House Panel: Trump's Bills ‘Exorbitant’ For Secret Service's Stay At His Properties Including Mar-a-Lago

Documents released Monday revealed that Donald Trump’s company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times while he was the President.

The Democratic-led House Oversight Committee, which released the documents, said that the Secret Service was charged room rates of more than $800 for one night. This happened at least 11 times during the agents' stay at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, the Trump hotel in Washington, D.C., and other properties, reported the AP News.

Trump made more than 500 trips to his properties while he was the President, the document said.

Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York wrote in a letter Monday to the Secret Service saying that the “exorbitant” rates point to a possible “taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses." The Secret Service said that it had got the letter from Maloney and was reviewing it.

The Trump Organization denied that the Secret Service charges were an issue. It said that it provided rooms and other services at cost, at big discounts or even for free. Trump's son Eric Trump said in a statement that the Trump Family is likely the "first family in American history to have not profited off of the United States government." He added that the former President funded the "vast majority of his campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money and turned away billions of dollars in real estate deals worldwide.”

According to Secret Service records released by the committee, in total, Trump's company charged the agency responsible for protecting him and his family at least $1.4 million. The total bill was likely higher because the committee only got records through September 2021. The payments for trips abroad were also not included in the bill, said the panel.

Meanwhile, Representative Zoe Lofgren, a member of the committee investigating the Jan 6, 2021, riot told CNN on Sunday that the panel will ask former Secret Service Assistant Director Tony Ornato to testify again in connection with the attack on the Capitol. The California Democrat said that they are in a position in the "very near future to call the witnesses from the Secret Service back in for a few additional questions." She explained that the committee had wanted to “get through all the documentary evidence … over a million documents,” which they have now done.

The panel has made clear that it believes Ornato was a central figure who could provide information about Trump’s movements and intentions leading up to and on Jan. 6.

Another panel member said Sunday that if Trump has nothing to hide, he should comply with the recently issued subpoena from the Jan. 6 committee, reported New York Daily News. Representative Adam Kinzinger's comments came after the committee on Thursday took the extraordinary step of subpoenaing Trump. Kinzinger said of Trump, “He has nothing to hide, is what he says, so he should come in on the day we ask him to come.”

Trump sent a defiant letter to the committee on Friday.