Trump Organization Charged Secret Service More Than $1.4 Million: Records

A Secret Service agent stands on the South Lawn of the White House as Marine One helicopter lifts off with US President Donald Trump on board in Washington on Feb. 29, 2020. (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Former President Donald Trump’s company charged the Secret Service more than $1.4 million for agents to stay at the company’s properties while protecting Trump, his family members, and others, according to records released on Oct. 17.

The money was spent between Jan. 20, 2017, and Sept. 15, 2021, according to Secret Service records released by the House Oversight Committee.

The service was charged at rates above the government’s per diem rate at least 40 times, including $1,160 for a stay in the Trump International Hotel in Washington as agents protected Eric Trump, one of the former president’s sons, one of the records shows.

The General Services Administration sets government rates, or per diem rates, by averaging the daily rate of hotels in certain locations and based on the time of year.

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), chairwoman of the committee, said the rates were “exorbitant.”

“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” she said in a letter (pdf) to Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle.

Maloney also said the records conflicted with statements from Eric Trump.

For instance, Eric Trump said at an event in 2019: “If my father travels, they stay at our properties for free. So everywhere that he goes, if he stays at one of his places, the government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50.”

Eric Trump said in a statement to The Epoch Times that his family didn’t profit off his father’s presidency and that any services rendered to government agencies at Trump-owned properties “were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted, or for free.

“The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests. However, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels—they are amazing men and women.”

Maloney said the Secret Service still hasn’t provided complete records and asked the service to furnish the rest.

“The U.S. Secret Service has received a letter from the House Oversight Committee requesting information pertaining to protection-related hotel charges,“ a spokesperson for the agency told The Epoch Times in an email. ”The agency will respond directly to the committee with the requested information.”