LIVE: Democrats hold SHADOW HEARING on Trump's corruption

Good afternoon, everyone. Uh welcome. to our witnesses. Uh thank you for being. here to Representative Garcia, chairman. of the or ranking member of the House. Oversight Committee, and to my. wonderful colleague, Senator who has.

been instrumental. in the topic that brings us here today. We're here for. another important hearing and. investigation. into the Trump administration's brazen, unprecedented corruption. and disregard for the American people. As we all know, Americans are struggling to make ends. meet. But gasoline and most everything. else Trump embarked on a series of 18. vanity projects costing more than a.

billion dollars. Corruption has consequences. Corruption. has cost and being cost in this. situation of national monument America. at this 250th anniversary of our great. country. Donald Trump's voters has long. been known, but. over the past year. we are to be shocked at how far he has. shown he's willing to go. And let me. just quit outline for you how. bills have ballooned. and quality is crap. thing station.

as it was all ballooned up from 200. million dollars to 400 million in a no. contract since Clark construction. which itself is a disaster, now empty. and fenced off from the public as gone. to over than 70 million. But.

the work has to be redone. So, likely that cost will be doubled. was supposed to cost 3.3. million dollars. is now again.

with Clark Construction. at a cost of 17 million. And the. reflecting pool was a no source. single source non-competitive. no bid contract. with. Greenwater Services. which is owned by a Trump donor. In. fact, that donor has. given to Trump's campaign and other. projects. more than half a million dollars.

Those are just are just some of the. projects we see under way. I want to go back to last October. when President Trump announced on Truth. Social that he was remodeling the. Lincoln bedroom. And most particularly the Lincoln. bathroom. of the White House in {quote} polished. statuary. marble. Of course, he didn't tell us how much.

the renovation was going to cost. But estimates suggest that. it has. put burdens on taxpayers of about 1.6. million dollars. And that was just the. beginning. In the months since he's treated the. entire capital as his personal. Versailles. A palace on the Potomac. He's destroyed. a full wing of the White House. Repainted the reflecting pool, shuttered. the Kennedy Center name. And. he's planning to build a massive arc.

to glorify himself. Meanwhile, he's consistently refused to. do anything to help the American people. with the struggles they face, whether it. be extending the ACA subsidies, providing funding for SNAP or simply. signing a housing bill that passed. Congress with overwhelming support. These actions. aren't. the hallmark of a president. They are.

more like hallmarks of an authoritarian. dictator who's only concerned about. himself and not the people. he was elected to serve. And the people profiting. are. Trump cronies who are paid inflated sums. from taxpayer dollars through shady. no-bid contracts for work they are not. qualified to do. When the American people aren't. overpaying Trump.

or his friends directly, major companies. are getting rich with contracts awarded. or lawsuits dropped after they make. donations. in untold millions. This story of corruption has human costs. as well. President Trump wants to be king. He. doesn't care who gets hurt or lost along. the way. Arlington National Cemetery is. hallowed ground. It's hallowed ground for all Americans,

not just veterans. It's a solemn resting. place with a view overlooking the. Lincoln Memorial in recognition of what. servicemen and women give. or have given to our country. President Trump wants to desecrate. Arlington by building a massive. arc in tribute to himself, which will cast an imposing shadow over. that sacred place. The American people have lost a.

bi-partral. bipartisan cultural touchstone. And artists across the country have lost. a place that. should be recognized for their. achievement without regard to political. affiliation. The East Wing of the White House stood. for over a century as a place where. ordinary Americans entered to tour the. house. built for presidents. The people's. house, our house. To reside as custodians of our shared.

history. They're not the owners. They. live there for a while. They're temporary occupants, but. President Trump knocked it down as. though he were the owner. To construct a massive ornate ballroom. that we now hear the American people are. supposed to contribute hundreds of. millions of dollars to construct. He. promised it was going to be funded. all privately. Indeed, tens of millions were raised. from companies that have business before.

the government. Of those donors, more than half. have received new contracts or expanded. the ones they have now. Pay-to-play. is the MO here. These actions are a microcosm of how the. president views our whole country. He. expects. all of us to glorify him. at every failing act and pay money to.

his friends and family whenever they. ask, and even while everyday Americans. struggle. to meet. the needs of life. That's not the America our founders. fought for 250 years ago. It's the America they sought to prevent. through the emoluments clause, which. forbids. benefits going to the president. And it's not the America we want to live. in today. I turn to Representative.

Garcia for his remarks. >> Well, thank you as always, uh uh Senator. Blumenthal, and for your leadership in. these uh joint hearings, of which have. all been really instructive. And today. is so important. And I know that um the. Senate, and certainly us in the House, care deeply about our history, America's. monuments, and the future where we go. from here. Want to thank our witnesses. for being here today. It's a really. important hearing that we're having. And we're here today to call out the. disgusting vanity, incompetence, and.

corruption of President Donald Trump. The American people are struggling. The. rent is too damn high. Grocery prices are up. Gas prices are. up. Every American family is paying the. costs of Trump's tariffs and economy. But the president doesn't care about. working families. He claims affordability is a hoax. His. only priority is himself and his family. And he is obsessed. with weaponizing his office for profit,

collecting over 2 billion in his first. year in office alone. And his family is. looting. billions more from the American. taxpayer. And today we're going to talk about his. obsession. with rebuilding DC as a monument to his. own ego. Now, there is currently a $14 million. renovation happening that's plagued by. algae and a bottom that's chipping away. and falling apart at the reflecting. pool.

This pool has been drained twice. just in 3 months for repairs. Built so incompetently that they're. trying to put an innocent man to jail to. cover up their shoddy work with. contracts going to Donald Trump friends. and donors. What a disgrace. and completely shameful. And then of course there's the East Wing. in the White House. Demolished with barely any public notice. or public process. To make way for what?

A ballroom that will cost up to $1. billion funded by taxpayers and shady. corporate donations so that Donald Trump. and his family can host. balls and dinners and galas. for himself, I'm sure, and for his. friends and rich donors. What. a shameful moment for our country and. and just disturbing to see what he's. doing at the White House. And we can't forget about the Kennedy. Center.

He not only tried to take over the. board, of course, installing himself as. chairman, but he placed his name on the building. Turning a cultural institution, a. memorial, to a great man, a president, into some. sort of warped vanity project to. himself. Thank goodness. for the courage of some and the courts. in stopping these horrific and illegal. and corrupt action. And now, of course, he's also pushing. this Trump arch between the Lincoln.

Memorial and Arlington National. Cemetery. This arch, of course, when reporters. were asked who the arch was for, Trump said, quote, "Me.". This is a sad, pathetic, lonely man. who's trying to turn America's monuments. into monuments for himself. And in the process, he's destroying. institutions and properties that belong. not to him and his family,

but to the American people. He's. dishonoring our history. He's. dishonoring our veterans. He's. dishonoring a former great president. And he's dishonoring the American. people. And of course, what's crazy is every. single project is marked by corruption. and actually incompetence. No bid contracts, as we know, unqualified companies, including campaign donors, and blatant. violations of the law halted by the.

courts. Donald [snorts] Trump claims to be the. biggest, most successful builder of all. time, but he can't even refurbish a. pool. Trump also likes to talk about vandals. in DC. and crime in DC. and all the vandalism that he sees. wherever he goes. Well, the biggest. vandal in Washington, DC is the. President of the United States. >> [applause].

>> He's corrupt. He's incompetent. He's. ripping off the taxpayer. He's obsessed. with himself and only himself. And he's willing to destroy important. American institutions for his own. grievances and his own vanity and. narcissism. He literally destroyed the East Wing. He. doesn't care about real priorities of. the American public. Now, we are investigating all of this. And I thank our Senate partners in their. incredible work and investigations on.

these issues. Now, we want the. contracts. We want the documents, the. communications, the payments, the paper. trails, and we're going to find out who. is profiting from these projects and. find all the grift and the waste. And of course, what Donald Trump and the. administration should know is that we. are just getting started. And with that, Senator, I yield back. >> Thank you. Thanks, Representative. Garcia, and thank you for your. partnership in this effort. And we're.

going to be demanding the facts. We're. going to want the evidence and. documents, and we'll stop at nothing to. get them, and together we're going to. make sure that we uncover this. corruption because it has costs. Corruption has costs. and consequences for everyday Americans, and nobody knows better the importance. of getting the facts than my good friend. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. I want to. thank him for his leadership in battling. the administration's grift and. corruption. Particularly, I want to.

recognize the. tremendous work he did just last week in. bringing to light the new whistleblower. allegations that the administration is. once again performing shoddy work, cutting corners, and issuing no-bid. contracts for millions of dollars at the. Kennedy Center. Thank you for being here, Senator. Whitehouse. >> Thank you, uh ranking members Blumenthal. and Garcia for. convening us here today to discuss. monumental waste. If you want to see monumental waste,

look no further than the Kennedy Center. Beginning last summer, whistleblowers. came to me with documents. showing that after President Trump had. declared himself chairman, his. hand-picked leadership team let FIFA. occupy the entire campus for 3 weeks for. a grand total. of zero dollars. Zero. That gift cost the center over 5 million. dollars in lost revenue, but it let the. president hang a made-up FIFA peace. prize around his neck.

Invoices and receipts also showed a. pattern. of unprecedented spending on staff. meals, jobs going to Trump world family. and friends with no qualifications, and long-term stays at the ritzy. Watergate Hotel for their new hires. So, as ranking member of the Environment. Public Works Committee and ex officio. member of the center's board, I launched. an investigation into the management. of the Kennedy Center's finances. Since last November, more whistleblowers. have come forward with documents that.

demonstrate even more corruption and. self-dealing from multiple no-bid. contracts going to preferred. contractors, to rushed jobs that need to. be redone, to management telling staff. to do whatever it takes, and not to worry about the repercussions. because. we'll deal with the lawsuits later. And to what end? All this waste occurred in the service. of gratifying the president's monumental. ego. That meant delivering for him two dates, December 5th, when he'd take to the.

stage to accept his. phony baloney peace prize, and December [clears throat] 7th when he. take the stage again. as the self-appointed host of the. Kennedy Center Honors. The columns rusting through fresh paint, the reflecting pool that may now have to. be rebuilt, Trump's name appearing on. the building less than 12 hours after an. illegal board vote. None of this is an accident. Everything. was rushed to make sure the monuments. looked the way the president wanted.

And now Americans are left to foot the. bill for the shoddy work itself and for. the still needed repairs never properly. done. My fellow ex officio member, Representative Joyce Beatty, is here. She filed the lawsuit that forced. President Trump's name. >> [applause]. >> off of President Kennedy's memorial,

restored the statutory voting rights of. ex officio members, and halted. a complete closure of the entire center. that looked more like a cover-up for. their inability to run the place. So my work on the Kennedy Center. continues and I encourage all those with. information to keep coming forward. My. staff remains ready to meet with anyone. in confidence and at your convenience. I'll also recognize that Norm Eisen, who.

was Joyce Beatty's lawyer in that. matter, is here as well. So you guys are. backstopped. in that. As uh ranking member of EPW with. jurisdiction over public buildings, I'd. be remiss not to mention other victims. to the Trump cavalcade of corruption. You know the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting. Pool story, the peeling paint, the. made-up claims of vandalism, the gash. that grew with every retelling.

What you may not know that $1.8 million. contract ballooned to a $14 million. no-bid giveaway to Trump's preferred. contractors, including a Palm Beach. neighbor who has twice pled guilty. to federal bribery and campaign finance. violations. Same at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Last. October, I wrote to President Trump. regarding his illegal demolition of the. East Wing for his vanity ballroom, first. promised at $200 million in private.

donations. It's cost has now more than. tripled, including a defeated attempt to. fleece taxpayers out of a billion. dollars. Ranking Member Garcia and I led an. amicus brief urging the court to stop. construction of the billion-dollar. ballroom without congressional approval. And now turns out there's more. The. Washington Post has since reported that. the White House awarded a $500 million. no-bid contract routed through the. Executive Residence, conveniently the.

place exempt from federal rules. requiring competitive bidding. The Trump motto, don't like the rules, break them. Manufactured vandalism, bulldozed. buildings, no-bid contracts, none of. this is happening in isolation, and none. of it's really about paint and plaster. It's a story of cronyism, corruption, and contempt for anyone who. engages in oversight. It's a deliberate. hollowing out of American institutions. that are supposed to outlast any one man.

until there's nothing left to them but. the name on the door. Or if you don't. like that name, just a tarp to cover it up. Thank you very much to both of our. co-chairs. >> Thanks. Thank you so much, Senator. Whitehouse. Um. Senator Whitehouse has already partially. introduced the witnesses, but I'm going. to do a more formal job and uh. I want to.

tell the witnesses and everybody here. that uh Senator Whitehouse and I spend a. lot of time in this hearing room. Rarely. is it as packed as it is today when we. have a formal hearing. >> [applause]. >> So, I I want to thank everybody who is. here, but also. just to tell the witnesses uh. you may feel that this hearing is of. lesser value because we're sitting down.

here instead of on the dais. We should be on the dais. This hearing. should be bipartisan. Republicans should. be doing what we're doing now, investigating this corruption and. cronyism. But make no mistake that. America is watching. In fact, our. investigative hearings. have been watched on live stream by many. multiples of the numbers of people who. ordinarily watch the hearings.

held in this hearing room. So, thank you. to everybody who is watching. uh remotely today. We're very honored to. be joined today by Congresswoman Joyce. Beatty, who has represented the 3rd District of. Ohio since 2013. She's here today to discuss her role as. an ex-officio member of the Kennedy. Center's Board of Trustees and her. successful efforts to fight the Trump. administration's attempts to rename the.

