AFP: US Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday he demanded transparency from several donors to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project whose identities were reportedly kept secret by the administration.
Blumenthal’s inquiry follows recent reports that the White House omitted multiple names, individuals and corporations, from its publicly released list of donors to the ballroom construction effort.
In letters sent Monday to each of the donors kept anonymous by the White House, Blumenthal sought all documents, records and communications related to their contributions to the ballroom project, including terms of their donations and why it was not previously disclosed.
“Most recently, The New York Times identified several donors for the ballroom who had been kept secret by the White House, completely belying the Administration’s claims of transparency, and raising serious questions about why the Administration and these donors sought to keep their donations a secret in the first place. You have been identified as one of the donors to this project who chose to remain anonymous,” Blumenthal wrote in a letter to Larry Fink, chairman and CEO of BlackRock Inc.
“As one of the individuals or entities identified as a secret donor to the East Wing demolition and ballroom construction, you possess critical information about the Administration’s management of this project, how your contribution was obtained, why your donation was not publicly disclosed, and what President Trump or his representatives may have agreed to provide in exchange,” he added.
Blumenthal’s probe seeks to determine whether any of the contributions were tied to policy decisions or favors from the Trump administration, as well as why the White House withheld the donor identities from public disclosure.
Last month, Trump announced that construction of a 90,000-square-foot (8,361-square-meter) ballroom, and said it is being funded through private donations from “generous patriots,” American companies and himself.
