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Saudi-Paid Lobbyists Put Up U.S. Veterans at Trump’s D.C. Hotel

HeadlineDec 06, 2018

Lobbyists representing Saudi Arabia’s government paid over a quarter-million dollars to rent rooms at Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel within a month of Trump’s election in 2016. That’s according to The Washington Post, which reports the lobbyists then offered the rooms to U.S. military veterans as part of a free trip to Washington. Once in D.C., the veterans were sent to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers against a bill the Saudis opposed. The Washington Post reports the lobbyists paid for some 500 nights’ stays at the Trump International Hotel, where rooms average a rate of $768 per night. The case is a central focus of a lawsuit charging President Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by receiving payments from foreign governments. And a correction to one our headlines from Wednesday: The attorneys general of the District of Columbia and Maryland have sent subpoenas to the Trump Organization for financial documents relating to President Trump’s business interests. Maine and the five federal agencies have also been subpoenaed—they did not issue subpoenas.

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