Kennedy Center. Ben Folds. is a world-renowned songwriter and. musician who spent 8 years. as artistic advisor to the National. Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy. Center. He stepped down from that role in. February 2025. after President Trump fired many members. of the Kennedy Center's. formerly bipartisan board and had. himself. elected chairman.

Jimmy Shaughnessy. is a combat veteran. whose great-grandparents. served in both World Wars. They are buried in Arlington. He is here. to share his family's story and how. Trump's proposed arch. would honor or dishonor. his great-grandparents and so many other. brave veterans. who are buried at Arlington. John Galinger is a democracy advocate at. Public Citizen.

where he has led groundbreaking research. uncovering the corruption and grift. epidemic in Donald Trump's. ballroom pay-to-play. Ambassador Norm Eisen retired ambassador. is the co-founder and board member of. Democracy Defenders Action and. co-founder and executive chair of. Democracy Defenders Fund. He has combated Trump the Trump. administration's efforts to establish. a.

17 1,000. I'm sorry, 1.776. billion-dollar. slush fund. I call it a thug fund for the benefit of. the January 6th insurrectionists. He. served as counsel to remove Trump's name. from the Kennedy Center. He represented. Olympian David Hearn in his criminal. case. regarding the reflecting pool. and his testimony today will focus on.

anti-corruption. efforts. Uh. so with that. uh Congresswoman. uh. Beatty. the flag is the floor is yours. >> Thank you ranking member Senator Senator. Richard Blumenthal and Congressman. Robert Garcia and other members of this. distinct hearing distinguished I'd also. be remiss if I did not thank my. colleague and ex-officio board member.

Sheldon Whitehouse for his comments. Today's hearing monumental waste on how. Donald Trump is spending taxpayers. dollars on national landmarks like the. Kennedy Center. My testimony will focus. on fighting back against Trump's. unlawful renaming of the John F. Kennedy. Center for the Performing Arts the only. living memorial for President Kennedy. It's about whether powerful people can.

rewrite history, seize public. institutions and silence dissent. The unlawful renaming of the Kennedy. Center is another example of Trump's. disregard of the rule of law and our. Constitution. I became the face of this. fight because someone had to stand up. At the end of the day it wasn't about. fighting for myself. I was fighting for. the rule of law and for an institution. that belongs to the American people.

Trump began his takeover of the Kennedy. Center by handpicking. his sycophants to the board of trustees. to rubber stamp his plans. By law. certain members of Congress serve as. ex-officio members of the Kennedy. Center's Board of Trustees like myself. Trump then illegally stripped ex officio. members of their rights to vote in board. meetings. During the December 18th, 2025.

virtual meeting, I was muted. Silencing me when the vote occurred to. change the name. On December 22nd, 2025, I filed the lawsuit, Baity v. Trump, in. federal court to remind the president. that there are consequences for unlawful. actions actions and that one cannot. simply rewrite federal law.

From December 2025 to March 2026, a series of filings and hearings. occurred. I appeared before the Fort. Federal District Court Judge Christopher. R. Cooper on March 12th, mind it, that. was my birthday, 2026. On May 30th, 2026, Judge Cooper ruled. that the Kennedy Center trustees acted. unlawfully when they renamed the. institution to include Donald Trump's. name. Further, the court reaffirmed.

separation of powers by stating that. only Congress has the authority to. rename the John F. Kennedy Center for. the Performing Arts. Judge Cooper also. ordered every reference to Trump's name. to be removed, including the website, branding, transportation, and signage on. the front of the building. On June 12th, 2026, the day the sign was ordered to. come down, I stood with hundreds of. people at the Kennedy Center for. approximately 11 hours as scaffolding.

and a tarp were erected. At 4:00 a.m. on. Saturday, June 13th, I witnessed the. name had been removed. In addition to. the name being removed, Judge Cooper. also blocked Trump's planned two-year. shutdown of the Kennedy Center. Justice. prevailed. No longer silenced, no longer. prevented from attending and voting in. board meetings, the name had come down. The Kennedy Center is the home to the. National Symphony Orchestra and.

thousands of artists, performers, students, advisors, and families like. many here today, except especially Mr. Ben Folds. Once it became apparent that. the Trump and the board's unlawful. actions led artists to canceling and. refusing to play the Kennedy Center, it. appeared that Trump decided that his own. personal ego outweighed the thousands of. artists and the workers who rely on the. Kennedy Center for their livelihood. The. court's most recent ruling made clear.

that the Trump administration must. expand must explain two things by July. 31st. Why the Kennedy Center remains. covered by a massive tarp and what is he. covering up and what concrete plans they. have to keep the building open. I'd like. to convey my appreciation to the House. Oversight Committee and the Senate. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. for holding this hearing today. In these. difficult times, American people deserve.

better than a president who is more. focused on slapping his name on. buildings than helping people lower the. cost of groceries. Yes, I would have. preferred to be here talking about. affordability and helping working. families rather than discussing Trump's. vanity projects and petty acts of. defiance. Thank you and I yield back. >> [applause].

[applause]. >> Thank Thank you so much, uh, Congresswoman Beatty and thank you for. your great work. I I want to just say. ordinarily, uh, we would uh, have. a presiding officer. sternly gavelling down the applause. >> [laughter]. >> But actually there's something very. refreshing and. inspiring about. uh, your approval and um, thank you.

Congresswoman Beatty for that excellent. testimony. Uh, Mr. Folds. Mr. Folds the the. floor is yours. >> [clears throat]. >> Good afternoon Mr. Chairman and. distinguished members of the committees. Thank you for the invitation to speak. for you today. My name is Ben Folds and. I've been a recording artist and a. touring artist for 30 years and half my. career has been focused on the. orchestra. In 2017 I was appointed. the first artistic advisor to the.

National Symphony Orchestra NSO at the. Kennedy Center here in Washington, D.C. where my role was essentially. curatorial. We sold out shows for eight years. straight without compromising the. orchestra's integrity. Contemporary. artists like Sara Bareilles, Jon. Batiste, Regina Spektor as well as. country artist Jamie Johnson all played. their first orchestra shows with us. and then carried those scores to perform. with other orchestras around the country. because it's a common challenge for. orchestras across the U.S. to bring in.

younger audiences and their survival. depends on this. So we saw an. opportunity there. This is one of the. many things that the Kennedy Center and. the NSO. can lead as a mission-based federal arts. institution, not a run-of-the-mill. profit institution. Just as our efforts were beginning to. make a difference across the country in. February 2025, the Trump administration. staged a brutal board takeover. For the first time in history a. president took control of the Kennedy.

Center's programming and messaging. A firewall between politics and the. center's nonprofit mission was. eliminated. The result was a hyper-politicized. environment. Gone was the apolitical sanctuary that. Kennedy Center always provided. During the first Trump administration, when I was appointed, I never heard. politics discussed in any meetings or. gatherings at the center. Everyone involved, including the Trump. board, knew we were there to create, educate, and showcase art for all. Americans, not to further a political.

agenda. I think most of us understand that when. you politicize art, you got propaganda. With the new partisan toxic environment. under the current administration, I. could not trust that artist I booked at. the Kennedy Center would be safe from. retribution if they said or sung. something that might displease the. president or his political lackeys who. now controlled the center. I could not perform my job or the. mission I was brought on to do, and for. this reason, with great sadness, I had.

no choice but to to resign. These days, if an artist agrees to. perform at the Kennedy Center, they risk. being seen as explicitly endorsing the. Trump administration and all of its. policies. Declining an invitation to. perform at the Kennedy Center will have. an equal and opposite political effect. There may be certain artists who will. thrive in this environment, comedians. come to mind, but most want nothing to. do with it. and will choose to create and perform. their art elsewhere, and they are. And audiences are following.

If you take the case of DC-based artist. Yasmin Williams, who decided even after. the takeover to honor a prior offer to. perform at the Kennedy Center's. Millennium Stage, exercising her First Amendment rights, Yasmin had publicly taken issue with the. then center's Trump-loyal executive. director, and during her performance, she was aggressively interrupted and. heckled, prompting the center's workers union to. call for an investigation into credible. allegations that the then executive.

director incited and even paid these. hecklers to harass her. So, Yasmine had to endure heckling from. extremists on the right while also. getting grief grief from the left for. even showing up to perform, treated as. she was a scab crossing a picket line. You have to marvel at anyone who would. believe they could run the business of. the Kennedy Center with no prior arts. administration experience at all. And we can see the result has been.

dwindling audiences. The exit of the Washington National. Opera, the dismantling of the National. Public Education Outreach programs, and. the demoralization of our National. Symphony Orchestra. Many of the NSO. privately believe that their jobs are in. danger. So, the takeover hobbled the Kennedy. Center, broke its once proven successful. business model, and disrespected its. original core mission. The unlawful addition of the president's. name to the front of the building. sent the Kennedy Center into further.

spiral. And while his name has been removed, thank you, the center the center's future and the. future of the NSO is still uncertain. Our beloved institution needs to be. resuscitated. We need a vibrant Kennedy. Center whose leadership once again. understands how to run its business, who. will keep politics checked at the doors, who will ensure that only the most. qualified arts administrators are in. charge. Because we can see the damage. that is caused when arts are run by. politicians rather than people. I.

greatly appreciate you hearing me out. Uh I can only hope your concerns can. find their ways. to the hearts and minds of your. colleagues on the other side of the. aisle. who seem absent today. I used to work with them on. various issues bringing people into the. arts and they're they're absent now. Here's hoping that we can get that. spirit back. I'd like to yield back. myself. Thank you. >> [applause].

>> Thank Thank you very much, Mr. Folds, uh. and for all your work. Uh I now. recognize Mr. Shaughnessy. >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon, everyone. >> [clears throat]. >> I appreciate your efforts in keeping. this issue in the public eye. I speak to you today as a private. citizen, a Marine Corps combat veteran, son of a veteran, and grandson of. generations of combat veterans spanning. nearly 200 years. Buried in section 60 of Arlington. National Cemetery are my. great-grandfather and my. great-grandmother.

He, a combat veteran who led the charge. on horseback. against Pancho Villa, and would go on to serve in both World. World Wars. She, a combat nurse who tended to. wounded young men during World War II. They didn't question whether they should. serve, only how long they would be. permitted to. As a young Marine, I was impressed by. their example. Their commitment to service and country. became values I carried through my. enlistment and combat tour. A tour in which I lost friends before I. could learn their full names. Now, potentially, a gigantic arch will. cast a shadow on my resting family,

friends, and leathernecks as vanity is. rewarded with a momentous symbol of. selfishness. A 250-ft arch is a profound disruption. and insult at the entrance to sacred. ground. The space at the gates of Arlington. Cemetery exists as a threshold, a. transitory passage between service and. burial. To preserve that integrity, it must. remain open and unobstructed. The origin of this arch was not born. from conversations and contemplation. with military members, veterans, their. families, or the entities that serve. these populations.

It was not a discussion with the. American people, not a discussion for. the American people, but rather an. attempt to gain the attention of one. man. Service members and their families. navigate many transitions throughout a. military career and beyond. The. transition out of the military is among. the most dangerous periods a service. member will face. That final transition. from service to eternal rest, it is not theirs to manage. It is ours. It falls to us, the living, to receive. our wounded and our dead with the. highest esteem and care.

An arch is not what they need. Who is this arch for? Is it for me? The president has already answered that. question, and yes, it is for him. This arch would obstruct the sightline. of the Arlington Memorial Bridge, a. symbol of unity and reconciliation, connecting those divided by war and. grief. Rather than honoring that unity, it. deepens a wound that has not fully. healed. Hasty construction is no path to a. monument worthy of this nation. Previous memorials were shaped by. extensive public input and rigorous. agency review, ensuring that the final.

design reflected our shared values. This proposal has had neither. Others have raised the serious safety. hazards of placing a monument in a. roundabout at a high-traffic. intersection, consistent with this administration's. pattern of placing pedestrians in harm's. way. Every view from our contemplated. landscape will be dominated by an overt. symbol of hasty selfish celebration. Approaching drivers will have their view. of Arlington obstructed as they gawk at. the mammoth sterling white blocks of. stamped facade. Once atop the observation deck, there.

are two choices. Gawk with an amusement-like stare at the. cotton bright gravestones diligently. plotted across the hillside, or turn your back on our fallen comrades. and take in the stunning views. The administration has chosen to ignore. the established protocol and precedent. for this project, which is allowing. Congress to write into law the. authorization for construction of a. memorial structure. Instead of rubber-stamping every aspect. of this project, contradicting the very. purpose of pre-established criteria. meant to determine the structure's path.

