Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is pressing the State Department for details on Vice President Pence’s stay at a Trump hotel in Doonbeg, Ireland.
Warren, who is running for her party’s presidential nomination, sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo saying reports about Pence’s decision were “disturbing.”
“This transaction—another example of what appears to be open corruption in this administration—deepens my concerns about the ongoing ethics issues related to the President’s continued financial relationship with the Trump Organization and the abuse of taxpayer funds to enrich the President and his family through their business interests,” Warren wrote in the letter.
{mosads}Pence’s stay at one of Trump’s family properties has sparked a days-long swirl of controversy around the decision. The Trump International Golf Links & Hotel is on the opposite side of Ireland and 182 miles away from Dublin, where Pence had meetings that same day.
In addition to Warren, Sen. Gary Peters (Mich.), the top Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee,
has requested information on the visit.
Warren, in her letter, argued that Pence’s stay and trips by other administration officials to Trump properties are “deeply disturbing” because Trump did not place his assets in a blind trust when he took office. He, instead, handed control of his company over to his two adult sons.
Pence’s chief of staff initially said Trump suggested Pence stay there. His office later clarified that the location was picked because of its proximity to Pence’s ancestral hometown and said Trump didn’t direct Pence to stay there.
Trump said on Wednesday that he heard Pence “was going there, but it wasn’t my idea for Mike to go there.”
But referring back to initial comments from Pence’s staff, Warren wants to know if the State Department was aware of the suggestion for Pence to stay at the Trump property, and if it factored “into the decision-making process” for where Pence would stay.
Warren also asked for the total cost of Pence’s trip to Doonbeg and how it would have compared to him staying in Dublin, which State Department officials approved Pence’s travel plans or if they were reviewed by ethics officials, and all communications between the department and Pence’s staff about his stay in Doonbeg.
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