Donald Trump accused Secret Service agents of protecting him while he was president “far more” than other hotel guests, a new report from House Democrats claims.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee investigating how Trump profited from his stay at the White House evaluated guest logs at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., over an 11-year period months, from September 2017 to August 2018.

The report, released Friday, said the hotel sometimes charged the agency more than 300 percent, or more, than the rate allowed by the government.

The records clearly show that “then-President Trump treated the Secret Service like an ATM,” Democrats say.

During that 11-month period, the Secret Service paid for more than 200 rooms at the former president’s hotel, on about 50 separate nights — it was overcharged for at least 49 of those rooms, the panel said .

“Not only did President Trump’s hotel often charge the Secret Service far more than the rates allowed by the federal government, but it also charged the agency far more than hundreds of other guests, including members of a foreign royal family and Chinese business interests,” the Democrats said. on the sign wrote.

For example, on November 28, 2017, the Secret Service paid a rate of $600 per night at the hotel. But that same day, the hotel rented more than 80 rooms at rates below $600 per room, including to a China-based coal company, which rented the rooms for $338.85 apiece.

House Democrats accused Trump of violating the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause, which prohibits a president from receiving gifts from foreign or domestic governments, including states, other than a salary.

“In order to carry out their functions, the secret services must, of course, maintain physical proximity to their protégés at all times,” the report states. “So, whenever former President Trump or members of his family – or foreign heads of state who paid constitutionally prohibited foreign emoluments to former President Trump – stayed at a Trump-owned or branded property, as Donald Trump habitually insisted, the Secret Service rented rooms at these same properties.

Additionally, the report said 16 state and federal officials stayed at the hotel: eight ambassadors, two state governors, three Trump appointees to serve as federal judges, a delegation from a state legislature and two other officials of the executive branch, including a cabinet. secretary.

Kelly Knight Craft, whom Trump appointed as U.S. Ambassador to Canada from 2017 to 2019 and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2019 to 2021, was a “hotel regular” during this period. While serving as ambassador to Canada, she spent nearly $30,000 at the Trump property, including one night in 2017, when she and her husband booked a room for $10,000 per night.

“Furthermore, the emails released by the State Department clearly show that not only did Ms. Craft have a strong preference for staying at Donald Trump’s hotel, even when better located options were available, but that she had actively “directed the affairs of the U.S. government toward his boss.” “Hotel,” the report said.

There were also 14 people who “sought… high-profile appointments or a presidential pardon” who stayed at the Washington, D.C. hotel, the report said. This group included four appointees as U.S. ambassadors – three of whom were confirmed – four individuals who served as Trump administration officials or members of a federal commission or board, one appointee as a federal judge and five people who received pardons from Trump.

Kellyanne Conway was one of four Trump administration officials who stayed at the hotel. On Jan. 18, 2017, before Trump’s inauguration, Conway booked a room, racking up more than $17,000 in fees, according to the report.

The Democrats wrote: “This report shows how a glance through a narrow window – 11 months of records from a single Trump-owned hotel – is enough to identify more than $300,000 in payments he accepted , which raises the appearance of corruption and payments. play.”

They added that more than half of those payments, totaling nearly $175,000, “may have directly violated — or, in the case of the Secret Service spending, definitely violated” the Emoluments Clause.

The report reveals “significant gaps in the current federal anti-corruption framework – loopholes that Donald Trump has exploited to the tune of millions of dollars and intends to exploit again if returned to office.” Oval Office,” write the Democrats.

“As such, these reports are urgent calls for action that Congress must heed to ensure effective enforcement of the Constitution’s Domestic Emoluments Clause – as well as the Foreign Emoluments Clause – and to ensure that our government exclusively serves the public interests of the people rather than the private interests of the President.

Not only does this report come less than a month before Trump faces Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential election, but it also comes months after Democrats on the commission released a similar report in January.

It found that Trump earned nearly $8 million from foreign governments in the first two years of his presidency, based on the accounts of just four of his nearly 500 entities worldwide.

At the time, he defended himself, telling Fox News: “People were staying in these huge hotels, these beautiful hotels, and they were staying there and they were paying. I don’t get $8 million for doing nothing.

The Independent contacted a Trump spokesperson for comment.