The precedent cited for this project is. beyond flawed and outdated. 100 year. years old and two pillars apart is. hardly sturdy footing for an arch. This project does not honor any living. or deceased patriot of ours. Funding has been stripped from the from. the Veterans Affairs, the National Park. Service, and the Department of Interior, degrading the capacity of these very. agencies that provide direct services to. veterans and their families. If we're to truly support the men and. women who serve in uniform, direct this. money to those agencies.

How will this project be funded? With. our tax dollars? With redirected entrance fees from parks. across the country? Anonymous donations flowing into another. undisclosed fund? We deserve an answer. This is not political. This is eternal. No one needs this arch. It is inappropriate, unnecessary, insulting. It is a waste of our land, our time, and our money. Thank you. >> [applause].

>> Thank you for that testimony. Thank you. for your service, Mr. Shaughnessy. Mr. Gollinger. >> Good afternoon. My name is John. Gollinger. I'm the Democracy Advocate. with Public Citizen, where I investigate. corporate influence on governments and. elections. The week before the wrecking ball. smashed into the East Wing, a room of. around 100 people gathered in the White. House for a candlelight dinner. They were there so President Trump could.

thank them for donating millions of. dollars to fund his favorite pet. project, the White House Golden. Ballroom, and also to hear about another. of his pet projects. We saw him holding. up the toy arch earlier. That was at the. same dinner. The monumental arch to himself. These. ballroom dinner donors were prominent. lobbyists, big wig corporate execs, current and want-to-be billionaires, all. kinds of government influence peddlers, and favor seekers. But at the center of it all, at the head table, closest to the. president,

was the person responsible for raising. the money. So, I'm here today to focus. on following the money, and I think that. starts with the the person and the. people who are raising all of this. corrupt money. That person is sitting at the center of. the secretive fundraising machine that a. federal judge in the ballroom case. referred to as a Rube Goldberg. contraption. That person is Meredith. O'Rourke. Here she is. laughing all the way to the bank. Laughing at pulling one over on the. American people.

It's President Trump's fundraiser in. chief. A profile of Ms. O'Rourke. last fall in a Florida publication. called Influence Magazine, appropriately. titled, reported that she doesn't like. the spotlight. She doesn't like it. shined on herself or her work. I think. that's for good reason. Doing what I'm doing right now, and I. hope you do a lot more of in the days. and years to come, exposes the secretive. shady schemes that Ms. O'Rourke and her. friends have employed to raise all this. money for the projects we've heard about.

today. The ballroom, Freedom 250, the Garden for American. Heroes, trashing of the Kennedy Center, probably the Arch, probably more. Central to these schemes has been. cloaking Ms. O'Rourke's fundraising for. all these pet projects with the veneer. of legitimacy and secrecy by funneling. the money through tax-exempt charitable. organizations. Some of them long-standing groups like. the Trust for the National Mall, which. has served as the money funnel for the. 400 plus million for the ballroom.

Some of the money for the Freedom 250. was funneled has been funneled through. the National Park Foundation. The template for both of these projects. was the same. Hijack a legitimate group, funnel money from donors who want or. have gotten something from government, and allow them to be both tax-exempt and. secret. Steer the money to Donald. Trump's. uh piggy bank so he can dole the. contracts out to friends, no-bid. contracts in many or most cases, and. spend wild sums to build monuments to.

waste, greed, and corruption. With my written testimony that I. submitted for the record is the secret. document Public Citizen obtained through. a Freedom of Information Act request. that lays out the Ballroom project. funding scheme in black and white. Says. donors who want to be anonymous can be. It says money from tobacco companies. that typically the Park Service and its. charities can't take can be taken and. more. We did a report right after the Ballroom. of the East Wing was knocked down that. found hundreds of billions of dollars in. government contracts went to the people.

of the companies that donated to the. Ballroom. Most of them also had federal. enforcement actions pending or dropped. We did another one recently that found. that the majority of the donors got more. government contracts to the tune of 50. billion since they made their donations. And most of them, 16 out of 27. companies, are facing federal. enforcement actions or have gotten them. suspended. That's the donors we know. about. What I'm more scared of is the. donors we don't. But we will smoke them. out and we will find out. Last month, along with the Revolving.

Door Project, Public Citizen analyzed. the contracts and the corporate money. related to Freedom 250. That's a. Trump-aligned LLC, limited liability. company, created and housed inside the. National Park Foundation where. conveniently Ms. Work was installed on. the board in March. We found 20 corporate sponsors funded. Freedom 250. This is Exxon Mobil, Oracle, Lockheed Martin, Palantir, United Airlines. Undisclosed sums. contributed, no oversight oversight. In another case, Ms. Work and her.

associates have simply invented their. own tax-exempt charity out of whole. cloth. According to the pledge agreement. prepared for prospective donors, the. National Garden of American Heroes. Foundation was established this year to. fund two Trump projects, the development. of a Garden of Heroes at West Potomac. Park and the dramatic expansion dramatic. expansion of the East Potomac Park golf. course. The pledge agreement. lists Ms. Work and her associate as the. contacts and states that they will seek. to retain the anonymity.

of anonymous donors. What all these. sketchy schemes have in common is this: corporate and billionaire donors who. want something from government benefit. Meredith McRoark and her lobbyist. friends who helped her raise the money. benefit. The charities funneling the. money benefit. Donald Trump benefits. The American people lose. Thank you. >> Thank you very much, Mr. Bollinger. >> [applause]. >> Thank you for the work that you're doing. and your organization and I'm.

turning now to Ambassador I. >> Uh ranking members Blumenthal and. Garcia, uh members of the Senate. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. and the House Oversight and Government. Reform Committee, thank you for. convening this forum. uh in inviting me and all of us to. appear today. Uh my name is Norman. Eisen. I'm the co-founder of Democracy.

Defenders Action. Uh since commencing my law practice in. Washington, D.C. 35 years ago, I've. worked on ethics, anti-corruption, and. democracy uh in the United States and. around the world, including as the White. House ethics czar. uh and as United States ambassador to. the Czech Republic. And in all those 35 years, I have never seen anything remotely like.

this. We are experiencing. unprecedented corruption in plain sight. As Donald Trump moves through his. lame-duck presidency, he's desperately. trying to rewrite his legacy. He's. defacing. the people's landmarks and he's carving. his own name into the people's. institutions.

That includes civil cases that I have. the privilege to work on among our over. 300. matters at Democracy Defenders Action. and Democracy Defenders Fund. Cases like the Kennedy Center case or. the demolition of the East Wing. I'm. going to talk about those cases. and why our monuments, our public parks,

and our public lands belong to the. American people, not to any president. and not to Donald Trump. Although I'm. also a member of the legal team. representing a criminal defendant Davey. Hearn in the reflecting pool case. I will not be discussing that matter. today. We've just had a trial date. set in that case. Let's begin with the. East Wing of the White House. As we've discussed, the president tore.

down part of the people's house to build. himself a $600 million gold-plated. ballroom. And then he dumped the. wreckage on the people's park. Now we. have more than 35,000. cubic yards of demolition debris hauled. into East Potomac Park. Land Congress. set aside to be held forever. Forever. for the recreation and pleasure of the.

people. The East Potomac Golf Links is. there. Public Park where families go. They use both. Trump dumped this waste. with no environmental review. With no historic preservation review. Is. it any wonder that months later. the Park Service's own testing found. elevated lead, arsenic, and mercury in. the park. And just this past Friday,

the government admitted to a federal. judge that it never finished testing. that soil before declaring it safe. I'm. very proud that our team joins Democracy. Forward and Low and Associates in. representing the DC Preservation League. and local residents in court. And we do. that work in our sister organization, Democracy Defenders Fund. Uh second, you've heard today from my.

wonderful. client and friend, Congresswoman Beatty, that [clears throat] Congress named the. Kennedy Center for President John F. Kennedy. This president, Donald Trump, tried to. remake that, to etch his own name on the. facade. We've learned that that's. illegal. We're going back to court to. deal with that tarp. The name has come. off. And if there's one principle that's. been established in today's testimony.

and in its and in our case, is that no. one mutes Representative Beatty. >> [applause]. >> I I'm not really I've been up here for. 35 years. I'm not really accustomed to. the applause, but I love it. It's a lot. of pressure as it builds for each. additional witness. Um the. uh the. um.

uh Kennedy Center case, we're very proud. to do. We believe in. doing these cases in teams. Very proud. that the Washington Litigation Group and. Nathaniel Zelinsky's also here today is. co-counsel with us in in case. There is. so much more that we could talk about. and I look forward to discussing in. response to your questions another form. of vandalism, that $1.8 billion. anti-weaponization.

fund. Perhaps the ultimate landmark of. our nation is our Constitution. And by making a deal with himself and. trying to establish a slush fund and an. endowment. for insurrectionists past and future, he. violated the Constitution's case and. controversy clause. We were so proud to. represent 35 bipartisan former federal. judges who went to court, who stopped.

him, and who built a different kind of a. landmark, Judge Williams' opinion saying. that in the United States. the law. is king, none other. Thank you very much. and I look forward to your questions. >> [applause]. >> Thank Thank you, Ambassador. Uh we're going to have a. 5-minute round of questions and uh we're.

going to be hopefully somewhat strict on. the 5 minutes cuz. uh I want to make sure that all of our. colleagues have a chance to. ask questions. I'll begin. And uh by the way, Ambassador, there's. no ethics czar now in the White House, is there? >> Uh. I think there's a czar who's in charge. of destroying. ethics, not uh defending them. >> The ethics czar is. an. ethics czar in charge of destroying.

ethics and morality, not. protecting it. Uh you know, I think the challenge that we face here. is making sure that Americans understand. that corruption. whether it's no-bid contracts or. self-enrichment. or favoring. pals and donors has costs. It has costs in ballooning. the bills for these projects and in.

cratering the quality. of the work that's done. So, corruption is not just an abstract. issue of morality or ethics. It has real costs to taxpayers. And uh. Ms. Gollinger, I I was. really interested in the research that. your organization has done. The ballroom was supposed to be. privately funded. As a matter of fact, now hundreds of millions of dollars are. going to be diverted from the Secret. Service to pay for this $600.

gilded boondoggle. But, there are also private donors. who have been awarded $50 billion. in taxpayer-funded contracts. in just 6 months. That is a startling. revelation. Many of these ballroom. donors made donations while facing. federal enforcement action. They had regulatory action pending. against them in addition to receiving.

contracts for work that profited them. The SEC dismissed charges against. some of these companies. Meta made a. donation while facing CFPB. investigations and FTC litigate. litigation. Coinbase. made a donation while the SEC dismissed. charges against them. Tell me what you think about the impact. of these donations on law enforcement.

that protects. taxpayers in our country. >> Thank you for the question, Senator. Well, I worked in law enforcement before. I came to Public Citizen in 2023. I. spent 3 years in the San Francisco. District Attorney's Office. And I went. in because of a public corruption. scandal. I was hired I was a lawyer, but. I'd never worked in law enforcement. I. was hired to head up public corruption. investigations there. And what I learned. in my 3 years, and we did in some some. good cases, good meaning bad corruption.

that we uncovered and prosecuted, was. that in San Francisco, which is a little. city with a lot of money, in every city in this country, in the. federal government, in every state, the. number one corruption crime. is procurement fraud, i.e. corrupt contracts, right? I'm sure as. you well know from your experience. And. that is because as was famously said. said by a bank robber in the 1800s, why. does he rob banks? Because that's where. the money is. Government contracts are. juicy targets for thieves and juicy.

targets for corrupt government officials. and these sort of hangers-on and. associates, as I've been alluding to and. discussing, you can figure out how to. steer those contracts to the people they. want to raise money from. And that's. what we're trying to see if the if. actual deals were made. I don't have. evidence before you today, but also. unlike when I was a prosecutor and an. investigator, I don't have this power of. search warrant. But if you were the. chair of this subcommittee next year, you will have that subpoena power. So, I. will lastly just say when contracts are.

given to donors as pay-to-play, it means. the costs of government services go up, taxpayers pay more, and good honest. businesses pay the price. If you want to. pay by the play by the rules, you end up. losing out. And that's wrong. >> And we will use that subpoena power, both Representative Garcia and myself, if we are fortunate enough to have it. next year. Uh you know, I went out to.

the reflecting pool at the end of last. week and my heart broke. We've all been to the reflecting pool. We know it's a historic site, the civil. rights demonstrations. It's also a place. where visitors go. An iconic symbol of the greatest nation. in the history of the world. It reflects. America. It reflects the Lincoln Memorial where. Abe Lincoln must be turning over in his. grave on his day and the Washington.

Monument. And you know, the destruction of these. kinds of symbols of America have. real resonance and I wanted. you to be here, Mr. Shaughnessy, because. you reflect America. Our veterans reflect America. Our veterans have never been consulted. about the building of this arch. I wanted you. to be here. Your face and voice since.

veterans have had. no representation in this decision that. will vitally affect. Arlington Cemetery. What does it say to you. that this president is constructing an. arch without consulting any of the. community that will be directly affected. by it as they go to visit their loved. ones who are buried in this sacred. place. >> Uh. thank you, Senator. It's a very tall.

order to represent all the veterans in. the country. Do my best. Um. there's a couple of different reasons. why I find this so insulting is that. there's already a process in place that. ensures. that monuments that are construct that. are constructed represent all of. America. We have a lot of different. opinions and. that process has worked. It's worked for. previous memorials, previous war. memorials. Every other monument in. in DC has gone through such a process.

