WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Robert Garcia, Ranking Member of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pressed National Park Service (NPS) Comptroller Jessica Bowron on whether the agency has helped facilitate corruption involving Trump’s $400 million ballroom project, given NPS’s key role in the project.
In the letter, Ranking Member Garcia and Senator Warren wrote, “Given the seriousness of these corruption concerns and new information that has been revealed as the project moves forward, we reiterate our request for information necessary to fulfill Congress’s oversight responsibilities.”
Ranking Member Garcia and Senator Warren cited concerns that the ballroom’s funding structure may have been designed to evade judicial review — concerns raised by Judge Richard Leon of the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia last month, who called it a “Rube Goldberg contraption.” The lawmakers also sounded the alarm on the fact that NPS may be violating its own agency’s donation rules, which prohibit implied commitments, preferential treatment, and donor influence.
Last November, Ranking Member Garcia and Senator Warren introduced the Stop Ballroom Bribery Act to root out apparent bribery and corruption involving President Trump’s ballroom. In October, Ranking Member Garcia, Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Committee on Natural Resources, and Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ) demanded answers from President Donald Trump regarding the reported construction of a new $250 million ballroom at the White House complex during the government shutdown.
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