• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Trump Hotel Received $270,000 From Lobbying Campaign Tied to Saudis

T

Tovarisc

Member
Gulf kingdom opposes law that lets Americans sue foreign countries over terrorist attacks

President Donald Trump's Washington hotel received roughly $270,000 in payments linked to Saudi Arabia as part of a lobbying campaign by the Gulf kingdom against a controversial piece of terrorism legislation last year.

The payments—for catering, lodging and parking—were disclosed by the public relations firm MSLGroup last week in paperwork filed with the Justice Department documenting foreign lobbying work on behalf of Saudi Arabia and other clients.

As part of a lobbying effort against the bipartisan Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, Saudi Arabia's Washington lobbyists and consultants spent approximately $190,000 on lodging, $78,000 on catering, and $1,600 on parking at the Trump International Hotel. The Daily Caller website first reported on the payments.

Mr. Trump last month made Saudi Arabia the first stop of his first international trip as president, and described the country as a key ally in the war on terror and an important partner in bringing peace and stability to the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia has been lobbying against JASTA, a law that was passed by Congress over former President Barack Obama's veto. It allowed Americans to sue foreign governments over terrorists attacks.

The payments to the Trump Hotel were made by one of MSLGroup's subcontractors and reimbursed by the Saudi government, according to Michael Petruzzello, an MSLGroup executive. They were part of a lobbying campaign bringing American military veterans to Capitol Hill to advocate against JASTA, he said.

All the hotel spending took place between Nov. 2016 and Feb. 2017, according to Mr. Petruzzello. Most of the payments to the hotel were made before Mr. Trump was officially sworn in as president, but some were in late January and early February—after Mr. Trump became president.
Click to expand...
Ethics officials have raised questions about foreign government payments to the Trump Organization. Watchdog groups say the Trump Organization's business with foreign entities, in particular governments that book rooms or events or other business at the Trump International Hotel near the White House, risks violating a constitutional provision that bars federal officers from accepting payments or gifts from foreign countries without Congress's consent.

The president has retained ownership of his business empire while turning over management to his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric. Critics say those steps don't do enough to fully separate the president from his business interests.

The Trump Organization has thus far declined to provide details about its handling of profits from foreign government, after Mr. Trump earlier this year said his company would transfer any such profits to the U.S. Treasury.

The White House referred questions about the payments to the Trump Organization. A spokeswoman for the company didn't respond to a question about how it would handle the Saudi Arabian payments.

The Trump Organization in recent weeks has tangled with the House Oversight Committee over its handling of profits from foreign government. The committee in April requested that the company provide documents detailing how it identified payments from foreign governments or foreign government-owned entities, as well as how it calculated profits from those payments and how it would donate those profits to the Treasury.

In response, the company sent a pamphlet saying it wouldn't attempt to identify representatives of foreign governments unless customers presented themselves as such. It also said it wouldn't identify all of its foreign customers, describing the request as ”impractical in the service industry."
Click to expand...
Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-...m-lobbying-campaign-tied-to-saudis-1496700739

Also 2020 still on....
DBk604eWsAQg2sr.jpg
Click to expand...
 
B

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
A millionaire businessman known for cutting lucrative deals told the American public that he was the one candidate who wouldn't cut lucrative deals in politics and the American public believed him.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
$35,000 per person?
Yeah, that's not suspicious.
 
B

Bedlam

Member
Literally every single accusation he makes, he is actually guilty of himself. The king of projection.

This guy is menntally ill.
 
G

Gutek

Member
It really is amazing that this isn't even a blip on the radar. Nobody gives a shit. If this was Obama, 2 committees would be investigating it, every republican on TV would just yell the word "impeachment!", and FOX news would call Obama a criminal.
 
S

Shadybiz

Member
GuyKazama said:
I believe Trump said that any foreign hotel profits would be donated.
Click to expand...

That's correct, and that was mentioned in the OP. What is also mentioned in the OP is that the Trump Organization has declined to disclose how all that was being handled. Soooo....it's not being handled, most likely.
 
C

Condom

Member
Wow so there is something I agree with Saudi Arabia on. Fuck that law, American exceptionalism at it's worst.
 
Link

Link

The Autumn Wind
And let me guess, that fundraising dinner is at one of his hotels/clubs.

GuyKazama said:
I believe Trump said that any foreign hotel profits would be donated.
Click to expand...
Just like all of the other "donations" the Trump Foundation has made? The Washington Post won a Pulitzer for exposing that bullshit.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Financial Times: How Brad Smith used Microsoft’s $1bn law and lobbying machine to win Activision battle
News Drama Business 2 3
127
9K
Topher replied
Bobby Kotick, former CEO of Activision, Interested in Buying Tik-Tok
2 3
143
8K
Gameplay Gods Bless replied
Microsoft—now trying to get its $75 billion deal for Activision approved—has taken a friendly role with regulators. (WSJ)
Opinion News 4 5 6 7 8
397
39K
Frank Horrigan replied
Big Business and Government: Grand conspiracy or ramblings of a mad man?
3
1K
Soodanim replied
Grand Chicago Hotel (The Palmer House) in Foreclosure, a Symbol of Covid-19’s Toll on Hospitality Industry [WSJ]
Social Business
5
1K
Maiden Voyage replied
Top Bottom