A copy of the check that the Trump Organization gave to the Treasury Department as a donation was obtained by the Daily Dot on Wednesday through a Freedom of Information Act request. The check, signed by Eric Trump, is in the amount of $150,470 and is intended to reflect the amount spent by foreign governments at Trump properties.
A letter from the Trump Organization’s tax attorney Sheri Dillon accompanies the check and states that the “voluntary donation” is intended for the “unconditioned and general use of the federal government.”
George Sorial, the Trump Organization’s vice president and chief compliance counsel, announced the donation in February to the Washington Post.
“Although not a legal requirement, this voluntary donation fulfills our pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage at our hotels and similar business during President Trump’s term in office,” Sorial told the Post.
The check is dated February 21, 2018, and comes from the company’s Capital One account. It was deposited on February 26, 2018, along with an unrelated $200 check, according to the deposit slip.
The donation is intended to sidestep concerns about the Foreign Emoluments Clause, which have swirled since Trump took office. Since Trump refused to divest from his businesses, he could potentially profit from—and be swayed by—foreign governments.
According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, this is still a real concern; they tweeted last month that the amount of the Trump Organization’s donation didn’t even match the $270,000 spent by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia at the Trump International Hotel.
Trump’s hotel company wrote a $150k check to the Treasury to cover all the “profits” it made from foreign governments. But the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia spent about $270,000 at the Trump International Hotel in DC alone last spring. https://t.co/OgpUjI4ckg
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) March 10, 2018
See the documents below:
Treasury Documents Trump Organization by The Daily Dot on Scribd
