Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., is requesting that the Department of Defense’s Office of Inspector General launch an inquiry on the department’s role in “facilitating and serving as a pass-through” for the Trump administration to accept a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government to use as Air Force One, ABC News has exclusively learned.
President Donald Trump confirmed on social media this week an ABC News report that his administration was preparing to accept the aircraft, calling it a “very public and transparent transaction” with the Defense Department.
In a letter sent on Tuesday, also signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Senate Armed Services Committee ranking member Jack Reed, D-R.I., along with six other Senate Democrats, Schiff raised to acting Inspector General Steven Stebbins a number of constitutional, legal and national security concerns related to the possible gift from Qatar.
“Public reports raise the troubling prospect that the Administration involved DOD to (1) launder this impermissible gift, so that the Department could provide cover to give the transfer of the plane the appearance of an official gift; (2) place the onus on DOD to retrofit the plane at considerable cost to U.S. taxpayers; and (3) ultimately transfer it to President Trump’s library prior to the end of his term for his continued use in a personal capacity,” the senators wrote in the letter.
The Democrats asked Stebbins to launch an inquiry into the DOD’s involvement with facilitating the potential foreign gift transfer and requested a “comprehensive audit and investigation” into any “fraud, waste, and abuse” when a potential transfer is completed, given that a mandatory retrofit of the plane would need to occur if it were to be used as Air Force One. They also asserted that the Trump administration is sidestepping constitutionally provided congressional guardrails by accepting the foreign gift.
“DOD risks becoming embroiled in a brazen attempt to evade constitutional limitations on the acceptance of personal gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval,” they continued in his letter.
The letter also requested, “in classified form if needed,” the cost estimate and probable timeline for retrofitting and installing communications and other equipment necessary to meet security and counterintelligence requirements for the Air Force One fleet and any timeline the White House has dictated for this plane to be ready for use by Trump.
They also asked whether necessary modifications can be made within such a time frame to meet Air Force One standards and what possible risks could be associated with that timeline. Additionally, they asked for answers on whether the existing contract for other Air Force One aircraft will continue or be terminated and what the cost of any termination would be.
The final request is whether there would be any counterintelligence and security risks with incorporating this aircraft, provided by a foreign government, into the Air Force One fleet.
“The DoD OIG received the letter this afternoon and we are reviewing it,” Pentagon Office of Inspector General spokeswoman Mollie Halpern said in a statement.
The primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet include two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since the early 1990s. The Air Force contract with Boeing to replace those aircraft has been riddled with delays and cost overruns, with Boeing’s most recent estimated delivery date now slated for 2027.
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense ranking member Chris Coons, D-Del., and Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are the other Democrats who signed Schiff’s letter.
Earlier on Tuesday, Schumer sent a separate letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing concern about the “appearance of naked corruption” posed by Trump’s reported plans to accept a jet from the Qatari government. Schumer also said he believes the jet poses a “grave security risk” and cited reporting that Bondi personally signed off on the transaction. In light of what Schumer called Bondi’s “central role in approving the proposal,” he asked Bondi to respond to a number of questions related to the proposed gifted plane.
ABC News’ Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.
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