And now to bypass that process, it tells. us one, it reminds the service member. they're expendable, their opinions don't matter, and that. um. the commander-in-chief can do what they. what they please. >> [snorts]. >> By putting. It's the location. Doesn't matter. what goes there if it's a massive. structure that. obstructs the view. It's because none of the details have. been thought through. This is incredibly hasty. I've been at.

the National Capital Planning Commission. meetings, and these folks have not. thought about the details. So, let me. just highlight the noise. The noise. that's required to complete a project of. this size. The digging and the boring. and the pouring of concrete and the. trucks, the thousands of them, the. cranes that will tower 300 ft high, the. port-a-potties that will be lined up for. the workers, the sewage trucks that will. empty these port-a-potties, and refill them. It's a carnival of. trucks that will circulate around this. roundabout in front of the only entrance.

to Arlington. It's infuriating. How can. anyone conduct a remembrance ceremony. with all of this noise and distractions. happening around them? And that's just. during the construction phase. These folks who want to build this arch, they could have seen it as an amusement. It was even said so at the last National. Capital Planning Commission that the. amusement at the state fair of folks. visiting the arch was one of the most. attended portions of the fair. And. that's what it is. It's an amusement to. them. Um.

Our service members are willing to give. up everything. They're willing to give. up their time, their [snorts] lives, time with their family. And the administration is willing to. consider. poured concrete. and and rebar and a stamped facade. He. can place marble in his bathroom, but he can't consider a marble structure. outside of Arlington Cemetery. >> Thank you very much. I'm going to turn. to Representative Garcia. Uh the Senate. is having a vote at 5:15, so I may have.

to run. I'll leave you in charge if. that's okay when I have to go. Uh and after Representative Garcia, we'll turn to. We We've been joined by. a couple of our Senate colleagues. We. have great representation from the. House, and we'll get everybody in. >> Thank you, Senator. I want to um before. I begin the question, just real briefly, I do want to thank uh Ranking Member. Huffman, who's here, our partners at. Natural Resources. Obviously, they're. doing incredible work protecting. America's monuments and treasures. So,

thank you uh for being here. Um also, just want to also add to Representative. Beatty, uh. truly heroic work that you've done uh. with at the Kennedy Center. So, just. want to personally, on behalf of. Oversight Democrats, thank you again for. being here and for your incredible work. And also, um we'll recognize we have. Councilmember Robert White, who is here, and of course, our Shadow Senator uh on. Kit Jayne, who is also here. So, thank. you both uh for being here and for your. representation.

We We obviously have a lot to discuss. today, and again, it's outrageous for a. president to put monuments ahead of him. ahead of himself. I'm sorry, to put. monuments to himself ahead of the. American people, and of course, the. affordability crisis. Now, we want to. take a look at each of these projects. because they tell us so much about. Donald Trump and his vanity and. narcissism. And of course, it tells us a. lot about corruption. Now, we've seen, of course, the images already of the. reflecting pool, uh just the horrific.

shotty job that's happened. But, it's. important to talk about who actually is. doing some of this work. Now, this is. J.J. Corrado, of course, a a neighbor a. neighbor of President Trump's. who actually resides just right next to. Mar-a-Lago. Now, President Trump called. uh JJ a fantastic man. Uh he's a major. Trump donor, by the way. He gave. President Trump a quarter of a million. dollars in 2020. And he previously pled guilty to. corruption and campaign finance.

violations. This guy right here. Now, this guy got a. $1.7 million contract to install a nano. bubble filtration system, which has been. a total and complete disaster, as the. president would say. It is a shame. It is disgusting that Donald Trump is. enriching donors and friends by using. America's monuments. Now, Mr. Gollinger, we know the White House claims they. weren't involved in the contract.

I mean, shocking. that he would, of course, get the. contract, but the facts look pretty. obvious. Would you say this is an. example of potential corruption that we. should be investigating in the Senate. and the House? >> I would say if if it were my case, I. would be opening an inquiry into this. potential corruption in a hot minute. >> And Oversight Democrats have. We've. asked Mr. Gollinger and his company a. series of questions, and that will. continue. [clears throat] Now, we're. taking on Trump's corruption at the. monuments and the corruption happening.

in the private sector here as well. Who. were these donors? Why they finance. these projects? Why they finance the. ballroom? Why are they involved in the. arch? The list goes on and on, and we're. going to get those answers. But, there's. other important issues here. President. Trump's vanity projects in DC show also. his dishonesty and all of the lies in. this administration. Now, the. contractors President Trump used to. renovate the pool were clearly. incompetent. We've all seen the images, the lining at the bottom of the pool, and then the embarrassment of the lies.

of the president himself. Essentially saying that vandalism is. what is what caused all the problems. Now, we've seen, of course, one of the. president's really unhinged Truth Social. post that he likes to do in the middle. of the in the middle of the morning or. the middle of the night. Now, this is of. course a pretty long unhinged rant. I'm. not going to read the whole thing. But, to summarize it, the president of the. United States especially spends his time. claiming that someone gutted the surface. of the pool with a knife. He claims somehow that knife and somehow.

the some chemicals that got poured into. the pool is what caused this massive. destruction of the pool, which they've. had to of course now try to rebuild on. lies and an embarrassment. to our country. But, you go on to has. your administration actually produced. any evidence of the president's claims? >> Not that I've seen. >> Not a single one. >> all. >> These lies are ridiculous. And now we. have the US DOJ or the our Department of. Justice trying to prosecute innocent.

people. who are looking at the pool. Who of course are being arrested. Who. are being moved away. Children. Families. Athletes. All because of the. president's incompetence. Once again, the person that calls himself the best. builder in history can't actually fix a. pool here in the district. I also just want to say, Mr. Fults, thank you for your testimony. We we of course our institution at the. Kennedy Center is so important. Now,

President Trump's allies claim that they. took over the Kennedy Center to stop. woke propaganda. Is that true? >> He said. it was woke and broke, which rhymes. And that's nice. Um. No, I'm not really sure what that means, but I mean our job at the Kennedy Center. was to make sure every every kid. especially that went there saw. themselves represented on stage. That.

it's that's the the Kennedy Center is is. the people's arts institution. So, if. that's what woke is, then yeah yeah sure. I I don't know what that means. >> Exactly. And and I'll I'll I'll having. been to the Kennedy Center to see some. performances, they also claim that. nobody was going to the Kennedy Center. That it was it wasn't connecting with. audiences. Is that true? >> Oh, absolutely not. As I was saying in. in my testimony, we had straight sold. out shows on our programs. And as as far. as I knew, at least a few years came up.

in in the black there, meaning that they. they ran at a surplus, which is really. really impressive. Uh and and so now I I think the the. Kennedy Center was going through some. golden years, in my opinion. >> Thank you. And finally, Congresswoman, I. just want to. um. you know, President Trump kept saying. that the board was rigged at the Kennedy. Center. Uh literally silenced you from. speaking uh during during the vote, if. I'm if if I'm not if I'm not correct. And in response, of course, you led the.

lawsuit to fight and save the Kennedy. Center. I want to close this to close my. questioning here. Just what what went. through your mind seeing this. destruction and after, of course, you. won the suit uh with others uh on behalf. of the Kennedy Center. >> Uh it was. it was devastating. As I was sitting. there, it was the first that I'm sitting. there as a board member, as a US member. of Congress, and to be silenced. And so, that was the first part of our joint. journey in working with Norm and.

Nathaniel for the lawsuit. I also. thought about all the performers, the. artists, the people who work in the the. boxes, the people who sell tickets. And. and it's about jobs. And at this. critical time in our country, when we're. talking about affordability, when we're. talking about putting food on the table, I thought about all of those folks. And. they love their jobs. If you've ever. been to the Kennedy Center, they do it. with such grace and pride. So, the fight. wasn't about me.

It was about it being unlawful. So, I've. always said consistently, it was about. the rule of law. We cannot let. individuals like Donald Trump get it. twisted that he can do any and. everything he wants without pushback. And it was about the arts. And being a. board member serving with Joe Kennedy. when I first went on the board, it's the. love of art for me, love of that. institution. But, it was really about. the American people. It was much bigger.

than the Kennedy Center. While it was. all about it, it was about jobs. It was. about making people feel that there is. still hope in this country. And that people will still stand up and. fight. And when we fight, we win. >> That's right. The truth. >> Thank you. Thank you, Senator. >> Thank you. >> Senator Reed. >> Well, I thank you, Senator Blumenthal.

Thank you, uh, Congressman Garcia. Thank you all to our witnesses, uh, first I want to, uh, thank and salute, uh, Mr. Shaughnessy. for his service in the United States. Marine Corps. Thank you very much in. your continued connection. And I share. your concern about the arts. It will. desecrate Arlington National Cemetery. So, thank you for your work. But, let me. ask, uh, Ambassador Eisen, one of the other uh,

proposals is to take West Potomac Park. and make it the National Garden of. American Heroes. Uh, and I I have this feeling that most of. them will be donors to the Trump. campaign. But, that's beside the point. Oh, no. And then the other issue is. taking the, uh, East. Potomac Park and making it a golf. course, which will not be, I think, accessible. as it is today to the public. Uh could.

you give us the legal issues surrounding. these things and uh what might be done. to frustrate this strategy? >> Uh thank you, Senator. Um. on the. um utilization. of these parks. uh or the Kennedy Center or other public. monuments, Congress has spoken. And it has dictated uses uh for these. um public places.

Take for example uh putting in a um. Trump country club style golf course in. the East Potomac Park. This is a piece. of parkland where you have a historic. public course that is truly a public. course. >> Mhm. >> Uh when I go out there, you see people. of all ages. uh from every different part of DC and.

the larger areas, families, grandparents. golfing with their kids. It's. affordable. It's accessible. Uh it's it's one of the first of its. kind anywhere in the country, so it's. also a landmark. Other public parks. around the country have been built on. that. It is a desecration. to take that at great cost to the. American people because Donald Trump's. corruption is something that we all pay.

for. Uh to take that and to convert it. to this kind of a Trump country club. style course that we don't need, we. don't want, we don't want to pay for. We. certainly don't want 35,000. cubic yards of toxic dirt there where. children are playing being dumped from. the East Wing destruction. So, um. those and that's why we've gone to court. to address it uh in terms of this.

illegal dumping on the land and other. related legal issues. >> Well, thank you very very much. Uh I. must confess having flunked golf at West. Point, I'm not the biggest golf fan, but. I want to see that course maintained as. a public course with access for. everyone. And thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next we're going to hear from. Ranking Member Huffman. >> Thank you very much uh Ranking Member.

Garcia and Senator Blumenthal for. holding this important hearing and for. inviting me to participate as the. Ranking Democrat on the House Natural. Resources Committee where we're working. shoulder-to-shoulder with our Oversight. Committee colleagues to bring some. transparency and accountability to this. mess. Uh every president thinks about. their legacy, what they'll leave for the American. people. Most of them try to earn one. Uh Donald Trump is skipping that step. Uh instead, he's using his presidency as. a huge grift to build himself vanity.

projects covered in lots of gold paint. and to pay for it with other people's. money, including a lot of our money. Now, earlier this month the Natural. Resources Committee Democrats released. this 55-page report from Vanity to. Insanity. And uh it describes how President Trump. hijacked America's 250th, turning it. into an opportunity for raising and. spending money in service of his own. ego, his own political agenda, and in. many cases, his own personal and family.

enrichment. While American service members die and. the global economy sputters because of a. wrong-headed and illegal war he has. started while working families struggle. with the cost of living, the President. of the United States weirdly obsessed. with picking out marble for his ballroom. and pushing plans for a massive arch to. honor himself. And he's paying for all. of this with a combination of public. money.

and also money from corporations who are. vying for business from the Trump. administration and foreign interests as. well. So, let's start with the public. money. You know, when anyone in this room. goes to a uh flagship park like. Yosemite, uh most of the money that you pay uh for. your entrance fee is supposed to stay. there to help fix trails and repair. facilities. The rest of that money, though, goes to fund smaller parks with fewer. resources. And instead of allowing that.

to work as it should, Trump has diverted over $90 million of. these shared entrance fees to prepare. for his vanity arch, to decorate the White House, and to fix. up DC statues. And for many families, parks are the. only affordable vacation option they. have. But this summer, they are arriving. to struggling parks, understaffed parks, unsafe parks in many ways because of. Republican funding and staff cuts. And. now, on top of all of that, the.

