WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s pitch for his Doral golf resort in Miami as the site for next year’s Group of Seven summit of world leaders will be probed as part of the House Judiciary Committee’s inquiry into potential impeachment articles.
“The committee will broaden its ongoing investigation to include these latest revelations and will take further investigative steps, including scheduling hearings and requesting additional documents from the White House,” Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, said in a statement Wednesday.
Nadler said holding the summit at the president’s resort would violate the Constitution’s ban on any foreign “emolument” to a president. He said it would reflect “perhaps the first publicly known instance in which foreign governments would be required to pay President Trump’s private businesses in order to conduct business with the United States.”
He said Trump’s remarks on Monday “are of significant interest and grave concern to the committee as it considers whether to recommend articles of impeachment.”
BREAKING: The House Judiciary Committee has announced they will investigate Donald Trump's push to host next year's G-7 summit at his own Doral resort in Florida, saying "the President's personal financial interests are clearly shaping decisions" about "government activities." pic.twitter.com/DzxCzqKTLP
— TheBeat w/Ari Melber (@TheBeatWithAri) August 28, 2019
There was no immediate response from the White House.
The United States is next in the rotation to host the annual G-7 meeting of world leaders, which will occur in the middle of the 2020 presidential campaign.
Trump promoted the idea that his Doral resort host next year’s summit during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday, during this year’s summit in Biarritz, France. He boasted that “it’s very big,” that “each country can have their own villa, or their own bungalow,” and it’s in Miami “so it’s a great area.”
Trump strongly pushed the idea of holding next year's G7 summit at his Doral resort in Miami, as he used the world stage to deliver an infomercial for his property twice in one day https://t.co/4m0M7qigAy pic.twitter.com/ReUaLN8fFC
— POLITICO (@politico) August 26, 2019
“I don’t want to make any money,” Trump added the same day at a news conference. He said he’s losing $3 billion to $5 billion in his private business by serving as president.
The president has already faced criticism from ethics experts and multiple lawsuits over his continued private business holdings, such as the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Nadler has said he anticipates a decision by the end of the year on whether the Judiciary Committee will bring articles of impeachment. The panel is examining allegations of obstruction of justice, public corruption and other abuses of power.
