Democratic Representatives Call For Trump Hotel Lease To Be Cancelled

Two Democratic representatives have requested that a top U.S. agency terminate Donald Trump’s lease of the Old Post Office Building, which became the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. Trump and his former accounting firm are being accused of misrepresenting financial records to obtain the lease in 2013.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-New York) and Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Virginia), who chair the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, and the Subcommittee on Government Operations, respectively. They submitted this letter as Trump attempts to sell the Hotel to CGI Merchant Group for $375 million, and the General Services Administration is currently reviewing the deal.

The representatives said new details related to Trump’s finances have raised “serious ethical and legal concerns” the GSA needs to address before considering approving the deal. The crux of the letter was the fact that the former President’s accounting firm, Mazars USA LLP, recently parted ways with Trump and filed in court that “ten years’ worth of financial statements prepared for former President Trump––referred to as Statements of Financial condiction–– ‘should no longer be relied upon.'”

According to the letter, Trump used these inaccurate “Statements of Financial Condition” in his successful bid for the lease. The documents apparently contained “significant omissions in former President Trump’s listed assets and liabilities,” and the letter stated that there was further evidence that Trump “submitted at least one financial statement with possible material misrepresentations to GSA.”

The letter also cited developments related to New York Attorney General Letitia James‘ civil investigation of the Trump Organization, which the firm Mazars is also implicated in and involves Trump reportedly inflating company valuations and misstating several facts about his business.

The General Services Administration has yet to respond to the letter publicly.