President is siphoning off more parks. money to spend on his vanity projects. So, Mr. Shaughnessy, you work with. veterans uh in our national parks. Tell us what is happening this summer. and what $90 million what it paid for if. it had stayed in the park system where. it belongs. >> Certainly. Um our parks and public lands. are intended to showcase the democracy. of our nation. by setting aside accessible land and. spaces for all people, citizens and.

visitors to our nation, for access. Our national parks Our national parks. are specifically for recreating and. telling the story of America. The recreation and storytelling is. managed by people, and people need. assurances like job stability and. adequate pay. Diverting fees from parks that collect. them further jeopardizes the ability of. park staff in those parks to facilitate. safe operations and tell the complete. and accurate story of of our country. I was just recently in Shenandoah for 4. days bringing my nephew on his first. camping and hiking trip and I saw two.

park rangers the entire time at the gate. and at the campground. The trails were washed out, trail signs. were missing, the bathrooms were cleaned. by the camp hosts but the equipment was. faulty and outdated. Wildlife were in. the campground grazing next to tents and. cars. All of the all of this makes. camping and recreating less safe and. less inviting. These spaces should be. accessible to all regardless of outdoor. recreation experience and or their. comfort with roughing it.

They're not just parks are not just for. the super fit and terribly rugged. They're for everyone parks and park. staff are there as guide and a symbol of. safety. Those park staff park staff deserve to. have adequate pay and adequate budget to. address the needs of the unit they. manage. >> Yeah. Thank you Mr. Shonizi. Now let's. talk about the corporate money, these. so-called donations although it seems to. me um. donations is a generous word for checks. that are written for example by a. company that just happens to have a.

merger decision sitting on the. president's desk. These are secret. tax-deductible payments to the. president's monument fund. And in return. the donors, massive corporations like. ExxonMobil, Oracle and Palantir get. access to the White House. One of them. uh hasn't reported uh. only one of them has reported a dime on. their lobbying disclosures of all of. this dark money. So Mr. Gollinger. Public Citizen's been tracking these. corporate donors. Of all the companies.

writing these checks. which one has the most to gain uh based. on your investigation and what is it. that is sitting on the administration's. desk right now? >> That's a hard question because of the. secrecy, right? So, from the contract we. know there's secret donors. So, we don't. know what we don't know yet. But, from. the ones we do know of the 27. corporations that uh have been. identified as donating to the ballroom, um I would single out NextEra Energy. So, they this energy company is already. massive, just announced a massive um.

uh 80 67 billion-dollar merger with. Dominion to become largest energy. utility around, [snorts] and that would. uh potentially be a monopoly that would. raise rates. So, that decision whether. to approve that merger for by Federal. Energy. Regulatory Commission or to challenge it. through antitrust in the DOJ run by Todd. Blanche who uh reports, as we all know, to Donald Trump, um I fear is. effectively a done deal because of the. money. So, we and uh Public Citizen and. others are challenging it. It's being.

challenged in multiple states. I would. also single out Lockheed Martin, which. has massive government contracts. already, has received tens of billions, and but, of course, as a defense. contractor stands to gain tens of. billions more because of the massive. military funding the president's trying. to jam through for his Iran war. >> Thank you, Mr. Goldring. As I wrap up, let me say uh if the White House is. watching, um you're not going to get away with. this. We have more documents. We have. more whistleblowers. And in the months. and weeks to come, the American people.

are going to see all of this. There will. be a full accounting. I yield back. >> Thank you. >> Senator Wyden. >> Thank you very much, uh Senator. Blumenthal, Congressman Garcia. It's. been good to work with you on Epstein. projects and and other priorities. And I. particularly want to follow up with. Congressman Huffman's remarks because. they touch on the parks. And these cuts. to the parks are hitting our communities. like a wrecking ball. And in particular,

it seems to me, and I want to direct. converse uh conversation to you, Mr. Shaughnessy. The Park Service should. have used that money be waited that has. been wasted to do hazardous fuels clean. up and reduce the risk of wildfires to. protect visitors and local communities. These fires that we're seeing in the. West are not your grandfather's fires. They're bigger, they're hotter, they're. hitting our communities like a wrecking. ball. And this summer alone, wildfires. have forced the closure of Oregon's. Painted Hills National Monument because.

the park staff doesn't have the. resources they need to protect our. treasures. That's really what's at. stake. They're filching this money to. take from our treasures. Now, Oregonians. said the people Senator Merkley and I. are honored to represent have been left. literally as the result of this. negligence in the line of fire all. because Trump has filched the money for. vanity projects that ought to go to. protecting our communities. Here's my. question. The Parks Conservation. Association that you know serve so works.

so well. with local communities to support. projects and policies that make our. national parks safer. How has the Trump. pursuit of vanity derailed projects that. we need to protect American communities. in Oregon and around the country during. the wildfire season? >> Yes, sir. Thank you. Um. >> [applause]. >> In 2014, I spent some time on the fire. line with BLM in out of Klamath Falls.

So, um I'm deeply familiar with the. landscape and the fire needs of of. Oregon and and Eastern Washington. And. um what I can say is that any dollar. that is spent on new construction. projects from fee collecting parks is a. dollar that cannot be spent on enhancing. the fire fighting ability of that entity. and unit that receives the money. These units base their annual budget on. fee dollars and if that budget has a. bunch of zeros and question marks, wildfire preparedness will at best stay. stagnant and at worst. decline.

The best way to fight fire is. prevention. By the time the fire crew. arrives, it's already too late. Smokey. told us that only you can prevent forest. fires, and it's absolutely true. In a. national park, everyone plays a role in. ensuring fire does not start or spread. Every ranger is given some degree of. fire training, and there are daily rules. and tasks all uniform personnel. have to accomplish to prevent fire from. starting. When the fire crew arrives, it's. suppression time. Diverting fees can impact the ability to. pay staff. Without paid staff, those folks will.

need to find other employment, thus. removing the knowledge and experience of. fire prevention. In addition to the staff, the visitors. have a role in preventing wildfire, and. those visitors cannot be properly. informed if there are not staff there to. inform them on how to prevent fires from. starting. Any dollar diverted from a national park. to a new construction project is. furthering the harm of these increasing. wildfires. >> Well, Mr. Shaughnessy, first of all, you're being way too logical for the. Trump administration. And the point.

really is we have to get the message. out, and we want to work with you. because you're making a big difference, and I don't think it's just Oregon. that's going to be hit by this fire. wrecking ball. It's going to be all over. the west. We just appreciate your. leadership. Let's give Mr. Shaughnessy a. big round of applause. Thank you. >> [applause]. >> Thank you, Representative Norton.

>> I strongly oppose President Trump's. attempt. to make the District of Columbia in his. image, including his militar-. militarizing. of the streets, a takeover all the Kennedy Center, a. demolition of the East Wing,

installation of permanent fencing. at Lafayette Park, transformation of. West Potomac Park into a statue. garden and construction. of an arch. I strongly oppose his. redevelopment of East Potomac Park. while the golf course. there needs investment, it must remain.

affordable and accessible for all. golfers. Furthermore, federal law requires the park. to. to quote be for. ever held and used as a park. for the recreation and pleasure of. people, end quote. Uh. the park, which is. beloved by residents of the nation's.

capital. region and visitors must remain. available for public recreation, including walking and running, biking, picnicking, and fishing. The administration is. also must immediately remove. the more than 35,000. cubic yards.

of toxic. debris. which the East Potomac Wing is dumped. there. Mr. Shanahan, what would be lost by. Trump's redevelopment of East. Development Park? >> Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um. so, I will try my best to answer this. from my personal experience visiting. our national parks in DC. Um. our public lands and spaces are to be.

public. Golf is a very popular sport. It. has a hefty price tag to pay with the. clubs, the gear, the shoes, the time. It's very expensive. Allowing. a public course gives people operating. on a budget the opportunity to play a. sport at an affordable price. Allowing them to access at a reduced. cost furthers the possibility they can. improve their game. They may enter a tournament and compete. Seizing public land for private interest. is reminiscent of Robert Moses, and. we're still dealing with harmful effects. from that. If privatized, certain portions of this.

population will not be able to afford. entry, and maybe that's the intent. >> Thank you. >> Senator Merkley. >> I thank you all very much, and all of. you who are attending for coming. together to talk about the egocentric. projects of this president, and how he's. betraying the very values of our nation.

But, first, Representative Eleanor. Holmes Norton, I want to I know you're. retiring in January. I want to thank you. very much for your decades of service. advocating for the District of Columbia. >> Thank you. >> [applause]. [applause].

[applause]. >> I'm so glad we were able to honor you. here in the Senate, Congresswoman. Norton. >> You know, I was uh here in DC for the. 200th anniversary of of our nation uh. and I don't know how that's possible. because I'm not even 50 years old yet. So, how did that happen? Uh but I came here as an intern for. Senator Hatfield and it was such a. joyous summer of America coming together.

with no partisan divisions in the. celebration of American heritage on the. on the mall all year long. And the mood couldn't be have been more. different from this summer where Trump. basically ruined the national. celebration of our values. by turning it into a partisan. self-serving uh affair. And that's it's. just um. you know, he sucked all of the color and.

joy. uh out of that national celebration. Just like and I was thinking. symbolically how I was reading how the. the color in the reflecting pool, the. blue had turned to gray and thought, "Well, that's symbolic of of really the. whole affliction of of this president on. the national uh mood." And um in. particular, it's so offensive. We've. talked about these ego projects and how. much they're costing and that they're. not approved by Congress and he's using.

slush funds to achieve them and all of. that. But I want to talk for just a moment. about a piece of this and that's his. putting his image on coins, on on park. passes, as well as the Kennedy Center. And why that is just so offensive. You. know, our founders said, "There's King. George and he puts his name on. everything because he's a king. and it's all about him. and power flows through the king down to. the people. But we don't do that in the.

United States of America. Our founders. were very saying, "No, we don't do that. because here power flows up from the. people. through their elected to achieve that. vision of government of, by, and for the. people. Uh, do you all find it offensive that he. put his vision on the on the park. passes? Well, amen. It It sure is and it It's. like because it represents two things. One, he's an authoritarian promoting.

himself. rather than celebrating the values of. our nation on our 250th anniversary. And the the second uh aspect of this is. just like he doesn't care about our. parks. So, he's the last person who should ever. appear on a on a park pass and. uh so, I do have a a bill. uh that prohibit partisan park passes. It says no no sitting elected or. president can appear on a park pass. Uh, let's get the wildlife back on the park. passes.

And then he's putting his image on a. coin and that really is something. emperors and kings do, not leaders of. democratic republics. And uh I do find. it kind of ironic that it's a fake gold. coin. And in that way, maybe it represents so. much about this president and his fake. uh values. But nonetheless, his image. does not belong on a on a coin. Uh, no president has done that. No.

sitting president has done it while he's. serving uh and we even had law that said. you can't put your image on a coin but. had a little loophole in it because it. just said on on one side and and it's. been interpreted mean well that if you. can put it you can't you you can't put. it on one side, you can put on the other. side. So, that's what the administration. is is saying. And uh so, my change corruption act uh. would would ban any repeat and and stop. this coin from being distributed. So, I.

realize it's symbolic but it's symbolic. of something fundamental to our nation. that our public spaces are for the. public and our leaders take the power. from the people, not the other way. around. Let's restore the vision of. government of by and for the people. >> [applause]. >> And I really intended to invite you in. bass ambassador to to to comment if. you'd like on my my diatribe. >> Um.

the distinction. between the United States, which was. born in the rejection of kings, and. other countries who put living monarchs. on their coins. uh speaks to the spirit of the law, Senator, including the Thayer Amendment, which. uh. is one of the laws that you're referring. to. And whatever the. uh precise legalities, no prior.

president president would have imagined. uh uh flying in the face of that meaning. and purpose and history of our laws. So, uh it is a yet another uh offense. I. will say it is very fortunate the. American people uh see this and they. understand that this is a presidency. that is not about them. and bringing down their costs uh.

fighting corruption, and delivering. competency. We've got a cost corrupt a. cost crisis that's driven by a. competency and corruption crisis. And we. will all be able to see that when the. fake gold coin is out there. >> Uh thank you so much. Thank you. >> Thank you, Senator. Uh next up is. Representative Krishnamoorthi. Thank you, Ranking Member. Thank you to. the witnesses. Um, I'd like to start. first with a quick game that captures.

just how absurd the vanity projects have. become. Mr. Gallinger, I want to ask you. a question. Which leader. named a brand new class of warships. after himself, a move so unprecedented and absurd that. none of his predecessors even considered. or proposed doing the same. Here are. your choices. Donald Trump, Muammar Gaddafi, or Turkmenbashi? >> I'm going to take a leap and say Donald.

Trump. >> You are correct. Who put his own portrait. in our country's passports? Trump, Gaddafi, or Turkmenbashi? >> I'm going to take another long guess and. say Donald Trump. >> You're correct. It was President Trump. Even Turkmen dictator Turkmenbashi, a. man who famously renamed the months of. the year after himself, did not do the same.

