Trending
Romanian Consulate celebration at Trump Tower draws scrutiny
A watchdog group raised questions over the Trump Organization's decision to allow the event at the hotel on North Wabash, and whether Romania was trying to curry favor with President Trump
The Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago is facing scrutiny over a decision to allow the city’s Romanian Consulate to hold its annual national day festivities in the North Wabash Avenue skyscraper.
The Nov. 29 event drew 300 people, including Romanian Consul General Tiberiu Trifan, and featured musical performances and a reception, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the story. The annual event had been held at the Chicago Cultural Center in recent years.
Jordan Libowitz, of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the consulate’s decision to move the event to Trump Tower raises the question about whether Romania was trying to curry favor with the President Trump, according to the report.
“This is a cloud that hangs over all the Trump Organization’s business dealings,” Libowitz said.
The harsh spotlight is new territory for the 98-story Chicago property. Scrutiny has previously focused on Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., where a number of foreign governments have held events since the president’s inauguration. Questions also surfaced over the failed Trump Tower Moscow project, in which the president’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, allegedly voiced support for giving Russian President Vladimir Putin a $50 million penthouse as part of a marketing stunt to sell units. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in August to charges of tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions, bank fraud and making false statements to Congress, was sentenced to 3 years in federal prison on Wednesday. — [Washington Post] John O’Brien