Oversight Committee Requests Documents on Trump Organization’s Treatment of Foreign Government Payments

WASHINGTON – Reps. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) and Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent a letter to attorney Sheri A. Dillon requesting information about the implementation and timing of the Trump Organization’s announced plans to donate profits of foreign government payments to the U.S. Treasury. 

At a press conference in January, Dillon explained that President Trump would donate all profits from foreign payments to the U.S. Treasury. She stated the Trump Organization would hire an ethics officer and chief compliance officer to prevent Emoluments Clause violations and approve all new deals in writing.

In March, a Trump Organization spokesperson announced that the company had developed a policy to identify foreign government customers and donate profits by the end of the calendar year.

“Additional details of the plan to donate profits derived from foreign government payments, however, are still unclear,” the Members wrote. “Meanwhile, recent news accounts have reported that the Trump Organization may have received payments from foreign government sources since President Trump’s inauguration.”

The Committee requested documents and information to “better understand the mechanics of how this arrangement will be implemented,” including the process for identifying foreign payments; how the profits are calculated; how they are donated to the U.S. Treasury; how these details will be tracked and publicly reported; and whether the Trump Organization, President Trump, or his trust plans to claim donations to the U.S. Treasury as a gift for tax deduction purposes.

The Members also asked for documents showing which specific entities within the Trump Organization will be donating profits derived from foreign government sources. The Members requested the information by May 10, 2017.

 Click here to read the letter.