Via WACH:
The Trump Organization has donated $151,470 in foreign government profits at its hotels and similar businesses last year to the U.S. Treasury, an executive said in a statement Friday.
George Sorial, the executive vice president and chief compliance counsel, said the Feb. 22 voluntary donation fulfills the company’s pledge to donate profits from foreign government patronage while Donald Trump is president.
The company said last week that it had made a donation, but refused to disclose the amount. The Daily Mail first reported the figure on Friday. And while the U.S. Treasury has confirmed receipt of the check, it also did not provide any details. A representative for the Treasury declined to comment.
The amount spent at the Trump-owned commercial properties became an issue of debate on social media as media organizations and watchdogs filed public records requests with the U.S. Treasury and lawmakers demanded answers. Ethics experts have challenged the methodology by which the Trump Organization determines its profits as incomplete and misleading.
“They could have paid 10 times more or 100 times more, and we would equally have no way to judge whether the amount paid reflects their actual profits or how they calculated it, and which governments have been patronizing Trump properties,” said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen.