

“However, this sale does not put an end to questions about GSA’s failures over the last few years to uphold the public’s trust in overseeing the lease of the Trump Hotel property to the Trump Organization.

“Shortly after the November 2016 election, I asked GSA to look into obvious conflicts of interest then President-elect Trump held as the incoming the head of government with a major financial interest in his namesake hotel located on government property. GSA refused my multiple requests for information and failed the American people by its unwillingness to provide transparency into the government’s business relationship with the Trump organization.

“Failures like this at our highest level of government erode the American people’s confidence in our democracy. Even now, the emerging details regarding this sale do not assuage my concerns about whether former President Trump unduly enriched himself through his political power, both while he held office and even after he left the Presidency. The American people deserve better.“