Surprise shocker (not): he lied from the beginning
Stephen Prager for Common Dreams
Reiterating what he’d already said countless times, the
president claimed in March that the project was “taxpayer-free” and entirely
funded by private donors, who’d spend $400 million to build it in the
now-demolished East Wing of the White House.
But at the time he made these comments, he knew that was
untrue.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that a detailed project summary
made three weeks earlier showed the total construction cost at $600 million,
with more than half of the funds coming from taxpayers.
The Post continued:
By the time Trump made his comments in March, the federal government had already approved more than a dozen payments to the contractor overseeing the work, Clark Construction, totaling tens of millions of dollars in public funds, according to a log of the contractor’s invoices obtained by The Post...Multiple project summaries provided to the White House by Clark Construction show that internal cost estimates have been significantly higher than administration officials have acknowledged in public comments or court filings. They also show that the work was projected to rely heavily on taxpayer dollars from the moment it was announced.
According to the March 5 estimate reviewed by the Post, $293
million worth of funding is coming from donors—many of whom have received new
or extended federal contracts over the past six months.
The rest of the money comes from taxpayer-funded sources:
$155 million would come from the Secret Service, $149 million from the White
House Military Office, and $3 million from the Executive Residence.
In May, Republicans in Congress proposed an additional $1 billion from taxpayers to fund “security adjustments and upgrades” for which Trump has said would be comprised of a subterranean six-story bunker complete with everything from bomb shelters to military medical facilities and a base to launch “unlimited numbers of drones.”
Although that funding was ultimately excluded from the bill,
taxpayer money is still being used through agency accounts, the Post’s
reporting shows.
The claim that the ballroom would not use taxpayer dollars
has been repeated by other Republicans in Congress, including Speaker of the
House Mike Johnson (R-La.),
who described it in May as “totally privately funded.”
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday about the Post’s revelation,
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) contradicted this
assurance, acknowledging that there “is certainly some expectation that there
would be dollars allocated that would go above and beyond the private money
that’s been raised.”
White House spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Post that
“President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the
tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate
venue for presidents for generations to come.” He did not address questions
about the taxpayer funding or the cost of the project.
The news has put many Republicans, particularly those who’ve
voted to cut taxpayer-funded social welfare programs in the name of fiscal
prudence, in an uncomfortable position.
Asked about the revelations by a reporter from Drop Site
News, Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) scoffed, “You believe everything in the
Washington Post.” Stating he had not seen the report, he said, “I’m sure they
have anonymous sources.”
Notably, the White House itself did not dispute the Post’s
story, nor did the story rely on anonymous sources.
Others fell back on the White House’s security
justification. Asked if he supported using taxpayer dollars for the project,
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) responded, “I support protecting the president,” and
said he supports funding for “more Secret Service agents, something like that.”
The spending outlined in the Post’s story does not include funding for more
agents.
Public
Citizen democracy advocate
Jon Golinger called for an immediate investigation by Congress
following revelations that taxpayer money was being spent.
“These secret records reveal that Trump’s ballroom is being
built on a foundation of lies, fraud, and corruption,” he said.
“We are also calling for an investigation to uncover the names and actions of
every Trump White House and administration official who was involved in this
plot to circumvent congressional approval and spent unauthorized taxpayer
dollars on Trump’s ballroom.”
Golinger said the unauthorized use of taxpayer money could
violate the Antideficiency Act, which “makes executive officials who engage in
unlawful taxpayer spending schemes personally, and potentially criminally,
liable for their actions.”
Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas),
the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said the
unauthorized use of taxpayer funds was “a huge scandal.”
“They cut your healthcare while
spending taxpayer dollars on a golden ballroom for Donald Trump,” he
said, “And they lied about it.
