House intel committee could investigate defense firm contributions to White House ballroom

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the House’s intelligence committee is warning defense contractors about a “likely” investigation into whether corporate donations to President Donald Trump’s White House ballroom project were solicited in exchange for government contracts or access to the Trump administration.

In a Sept. 28 letter to the National Defense Industrial Association, Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), told the defense trade group to remind its member companies “of their obligation to be responsive to congressional oversight.”

“Specifically, I am concerned that the current Administration has departed from decades of precedent in favor of unethical or even nakedly corrupt dealings with the private sector,” he said in the letter to NDIA President David Norquist.

“At times, the Administration has appeared to inappropriately fuse the government contracting process with the attempted extraction of political or private favors,” Himes added.

Himes said the committee could seek documentation, communications, testimony and other information to understand how donations to the ballroom were solicited “and whether contributions were related in any way to the goal of obtaining or maintaining government contracts, access to the President or Administration officials, or other benefits.”

The committee may also weigh whether dealings constituted a conflict of interest or a national security risks, and whether to propose legislation that would mandate further disclosure requirements or safeguards, he wrote.

NDIA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Himes is likely to take over to take over HPSCI in the event that Democrats win the House during midterm elections this November — a prospect that seems likely, according to recent polling data.

Trump announced plans to rebuild the White House ballroom last year, pledging that private donations would pay for the project instead of taxpayer money. While the White House has not disclosed a complete list of donors to the ballroom project,  Lockheed Martin, Booz Allen Hamilton and Palantir are among the government contractors who have donated to the White House ballroom project, according to The Guardian and other news outlets.

Himes did not name any individual contractor in his letter or raise any specific conflict of interest concern, stating only that “[s]ome of the companies publicly identified as having contributed funding to this effort are members of the NDIA.”

But Himes also suggested that the committee could investigate defense industry matters beyond the ballroom project, stating in the letter that HPSCI “may seek documents and other information to understand other unusual dealings between the White House, senior Administration officials, and NDIA members.”

Himes’ letter may foreshadow the kind of scrutiny defense contractors can expect if Democrats take the gavel of key defense and intelligence congressional committees. In August, The Washington Sun reported that defense lobbyists were already bracing for increased oversight if Democrats take one or both chambers of Congress during the midterms, with lobbyists expecting potential investigations into the Qatari-gifted Air Force One jet and the Pentagon’s equity stakes in defense and critical minerals companies.