Transparency group: National Security Council paid $1,000 for guest at Trump's Mar-a-Lago

The White House National Security Council paid more than $1,000 for an unidentified guest to stay two nights at Donald Trump’s luxury resort Mar-a-Lago in Florida, according to an invoice obtained by transparency group Property of the People via a Freedom of Information Act request.

The payment, made with a U.S. government charge card, constitutes the first documented violation by President Donald Trump of the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause, according to Property of the People.

Trump owns 99.99 percent of Mar-a-Lago, LLC directly and the company’s profits are held in a revocable trust from which Trump may withdraw funds without restriction.

Property of the People recently obtained documents via a FOIA request submitted as part of the organization’s Trump administration-specific transparency project, Operation 45.

Property of the People said the NSC invoice is the strongest evidence to date that Trump’s refusal to divest from his business empire has resulted in his violation of the Constitution’s anti-corruption Domestic Emoluments Clause. The provision prohibits the president from receiving emoluments — profitable payments, benefits, or advantages — paid by federal or state governments, beyond the salary approved by Congress.

In the past, presidents possessing significant business holdings have divested themselves of their holdings or placed them into a blind trust prior to assuming office.

Trump, however, has refused to do either.

Instead, he has placed his business empire into a revocable trust administered by his sons, a move that has been viewed by experts as insufficient. This trust is set up to allow Trump to withdraw any amount of money at any time for any reason.

The documents obtained by Property of the People show Mar-A-Lago charged the NSC full price for the rented room instead of offering the NSC a discounted rate covering only the resort’s costs.

The NSC receipt lists the rate paid by the National Security Council as the “rack rate,” meaning the standard, non-discounted rate for the room.

As such, the NSC’s payment to Mar-A-Lago constitutes a direct, profitable payment from a U.S. government agency to a business personally owned by Donald Trump.

Property of the People also obtained invoices showing payments by the U.S. Embassy to Trump’s hotel in Panama and documentation of payments by unidentified federal employees to Trump’s Washington, D.C., and Las Vegas hotels.

These payments were all made on U.S. government charge cards.

Property of the People director Ryan Shapiro said, “The constitutional violation here is unambiguous and it belongs in any forthcoming articles of impeachment. Due to his glaring refusal to divest from his sprawling business empire, the president has no one to blame but himself.”

Shapiro and Property of the People called on the Department of Justice, which has jurisdiction over potential violations of the Domestic Emoluments Clause, to investigate. 

The documents, according to Property of the People, show:

• The National Security Council paid $1,092 for a March 3-4 stay at Mar-a-Lago.

• The U.S. Embassy in Panama paid $632 for a March 23 stay at Trump International Hotel & Tower in Panama City.

• The Coast Guard paid $186.17 for a June 11-14 stay at Donald Trump’s Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas.

• The Coast Guard paid $62.40 for food or drink at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC on June 2.