Last question. Which leader wanted to. add a 60-ft granite monument of himself. carved into the side of a mountain? Trump, Gaddafi, or Turkmenbashi? >> That one I know is Donald Trump. >> President Trump. Room for one more on Mount Rushmore, the. president wants to know. I think the. answer is no. What do you guys think? >> No. >> Let me turn to my next topic. On a more.

serious note, it appears that President Trump is. mirroring the actions of dictators. worldwide. Ambassador Eisen, uh, the. giant posters of President Trump draped. over federal buildings here in. Washington. evoked the same looming display of. Erdogan in Ankara, Turkey, wouldn't you. say? >> Uh, I would, Congressman. >> And as the Washington Post has reported. years before Trump gutted the White. House to create his golden ballroom,

Erdogan built his own vanity project. called the White Palace. I'm sure it has a nice ballroom as well. But the similarities don't end with. these vanity projects. Under Erdogan, Turkey descended into electoral. autocracy through voter roll purges and. intimidation of election officials, right? Mr. Eisen. >> Yes, that's correct, Congressman. >> at home, President has demanded The. President has demanded voter list. audits, pushed for voter purges, and.

just last week Political reported that. Secretary Mullen threatened election. officials with prison time. Prison time. If they did not cooperate with the. administration. You don't dispute that. either, right? >> I don't, and I'm very proud that our. organization, uh, quashed a criminal subpoena for one. of our clients, uh, a county, Fulton. County. It's an abuse of government. power. >> Totally. Mr. Gallinger,

I want to turn to my next topic. Um, I'm. sure. you are aware of at least seven. individuals who've been charged in. connection with vandalism of President. Trump's vanity projects, correct? >> I've heard I've heard what I've read in. the news. >> It's fair to say that many, if not all. of these defendants, have been victims. of overzealous prosecution, right? >> That's certainly what it looks like from. the news reports. >> Well, let's look at who has not been. subject to investigation or prosecution. Leslie Groth. Leslie Groth worked for.

Jeffrey Epstein for 18 years scheduling. countless massages during which Epstein. sexually assaulted underage women. It. seems surprising that the Trump's DOJ. has not announced an investigation of. Groth, Maxwell, >> That's troubling. >> Leon Black Leon Black has faced multiple. allegations of sexual assault and helped. bankroll Epstein to the tune of $158. million. And yet. And yet the DOJ has not announced a.

single investigation of this man, either. Correct? >> That's troubling. >> This contrast says everything about. Trump. If you damage one of his vanity. projects, such as the reflecting pool, the DOJ will pursue you. However, when extensive records implicate you in. the worst sex trafficking ring. in modern history, this DOJ will look away. Mr. Gallinger, last month the New York. Times reported that President Trump's.

construction spree could cost at least. $1.2 billion. You don't dispute those. numbers, right? >> That sounds right. It's probably It's. probably an undercount in the actual. >> an undercount. Let's see how this money. could be used otherwise. In my home. state of Illinois, countless families. will lose SNAP benefits under President. Trump. $1.2 billion could restore all those. SNAP benefits this year. You don't dispute that, right? >> No. >> Medicaid. Countless Illinoisans are.

going to lose their Medicaid under. Trump. $1.2 billion would restore Medicaid for. 130,000 Illinoisans this year. You don't. dispute that, either. >> I don't. >> Ultimately, this is a story of. priorities, right? Congresswoman Beatty? >> You're absolutely. You're absolutely right. >> President Trump found billions of. dollars for his vanity projects, but he cuts billions of dollars from the. vital safety net programs that.

struggling families every day rely on, including, as this woman has pointed out. on her excellent sign, 67% of American. workers who are living paycheck to. paycheck. And that is what today is about. It's. one man's vanity over the priorities of. the American people. Thank you, and I yield back. >> Thank you, Representative. Next up is Representative Brown. >> [applause].

>> I want to say thanks to ranking members. Garcia and Blumenthal for holding this. shadow hearing today, and thank you to. our witnesses for being here today. I. represent Ohio's 11th Congressional. District, where families are forced to. do even more with even less under this. administration. They're worried about. whether their rent will increase again, whether child care will consume an. entire paycheck, whether they will lose. their health care, and whether there. will be enough to make ends meet and put. food on the table.

Two years ago, Trump promised to lower. costs on day one. But his attention has been on just about. anything else, anything that glorifies. him or enriches himself and his wealthy. friends. This president had a choice, and he chose wrong. He chose warfare. instead of health care. He chose to cut. taxes for billionaires instead of. cutting costs for working families. He. chose donor giveaways instead of helping. families put food on the table. He chose.

to build shrines unto himself, billion-dollar ballrooms, gilded. renovations to the Oval Office, a. hundred million-dollar arch, putting his. name on the famed Kennedy Center, sixteen-million-dollar. no-bid contracts to donors for botched. reflecting pool renovations. That tells. the American people everything they need. to know about how out of touch he is. with reality. When President Trump wants a ballroom, an arch, or any other monument unto.

himself, there is urgency. There are wealthy donors, there are. no-bid contracts, and there are efforts. to move hundreds of millions of dollars. that Congress appropriated for other. purposes. He isn't operating the White. House as the people's house. He's. operating it like an extension of. Mar-a-Lago, a private club where money, access, and loyalty buys influence. It's. the new gilded age with Donald Trump. acting as the party boss, rewarding. friends, enriching insiders, and using.

public institutions to consolidate his. personal power. But when a family. needs housing assistance, child care. assistance, food assistance, a stronger. child tax credit, or help paying for. college, suddenly. Republicans' hands are tied and there's. not enough money, they say. Meanwhile, they're cutting every basic. social safety net where we have to pay. so that we have to pay for tax cuts for. wealthy people.

The White House is not a private club. The National Mall is not the president's. personal property, and taxpayer dollars. are not a slush fund for the president's. vanity or private enrichment. The true. measure of a leader is not the size of a. ballroom, the amount of gold on the. walls, or whether a public building. bears your name. It's whether a child. has enough to eat, whether a family has a safe and. affordable place to live, whether a.

parent can afford child care, and. whether someone has a fair chance to. pursue an education. President Trump is building monuments. for himself while millions of Americans. are simply asking their government to. provide some help and stability. Congresswoman Beatty, it is always good. to serve alongside a fellow Ohioan, and you bring firsthand experience as a. trustee. From that perspective, what has.

President Trump's takeover and. politicization of the Kennedy Center. done to its governance, public mission, and standing as an institution that. belongs to all Americans, not anyone. president or political faction? >> Well, first of all, let me just say. thank you and thank you for your service. in asking me that question. I think as. you've heard from all of the witnesses. here, what he has done is led what many. of us already. are aware of, that he has no interest in.

the American people. He has no interest. in the services that you just outlined. for us, because when you think about how. he is putting millions, if not billions, of dollars into these vanity projects. And as you talked about our children, when you think of in your great state. some 50,000 children have lost their. SNAP benefits. Overall, 1.5 million. children. When we talk about. retrofitting housing,

for those who are in need of one of our. top priorities, he's cut those funds and. and the list could go on and on. Part of. the reason that we are here today is to. make sure that the American people who. are watching us know that they don't. have to stand for this. Their voices are. powerful. We have heard from experts. here in all avenues of the historic. landmarks that he's ruining. And so I. think the number one answer for me is.

enough is enough. And we can be victorious by continuing. to speak up. But we need the American. people to stand with us. That's probably. the greatest message that we can have. We've been victorious in the courtroom. We're going to be victorious with the. people. And so we need to make sure that. people go out and use their voices, that. they vote their voice, and they're. voting for the things that will help.

them have a better quality of life. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. And if the. chairman will indulge me, you spoke on. experts. Mr. Gallinger, when wealthy. donors with businesses before the. federal government finance the. president's preferred projects, politically connected companies receive. no-bid contracts, and public funds are. redirected. It begins to resemble a. modern political patronage machine. What. safeguards are being passed, and what. information must Congress obtain to. determine whether access, contracts, or. favorable government treatment are being.

exchanged for political or financial. support? >> I mean, the point of having. a free and fair marketplace is that the. best product, the best service wins for. the best price. That's the opposite of. what you just described. Giving wealthy. donors, politically connected folks, people who are engaging in backroom. deals for the ballroom and these other. projects a leg up on competition that's. trying it the the real, honest way. distorts the system, costs the American. people more, and uh destroys trust in.

government. So, every single to me, every single donor to all these projects. um should be uh should be sitting here. answering questions about how much they. gave, who they talked to, and what they. got for it. Uh they should be doing it. today under the current majority in the. Senate and the House, but then I hope. they will be doing it next year because. it's a red flag when you donate to a a. pol to a politician who then gives you. something back. It should be the. opposite. >> Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you very much. I'm going to go to. uh Senator Hirono who who is has joined.

us. And just as uh I know a lot of us. have been going a little bit over, which. I think everyone has been um guilty of. So, I'm going to try to keep us a little. closer to those 5 minutes if possible. But, Senator, thank you. >> Senator, thank you. To focus on the the corruption of this. regime, uh I call it a because of his of. his authoritarianism and. at this point there are over 800. lawsuits that have been filed to stop. Trump from doing all of his illegal.

actions whether it's holding. holding back appropriations that. Congress has already provided and the. list goes on. I did want to ask I think. that we have two lawyers on the panel. Mr. Gelender and. and Ambassador. is it Eisen Isen? Good. I want to ask you do you think the. President believes that the rule of law. applies to him? >> Do I think the that Donald Trump. believes the rule of law applies to him? Is that the question? >> Yeah do you think that he thinks the.

rule of law applies to him? >> No. He this this individual thinks he is. above the law. >> Um. Mr. Okay. What happened to Mr. Eisen? >> I think he just stepped out into the. back. He's good. >> I can't [laughter]. I can't quite make you all out. Okay, so. meanwhile the the Supreme Court decided. and they. I would call the infamous. uh 2024. immunity decision where basically that.

they. the President immunity from criminal. prosecution. Do you think that this is a. decision. simply. uh. caused Trump to to truly believe that. that the law was on his side when he. decided to do all kinds of things that. are probably highly questionable from. ethical as well as a legal standpoint? >> Well I I wouldn't neither as a lawyer. nor as an American try to get inside. Donald Trump's head cuz that's that's a.

losing battle and I don't want to be. there but I would say that it's. certainly in my experience exactly how. crooks operate is that when they're. given an open door and no oversight they. raid the bank and that's what this. President's been doing every day. >> Well do you Uh, not to um, I want to. thank all of the panelists for. testifying today. But, um, I. Do you think, any for any of you, do you think we have a democracy without. uh, checks and balances and rule of law?

>> Uh, absolutely not, Andrew. This. president and this administration, uh, they have no respect, uh, for the. rule of law. And certainly when you talk. about our democracy, I think that's why. we're here. We're fighting to restore. our democracy and to have fairness, uh, for all American people. >> So, in your view, we do not have an. appropriate checks and balances at this. point? >> Definitely not. This president acts as a. dictator. >> And the rest of the panel, do you think.

that we have checks and balances, uh, as far as, uh, this regime is concerned? You have to ans-. speak into the mic. >> I would like to have hope that we still. can. >> Sure. I mean, I I think I'd say the. same. My title is democracy advocate, so. that's what I fight for every day. Um, but I've never seen it more in danger, certainly in my life. And I don't think. in the 250 years, um, the existence of. this country that a real American.

democracy with checks and balances, which ensure that we don't have a king. again, which is what Declaration of. Independence had 27 grievances against. Um, and unless we get that back, we fear. it could slip back into what we fought. against. >> So, what do you think we need to do in. order to restore checks and balances and. the rule of law? >> Yeah, I mean, I think we need to put a spotlight on. every single problem that's been. outlined today. I think the American. people, I trust the American people. Um, I I don't think most hard working. Americans want a government uh, that.

steals from them, that enriches. themself, and that gives us, um, bad outcomes. I. don't think that's what the people of. this country want. But I think they have. to see it. So, there's a lot more that. people are seeing now than they were a. year and a half ago, Um, but I do think. it's the job of everyone in this room, everyone watching, and everyone who has. a platform and a chance to investigate. to root to put the spotlight on the. corruption. I think the American people. when they see it, they'll vote they'll. they'll do everything they can to stop. it. >> Oh, I agree with you. I think that's why.

the spotlight hearing is so important. I. mean, we when we have the executive. branch, the House, US House, US Senate. controlled by one person, the president, we do not have checks and balances, and. the only entity that is preventing the. the total annihilation, I would say, of. a democracy are the courts, and we have. a president who believes that judges. ought to be impeached, judges who hold. against him, which they do, thankfully, in about 75% of the cases that are. filed, that he thinks that those judges. ought to be impeached. What do you.

think? >> I mean, I think that's a horrible way um. to show respect for the rule of law. >> Do the rest of the panelists agree? >> Agree. >> Is my time up, Mr. Chairman? >> Almost, but if you if you have another. question, please go ahead. >> Thank Thank you, Vera. Thank you very. much. And once again, I think it is very. important to shine a spotlight, literally, on all of the. illegalities, I would say, of this. regime, and the fact that he.

believes he can do whatever he wants. I. mean, whoever heard of a of the White. House? Who will build a fight ring behind the. White House? Who would. do all these these contracts, non-bid. contracts to his pals? Who sells. everything he can sell, including now. coins? It's just amazing to me, and. thank you all for shining a light on all. of his illegalities. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Senator. And now we have.

