GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a new cache of documents today detailing hundreds of thousands of dollars in spending by foreign governments at former President Donald Trump’s since-sold Washington hotel at times when the countries were seeking to influence Trump’s administration. — The new documents, which were turned over to the committee by Trump’s former accounting firm, show “officials from six nations spent more than $750,000” at the hotel during just part of his presidency, “renting rooms for more than $10,000 per night,” The New York Times’ Luke Broadwater and Eric Lipton report. — “The governments of Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and China spent more money than previously known at the Trump International Hotel at crucial times in 2017 and 2018 for those countries’ relations with the United States, according to the documents,” and once there, “the officials spent freely at the hotel, the records show.” — “The Malaysian prime minister, for instance, hired a $1,500 personal trainer during his stay at the Trump hotel in 2017. The Saudi Ministry of Defense rented several suites, costing $10,500 each, with rooms reserved under the name ‘His Excellency.’ Qatari officials spent more than $300,000 there in the weeks leading up to a meeting with Mr. Trump in 2018.” — “The documents build on the public record of how Mr. Trump’s hotel brought in millions during his presidency from foreign governments. The Oversight Committee has previously estimated that the hotel received more than $3.75 million from foreign governments from 2017 to 2020, raising concerns about possible violations of the Constitution’s foreign emoluments clause.” APROPOS OF NOTHING: “U.S. intelligence officials have compiled a classified report detailing extensive efforts to manipulate the American political system by the United Arab Emirates, an influential, oil-rich nation in the Persian Gulf long considered a close and trusted partner,” The Washington Post’s John Hudson reports. — “It reveals the UAE’s bid, spanning multiple U.S. administrations, to exploit the vulnerabilities in American governance, including its reliance on campaign contributions, susceptibility to powerful lobbying firms and lax enforcement of disclosure laws intended to guard against interference by foreign governments, these people said.” — The National Intelligence Council document was “briefed to top U.S. policymakers in recent weeks to guide their decision-making related to the Middle East and the UAE, which enjoys outsize influence in Washington.” The UAE is, of course, “far from alone in using aggressive tactics to try to bend the U.S. political system to its liking. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Israel, Taiwan and scores of other governments run influence campaigns in the United States in an effort to impact U.S. policy.” — “But the intelligence community’s scrutiny of the UAE indicates a heightened level of concern and a dramatic departure from the laudatory way the country is discussed in public by U.S. secretaries of state and defense and presidents , who routinely emphasize the ‘importance of further deepening the U.S.-UAE strategic relationship’” — as defense attorneys for Tom Barrack sought to highlight during his illegal foreign lobbying trial in New York. MEIJER’S LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR HEADS TO THE CHAMBER: Maggie Woodin is now manager of federal affairs for the Great Lakes Region at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She was most recently legislative director for Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.), who was defeated in a primary this year. Before that, she was an aide to Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). ELECTION OBJECTORS RAKED IN CORPORATE CASH: “Corporate PACs and industry trade groups poured more than $61 million into the leadership PACs and campaigns of election objectors during the 2022 election cycle,” OpenSecrets’ Anna Massoglia and Keith Newell report. — “In addition to more than $52 million campaign contributions, business PACs poured another $9 million into leadership PACs affiliated with those members of Congress who voted against the certification of 2020 election results amid the U.S. Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.” — “The business PACs that contributed most to election objectors were trade associations including the National Association of Realtors with $861,000 to 127 members of what critics have dubbed the ‘Sedition Caucus.’” The trade group told OpenSecrets its PAC suspended all federal political donations after the insurrection “but that the pause was lifted several months later ‘to ensure the association could engage in a nonpartisan way on behalf of members and consumers.’” — “Other top business PAC funders of election objectors’ include the National Beer Wholesalers Association with $744,500 to 121 members and the American Bankers Association with $668,500 to 110 members. Corporate PACs affiliated with AT&T Inc. and Koch Industries also contributed more than $500,000 to election objectors’ campaigns during the 2022 cycle include.”
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