Chair DeFazio Prepared to Issue Subpoena to Obtain Key Documents on Trump’s DC Hotel Lease

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- Rep. Peter A. DeFazio, D-Oregon, chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, issued the following news release:

Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and Chair of the Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management Dina Titus (D-NV) warned the head of the General Services Administration (GSA) that the Committee will be forced to use a subpoena to obtain key documents related to the federal lease with the Trump International Hotel in Washington D.C. if the documents are not supplied by Wednesday, October 23, 2019. In addition, Chair DeFazio provided notice to Ranking Member Sam Graves (R-MO) that he intends to issue a subpoena if GSA is not responsive to his request.

The Committee has legislative and oversight jurisdiction over GSA and its public buildings program, as the GSA Public Buildings Commissioner confirmed during a Committee hearing on September 25, 2019. Chairs DeFazio and Titus have been demanding GSA comply with their oversight requests regarding potential conflicts of interest and constitutional emoluments violations on the part of the President who has refused to divest from his financial interests in the hotel.

A comprehensive timeline of the Committee's investigation into this lease can be found here (https://transportation.house.gov/committee-activity/old-post-office-trump-hotel-oversight).

A full copy of the letter can be found here (https://transportation.house.gov/imo/media/doc/2019-10-17%20PAD%20Titus%20Letter%20to%20GSA%20re%20Old%20Post%20Office%20Documents_Redacted.pdf)