Representative Stansbury. >> All right. Well, good afternoon, everyone. I want to just start out by. saying Congresswoman, Madam Joyce. Beatty, you are an American hero. >> [applause]. >> And I am certain that this era in. American history will go down as an era. I don't know what we're going to call it. yet, but I know the history books are.

going to remember the heroes who stood. up. And I know that Congresswoman. Beatty, I know that our advocates, I. know that the attorneys who are on the. front lines litigating these cases will. be in the history books. And I also know. that this administration and this. president, which is filled with grifters, scammers, scoundrels, and yes, sketchy schemes, as. you said, sir, who are selling access, favors, pardons, and just making money.

every single day for their friends, are. not only going to go down in history for. the malfeasance that they have committed. against this government and our people, but I am also certain that this Congress. is going to investigate every single. inch and hold them accountable. And that. is what this hearing is about today. Now, I want to just talk a little bit. about how these sketchy schemes are.

really centering around our monuments. and our most treasured places. Let's. begin with the White House. The White House has never simply been. the president's house or residence. It. is the people's house, a symbol of our. democracy, a symbol of our commitment to. transitions, peaceful transitions of. power, and it belongs to the American. people. And not only has this president. broken the law by demolishing the East. Wing and destroying irreparably history.

that has existed on that property since. this nation's founding, they have given it away to the highest. bidder. 27 corporate donors, 15. individual donors who have given. millions of dollars in exchange for over. $50 billion. in contracts by the federal government. Amazon, Apple, Coinbase, Google, HP, Lockheed, Palantir. These are the people. who bought the demolition of the White.

House. Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington is one of our most sacred. places as a nation. More than 400,000. service members and their families are. laid to rest here. Every monument, pathway, and memorial. exists to honor the sacrifice of the men. and women who have given their lives for. this great country. And now Donald Trump. wants to spend $100 million.

of your taxpayer dollars. He's not even. asking for his illicit donations to put. an arch up to himself. that would block the view. of one of our most sacred memorials. of unknown soldiers. The Kennedy Center, opened in 1971, is a. living memorial to President John F. Kennedy. It is a symbol of bipartisan culture and. arts that has hosted artists.

programming for decades, for generations. representing the best of this country. Not only did he try to inscribe his name. on this building, he has set up a. pay-to-play scheme that has involved. self-dealing and replaced some of the. most important programming that this. country puts on every day, and this. amazing center remains closed right now. Our Smithsonian and our National Mall.

Today, we had a hearing in the Oversight. Committee in which our Republican. colleagues were ordered by the White. House to hold a hearing under the. pretext that they are going to take out. the leadership of the Smithsonian. because they don't like the way they're. telling our history. Donald Trump has given no big contracts. to his friends to tear up the National. Mall. And he has as the chairman ranking. member of natural resources has revealed.

used Freedom 250 as a front for fraud. and money money laundering and actually. diverting private donations from. corporations like Oracle, Lockheed, and. yes, Palantir once again. to his own nonprofit. Our public lands. I'm from New Mexico. Our most sacred. public lands include places like Chaco. Canyon and Bears Ears in Utah. Places.

that are completely. irreplaceable, sacred to the tribes all. across our state and all across the. West. And this president has just. announced that he is going to revoke the. protections as giveaways to the oil and. gas industry and to uranium miners in. Utah. This is not just about. defacing our American monuments. This is. not just about his ego. Donald Trump is.

using the American taxpayer dollars as a. personal piggy bank. He is defacing our. most sacred places, and he is doing it. for just everyday grift to make himself. and his friends rich. In fact, we know. because of his own financial disclosures. that he made over $2 billion last year. in crypto schemes, real estate deals,

and I just learned today by more insider. trading on the stock market than any all. of the members of Congress combined last. year. We think we have insider trading. problems here in Congress. Donald Trump. made more trades than all of Congress. last year. While a sitting president. And so, we want to make clear, loud and. clear on these bicameral committees that.

we will investigate. Where possible, we will refer to. prosecute. We will recover damages. We will get the American people's money. back, and we will save our democracy. just as the heroes on this panel today. are here to do. >> [applause]. [applause]. >> Thank you, Congresswoman. I will now. recognize myself.

Um. The Trump regime is the most corrupt in. American history. The corrupt. authoritarian want-to-be king, Donald. Trump, is selling off America's national. monuments all so that he can turn the. White House into his own version of. Versailles and so that he can turn. Washington, D.C., into his own personal. playground. And I want to talk about the context in. which he is doing all of this. Last. year, Trump and Republicans.

very happily and excitedly ripped away. health care from millions and millions. of Americans. It was the most. unprecedented cut to Medicaid and food. assistance in American history. Then Donald Trump decided to cover up. the Epstein files. And now we have Todd. Blanche in front of the Judiciary. Committee in the Senate, and he is about. to maybe become the Attorney General of. the United States as he has led the most. egregious cover-up in American history.

And then Donald Trump also decided to. start an illegal reckless war. This last. week, a 19-year-old woman named Isabella. Gonzalez was killed, an American service. member, was killed in a war for nothing. For absolutely nothing. ICE has murdered 11 Americans on our. streets, and just in the last week, we. lost a 52-year-old. and uh a father uh named Lorenzo Salgado. Araujo, as well as a 26-year-old father.

named John Sebastian Guerrero. These are. murders that should never have happened. And I bring all of this up because when. you contrast. all of the horrific things that Donald. Trump and Republicans are doing, quite. literally killing. thousands upon thousands of people with. the corruption, the staggering. corruption that is occurring at the. White House, and you know, corruption. that is benefiting Trump himself, his.

family, his donors, it's enraging. I mean, it's it's actually sick. And. we, as Democrats and and hopefully in. the future with Republicans, need to. investigate every single piece of. corruption that has taken place, and we. have to prosecute people for their. crimes. Ranking Members Garcia, Huffman, and I. wrote to the president back in October. regarding his obscene demolition of the. East Wing. We stated that this demolition of an. iconic symbol of democracy run.

by and for the people is slated to be. fund-funded by major donations from. billionaires and corporations. There was this lavish White House. dinner, of course. We've talked about. it. Donors enjoying this extravagant. meal of beef Wellington and butterscotch. ice cream with. pear jam-filled meringue to discuss how. to bankroll Donald Trump's luxury. ballroom and other vanity projects. Some. of the people at that dinner were. powerful lobbyists, dozens of whom are.

now under investigation for their. ethical misconduct in supporting these. luxury Trump projects. We demanded a list of every donor, how. much they've and any access, favors, contracts, or decisions that they. expected from the federal government in. return. It took nearly 5 months to get a. response from this administration. And. when they finally did respond, they. answered essentially none of our. questions about one of the most brazen. corruption schemes being run by the. White House.

Maybe they did not want to admit that. ballroom donors later received roughly. $50 billion worth of federal government. contracts. That's quite a return on investment. These mega corporations made back nearly. 100 times every cent that they funneled. to Donald Trump's $600 million ballroom. If that's not pay-to-play corruption, then what is? And then there's this guy. You saw him.

earlier. He's back up here. John. Corrafo, a twice-convicted felon. He somehow received a $1.74 million. no-bid contract to maintain the Lincoln. Memorial Reflecting Pool. How did somebody with those. qualifications land a no-bid federal. contract? Well, he donated more than $300,000. to Donald Trump's political operation. It's that simple. This is exactly what corruption looks.

like. This is not government serving the. American people. It is government. serving Donald Trump's donors, Donald. Trump's family, and Donald Trump. And. it's sickening. Mr. Galinger, I'd like to start with. you. Can you give us your best sense of. the scale and scope of the compromised. ethical standards and theft of taxpayer. dollars we are seeing throughout the. federal government? >> The scale and scope Um, I mean, it's. massive. You know, this is a you know,

this. looks. like, smells like, and I think is a. pay-to-play scheme from top to bottom. So, everyone associated with everything. you just mentioned has a lot to answer. for to the American people, I to. Congress, I hope, and potentially to. prosecutors. Um, if there is evidence. that conversations were had, whether. even if they were on signal chats that. they think disappeared forever, but. maybe didn't, or um, on some other uh, some other method around why they would.

why they were going to these dinners, why they were giving this money, what. they wanted, who they wanted to meet. I. mean, I've heard that some of the. fundraisers involved uh, have done a lot. more than just raise money, that they've. arranged meetings, they've uh, merged. interests and money into one thing. I. mean, that's the very definition of. pay-to-play. So, we need the evidence to. make sure we can tease it out, but. that's what investigations are for. And. I found in my experience investigating. public corruption um, that it takes a. long time, and you got to get the. documents, but once people realize that.

they're caught, uh, some people start to. talk. And so, I think it's incumbent. upon everyone involved in anything shady. to start talking now and get ahead of it. rather than wait until they're the ones. in the chair. >> And in a future administration, how. might that investigation play out? What. could the Department of Justice or the. White House do? >> Sure. I mean, it it um, I mean, certainly it can Congress has. got to play a big role, inspectors. general have to play a big role. I mean, the Department of Justice, obviously the. public corruption unit needs to be.

rebuilt. Um, but US Attorney's Offices. in every state There's a lot of good. people, I imagine, who still work in all. of those places and a lot of great. people who would be happy to get hired. back up. What it has to be begin with is. uh witness interviews, knocking on. doors, um inviting people in, asking. people that to talk about what they. know, um. document requests, and if they don't get. the documents voluntarily, search. warrants, subpoenas. Um, that can. include communication records, financial. records. I mean, money has to go through. unless it's a bag of cash. I mean, even.

if it's a bag of cash, someone can take. a picture of a bag of cash, but if it's. money that's gone through financial. transactions, there is a record, even if. that record uh people think will never. be found. I found bank accounts that the. people who I prosecuted thought no one. would ever figure out were routed. through banks in Chicago when they lived. in San Francisco, but we found it. Um, so the records exist, they just need to. be found. >> Thank you very much, and I know we're. over time. Really quickly to all of our. witnesses, on a scale of 1 to 10, how.

would you rate the level of corruption. Donald Trump has authorized, encouraged, and participated in the federal. government? And I will say that 10 would. be Putin level kleptocracy, and one. would be the most ethical administration. you can imagine. We'll start with. Ambassador. >> 11. >> I'll say 11. >> Uh, I haven't dealt with corruption. before, so I'm going to abstain from. answering this. >> Can't imagine much more.

>> No number high enough, off the charts. with it. >> Thank you. And with that, I'm going to. recognize uh Representative Bell. >> I'd like to start just by putting. ourselves in the shoes of a working. family in St. Louis right now. Since President Trump took office, families are paying $310. more a year for groceries, $622. more for housing and $110 more for.

electricity. The price of gas has jumped. by over a dollar nationally, a direct. consequence of an unpopular, unauthorized war in Iran that has no. clear end goal. And economists project. this administration's tariffs will cost. the average household another $960. this year. That's not just a statistic. That's a young mother in North County. deciding between the energy bill and new. shoes for her kids. That's a retired.

postal worker in St. Louis, in South St. Louis, watching their fixed income buy. less every single month. A North City. father already working two jobs deciding. if he can fill up his gas tank or if he. needs to skip a meal. And while families. do that math at their kitchen tables, President Trump has spent nearly four. out of every five days in June talking. about his vanity construction projects. in Washington D.C. That's more often.

than he's talked about healthcare, wages, or the cost of living crisis he. created. That tells you everything about. this administration's priorities. And. it's not just where his attention goes, it's where the money goes and how it how. it gets there. This administration has. made a habit of funneling these projects. through friends, donors, and insiders. instead of the open competitive process. that's supposed to protect taxpayers. That's a system built to reward loyalty.

over accountability. The result is. exactly what you'd expect. Rushed, sloppy work that has to be redone. Monuments in public spaces treated like. personal property and a bill that keeps. growing while my constituents in St. Louis are told to tighten their belts. Mr. Gallinger Mr. Gallinger, you've looked closely at how this. administration has financed and awarded. contracts for these projects. In plain.

terms, can you walk us through the. pattern you found, who benefits, and why. bypassing the normal competitive. contracting process, why this should. worry taxpayers? >> I think I mean, I think that's a good. question. We talked no-bid contracts. have been discussed a lot today. And. certainly, intuitively, I think I mean, many people, maybe most, understand that. that means. done in a way that's going to cost us. more money and going to potentially. engender corruption. But I think it's. important to walk through it a little. bit more. So, I think this was mentioned. earlier, the Washington Post.

unearthed documents from the executive. residence of the White House, which is. traditionally a small office in the. White House that keeps the White House. running, right? These are the people who. make sure the the art is protected, make. sure the building is kept up to speed, the windows are repaired, and and the. president has what he needs has what he. or she needs to do their job. Um the. executive residence of the White House. and the offices associated with it have. been turned into the Donald Trump vanity. project corruption machine. And. specifically, the ballroom is.

that is the office under Joshua Fischer, who's the director of. administration, assistant to the. president. All the money for the. ballroom. has been given to. charity, to the Park Service, and then. back to that office. But the Washington. Post reported that documents all the way. back in August, long before anyone of us. knew their plan was to demolish the East. Wing with Clark Construction. No-bid. contracts were awarded by Donald Trump. and and the folks in that office to. Clark Construction without going out to.

bid. So, that means that no other. developer, no other. construction company got a chance to. offer the same services for less price. Obviously, it means the American people. didn't know what they were planning to. do, so they did it in secrecy. They. invoked an unusual and compelling. urgency exception. So, there's rules, I. mean, I know you all know, but there's. rules, federal rules to require. competitive bids unless there's an. exception. The exception they invoked is. that it's unusual, compelling urgency. that without no bid contract, the. government would be seriously injured,

that there was a compelling need. What. was it? That Donald Trump wanted it, apparently. So, that's a legislative. space where Congress, the next Congress, can close that loophole and make sure. the executive residents can't give out. no bid contracts. And if they do invoke. exceptions like that, to sit here and. explain why. >> Thank you. And Ambassador Eisen, you spent your career studying. government ethics. When the American. people can't tell the difference between. the president's personal interests and. the government's priorities, what does. that do to their trust in the.

institution? >> It demolishes trust in our institutions. and the officials who lead them. When I. was the ethics czar in the Obama White. House, we decided decided that President. Obama wouldn't even refinance. his modest family home in Chicago at the. time of the Great Recession cuz he. regulated the banks and we didn't like. the way it looked. It would have saved.

him a couple hundred bucks a month. The. flip side of that erosion of trust, Congressman, is when you see that. political leaders are putting the public. interest first, it builds trust and. makes our American democratic experiment. work. >> Working families in St. Louis play by. the rules and live within their means. It's time the administration did the. same. And Congresswoman Beatty, thank. you for your your work. I yield back.

