2024-01-04T18:55:57+00:00
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/ China and Saudi Arabia topped a list of 20 countries whose governments or entities associated with them spent millions of dollars in Donald Trump’s properties during his term as president of the United States, according to a new report and previously undisclosed records that shed light on Trump’s potential conflict of business interests as he seeks a second term. The Wall Street Journal.
Public documents and internal financial records obtained by Democrats in the House of Representatives Oversight Committee and reviewed by the American newspaper showed that governments spent lavishly at Trump’s hotels in Washington and Las Vegas, and also made payments for his properties in New York, where they spent at least $7.8 million during the period. His term.
The Chinese government and related entities spent more than $5.5 million, nine times what Saudi Arabia, the second-largest spender, according to the report published Thursday by the panel’s Democratic minority, which claimed that the foreign payments identified “are likely only a small portion.” “of the real total, as it was not fully disclosed.
The report, supported by documents provided by the accounting firm Mazars USA to House investigators, provided a clearer picture of how Trump’s businesses benefited during his presidency, as foreign officials may have tried to curry favor with him, and Democrats are likely to raise such questions again if he wins another term in November.
The Democratic minority later released its findings as its GOP counterparts in the House of Representatives continue an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden focusing on whether he benefited from the offshore business dealings of his son Hunter and others in his family.
The hundreds of pages of expenses seen by the newspaper include at least $210,000 in real estate and residency fees paid by Saudi Arabia in 2018, the same year in which Trump publicly questioned US intelligence assessments that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered… With the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, (the Democratic report estimated that Saudi Arabia spent at least $615,000 at Trump properties during his presidency).
Newly disclosed receipts also show that Hainan Airlines Holding, then linked to the Chinese leadership, paid $195,662 in fees at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas during a 14-month period that began days before Trump was elected in 2016.
The Democrats’ report estimated the expenses from publicly available documents, such as Securities and Exchange Commission filings indicating that the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China likely paid more than $5 million in rental expenses at Trump properties while he was in office.
In addition to China and Saudi Arabia, the list of the five highest spending countries includes the governments of Qatar, Kuwait and India, which together spent more than one million dollars.