The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts is under investigation for “lavish” deals reportedly handed to Donald Trump allies, according to a new report.
The Kennedy Center, which recently announced it would be postponing previously booked events so the Trump administration can let FIFA, the cash-rich governing body of international soccer, use the facilities for free in late November into early December, is under fire by Senate Democrats.
In an article called “Senate Democrats Investigate Kennedy Center Deals With Trump Allies,” the New York Times Thursday wrote, “Under Richard Grenell, the performing arts center has given steep discounts to CPAC and FIFA, signed contracts with administration associates and spent lavishly on friends.”
“As president of the Kennedy Center, Mr. Grenell has filled his leadership ranks with several Republican friends and associates, including Nick Meade and Rick Loughery, whose signature is on the FIFA contract. In addition to approving millions of dollars in special discounts to Mr. Trump’s supporters, receipts from catering services, hotels and restaurants show that aides in Mr. Grenell’s office approved tens of thousands of dollars in Kennedy Center funding on meals, champagne services and rooms at the Watergate Hotel — all while the Kennedy Center has faced serious financial troubles,” the article states before detailing the investigation by Democrats.
The article states, “The contracts with FIFA and CPAC are referred to in a cache of documents obtained by Democrats on the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, which has jurisdiction over all public buildings owned by the federal government.”
“Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the top Democrat on the panel, said in a letter on Thursday that Democrats on the committee were investigating Mr. Grenell and his stewardship of the center’s approximately $268 million budget. They accused him of using the center to enrich friends and acquaintances and ‘dole out political favors.’”
“The center’s leadership is strictly obligated to uphold rigorous financial stewardship and operational transparency,” Mr. Whitehouse said in the letter, according to the new report. “Any deviation for personal or political gain constitutes a profound betrayal of its mission and the public trust.”
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