>> Thank you. I'll now recognize. Congressman Menendez. >> Thank you very much. And Congresswoman. Beatty, I I want to echo everybody's. sentiments about the fight that you. endured on behalf of the Kennedy Center. and on behalf of the American people. I. want to be the first person to say that. President Trump's. uh. attempts to remake all of these. institutions in his likeness is. incredibly tacky. Um.

Congresswoman Beatty, one thing that. struck me was uh in your lawsuit when. the government argued that changing the. name was necessary to revitalize the. center, which would go into financial. and structural collapse unless they. attached the Trump name to it. I wonder. if the government was aware of Trump's. stakes in Trump University. Um in my hometown of Houston, like in. many other places across this country, families are struggling to make ends.

meet. They can't afford their first. home. They can't afford the cost of. utilities. Many can't afford summer camp. for their kids. So, it's hard to watch. this president spend the billion dollars. on ballrooms, on gold trim, and on fonts. for a Trump center while telling the. rest of us that there's no money left. There are no kings in America. And the. American people didn't sign up to. personally fund one man's vanity. projects. I want to start with you, Mr. Gollinger. In April, the administration handed out.

two no-bid contracts. Uh no competition, no public bidding. process to clean and repaint the Lincoln. Memorial Reflecting Pool. One contract. worth $1.7 million went to a company. owned by this gentleman that we've. talked about, Mr. Cafaro, who has pled. guilty in 2010 to campaign finance. violations and had previously pled. guilty to conspiring to bribe a federal. official. And we all know that he's. given big money to President Trump's. campaign. Weeks after that cleanup was. finished, the pool turned green with one.

of the biggest algae blooms in years, and the fresh blue paint started peeling. and floating on the surface. Now, I've. got 5 years in local government serving. as the county attorney for the largest. county in Texas as the chief civil. lawyer, 10 years before that and doing. investigations for large companies. I. have never, in all of my time, uh seen a no-bid contract handed to. somebody with a bribery conviction. Uh so, my question to you is in your. work tracking government contracts, and. I know you have some experience in local. government as well, how often does the.

government hand a no-bid confidential. contract to someone with a bribery. conviction? >> It's a very bad idea. I mean, I. certainly would say would say in San. Francisco, where I worked, I mean, that's that was a that was a deal. breaker, obviously, immediately. Um the the line is the only line would. be if someone is accused, people have. the right um. to to defend themselves, but that. doesn't appear to be the case here. And. the problem, of course, is that the at. minimum, the public faith that this. contract was done properly and.

effectively, and that most of the money. is going to actually do the job instead. of back into someone's pocket, is. completely eroded. Um and so, that that. should be absolutely never That should. be something that absolutely never. happens again. >> The The all of the incentives are. eroded. And if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a. duck. Ambassador Eisen, we are kindred. spirits. You've talked a lot about all. of your litigation experience against. the Trump administration. Um in my last job, I spent a bunch of. time litigating and beating the Trump.

administration because their lawyers are. not good. Um. but I want to talk to you about the rule. of law and institutions in this country. and the role that they play in holding. this administration accountable. We have. seen action after action taken against. the Trump administration because they. have stepped outside of the bounds of. the Constitution and the law. From. layoffs of federal employees to what. we've seen at the Kennedy Center, the reversal of the plain text of the. Constitution and birthright citizenship,

cuts of grant grant funds, which. impacted local governments and. nonprofits across this country. And of. course, the firing of Fed Governor Lisa. Cook. This is just a few of the list of. things. How [snorts] important are the courts in. ensuring that we keep a rogue president. within the confines of the Constitution. and the laws of this nation? >> Uh we were very honored at Democracy. Defenders to help put together the team. to serve as part of the team that. defended Dr. Cook.

up to and including the Supreme Court, winning at the Supreme Court. It was a. bipartisan team um protecting her and. the Federal Reserve, the independence of. our nation's monetary policy and the. prosperity. of every American. The courts were. essential in that case, Congressman, as. they have been in our over 300 matters, the well over 600 cases that courts have.

addressed. Um and and in particular, I. want to salute the trial courts of the. country. We just had a tremendous win in. front of it. A judge who was appointed by Donald. Trump, but he quashed a subpoena. You. know how hard it is to do that. He. quashed a Trump administration subpoena. unduly interfering with election. processes in Fulton County, Georgia. And.

so our trial judges have been absolutely. essential. And we've been keeping them. busy. One said to me from the bench, "We. can't do our job unless you do yours.". So we try we're going to keep these. cases coming. and in particular, we're going to. protect this election. It all comes down. to that, the future of our democracy. We're going to defend it. >> In closing, Madam Chairwoman, there are. three co-equal branches of government.

and when the president steps out of. line, you need the other two to step in. So, I'm so grateful for the folks who. have been involved in ensuring that the. courts step in, but it's time for. Congress to do its job and for the. Republican members of Congress to. exercise their authority to investigate. and hold this administration. accountable. I yield back, Madam. Chairwoman. >> Thank you and finally, I will recognize. Congresswoman Tlaib. >> Thank you all so much for being here and. I know Congresswoman uh Beatty that you. might not um. uh feel comfortable constantly us.

thanking you, but thank you so much for. your courage. I know you were tenacious. and determined and we are very grateful. for you and of course, all the folks at. Kennedy and those that helped again. organize um and and push back against. the administration. So, I want to um. play a little game uh since he likes. games, too. Uh. I want to. talk about what did Trump say it would. cost game, okay? Yeah, Ambassador, this is going to be. fun cuz I You know why? Because they.

constantly come to me when we talk about. health care, food assistance, all these. programs, waste and fraud, waste and. fraud, waste and fraud. I want to talk. about what did Trump say it would cost. Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, does. anybody know how much he said it was. going to cost us? 1.5 to 1.8 million. You know, Congresswoman, how much it's going to. cost? It's already at $16 million. I want the American people to. understand, okay? Second, ballroom. Said, "Oh, it's going to cost us $200.

million." It's our. money, y'all. $200 million. He says. private folks, but guess what? It's not. It's He's pocketing that money. Ball The. ballroom, $200 million. Guess how much. it is now? It's succeeding $1 billion. Dollars. The 200-ft tall arc. I don't know what. the hell he calls it, but it's a it's a. arc. How much the cost? They're saying $100. million. Mhm, experts say it's going to. cost a lot more. These are architects, these are folks that do this kind of. work. And on top of that, there's all these.

lawsuits because the arc is is I guess. exceeds the height limitation. This is. ridiculous. Talk about waste. Now talk about golf courses. Do you know. anything about that, Ambassador? The. hell is going on with the golf course? I. think the American people need to know. He wants to take 50 acres of public. land, a bike trail, historic grove of. cherry trees. to put a freaking golf course. Talk. about waste. Do you know about the golf course?

>> A little bit, yes. >> Who benefits from the golf course? >> Well, right now, as you know, Congresswoman, families, children play with their parents, their. grandparents. He's going to turn it into. a Trump country club style golf course. that average folks can't afford to. to play. >> it's incredibly sickening. I mean, I think, you know, and I know my. colleagues know this. We go to our. communities. I mean, to quote a. Detroiter, I'm from Detroit, you know, my seniors just tell it like it is. What.

the hell is he doing with our money? Why aren't you guys stopping them? No, I'm being serious. And I tell them, this. is pretty unprecedented, the incredible. amount of fraud that Republican. leadership and those around him continue. to allow him to to to commit. Um. You know, when I talk to folks about, you know, everybody talks about him filing. bankruptcy with his hotels and casinos. But no, really, how many times do you. think he filed bankruptcy? Once? Twice?

Six times. Six times he filed bankruptcy, and he's. in charge of our public money. I mean, we're going to push back. We're going to. use litigation as resistance. We all. know that. But the end, I think it's. really important how painful it is to. watch the American people American. people it's very painful for them to. watch. 15% cut to snap benefits telling them. they don't have money for clean water. yet you you see all these projects again. over and over again my colleagues come.

to us and say it's going to cost this or. cost that I really appreciate everyone. being here I appreciate this hearing I. think at the end though and if anybody. has advice I mean at the end I think. it's what do we do on day one when we. get the gavel back. and we need to be very aggressive about. it from day one what do we do because I. don't want to just get the gavel back. that power means something for our. people they're giving us a chance to. you know be able to get accountability. and justice so day one what do we do.

ambassador. >> I would focus on the biggest Grits and. go deep. get every witness let people know your. focusing on the at the contrarian where. I'm the publisher we have a top 10. corruption list that we update every. couple months the temptation. congresswoman is to go very broad. because there's so many hundreds.

thousands. >> it like I want to think of ways of how. we can prevent it. >> but what I think if we can focus on. those and then learn the the prevention. lessons from those. >> you know Molly calls is in there and I. I'm I'm but there's no enforcement. mechanism to the Molly calls John Mr. Gallic. >> well I was going to say I. there's no better enforcement mechanism. than a perp walk if corporate executives. who are who are. who are discovered engaging in paid to. play corruption are walked in front of.

the cameras first of all to a hearing. room. and then if they committed a crime to. the courtroom that's the best deterrent. of all. >> Mr Sharansi am I saying it right. >> I'm I may mention the parks in my. comments here. Um I'm just an ordinary. person and thank you all for having me. here, but um funding. to the park service is incredibly. important. Re-hiring all those vacant. positions and the folks that were fired. in the past year, and improving veteran. and military access to nature and. outdoor recreation opportunities. That's. what I would do on day one.

>> Yeah, restoration. I like that, Mr. Faults. >> Well, since I'm here is my experience in. the Kennedy Center, I would say we we we. need a firewall from now on uh that is. indestructible between the President of. the United States and our arts. >> Yeah. >> And and that is have a. >> Congresswoman Veasey's got that. How. about you, Congresswoman Kelly? >> I would say all of the above, but I. would overturn all of the executive. orders that hurt the people. I would. make sure that when we talk about. restoring, whether it's the dollars to.

SNAP, you name child care, housing, and. the Affordable Care Act. >> Yeah. Thank you all so much. I yield. >> Thank you. Thank you, Congresswoman. Uh. appreciate all of our colleagues from. the House being here today. I want to. express my. appreciation especially to. Congressman Garcia for his leadership. Uh and to all of our witnesses, this. panel has been amazing. To everybody watching here or remotely, thank you for caring about our.

democracy. Uh and I just come back to where I. began, corruption has costs. Corruption has costs. In money that's taken from taxpayers, spent on these projects wastefully. And there needs to be accountability. Uh the construction has destroyed. iconic symbols of America. The Reflecting Pool being only one of.

them. And the contracts are the symbol. of this corruption. No bid, single source contracts. with pals of the president, donors to. his campaign, pay-to-play, and of course, we need to somehow repair the damage. if we can. We can't reconstruct the East Wing. It's gone.

But, we can at least insist on. accountability. And. we can also work for reforms of the. system that prevented, hopefully in the future. And in the meantime, the perp walk. is. an option, but name and shame, even without. charges necessarily, civil action.

to recover money and impose penalties. when there is favoritism or ethical. violation. There's no ethics czar in. the White House on the side of ethics. right now. The czar. is. unethical. So, um I want to thank everyone involved in. this hearing. We're going to pursue. these issues, hopefully with. subpoena power and other compulsory.

process at some point. But, one way or. the other, the American people deserve. the facts, documents, evidence, testimony, and we're beginning. now. Thank you all. This hearing is adjourned. >> [applause].

>> In 2025, we've had the worst measles. outbreak in over a decade, more than.

>> Hey.