House Democrat demands ethics review of Qatari jet gift to Trump

Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) on Sunday called for an ethics review of the Trump administration’s plans to accept a luxury jet from the Qatari government for temporary use as the official Air Force One, before it’s transferred to President Trump's presidential library for personal use.

In a letter to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) comptroller general, the Defense Department (DOD) acting inspector general, and the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) acting director, Torres expressed concern that the luxury plane, which he said has an estimated value of $400 million, “would constitute the most valuable gift ever conferred on a president by a foreign government.”

“The American people are witnessing, in real time, what can only be described as a ‘flying grift,’” Torres wrote in the letter.

Torres criticized Attorney General Pam Bondi for giving “the Department of Justice’s seal of approval to a transaction that flagrantly violates both the letter and the spirit of the Constitution’s Emoluments Clause,” which prohibits individuals holding public office from accepting gifts from foreign officials.

“No one — not even President Trump — is above the law, let alone the Constitution,” he wrote.

Torres also took issue with the fact that the gift is coming from Qatar.

“Just as troubling as the gift itself is the identity of the benefactor. Qatar is not a neutral party on the world stage. It has a deeply troubling history of financing a barbaric terrorist organization that has the blood of Americans on its hands,” Torres said in the letter.

“In the cruelest irony, Air Force One will have something in common with Hamas: paid for by Qatar,” he added.

He was responding to reporting from ABC News that Trump was preparing to accept a luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar that would be available for Trump to use as Air Force One through the end of his term. At that point, it would be transferred to the Trump presidential library, the news outlet reported, citing unidentified sources familiar with the proposed arrangement.

Torres asked in the letter for the officials to conduct “an immediate ethics review” of the gift; “issue a formal advisory opinion on whether the gift violates federal ethics regulations;
and the Emoluments Clause”; and “recommend policy reforms to prevent the conversion of foreign gifts into private property by current or former presidents.”

Trump on Sunday acknowledged his administration was planning to accept the aircraft “temporarily” as a free gift but stressed that the Defense Department would be participating in the “very public and transparent transaction.”

In a statement to NewsNation earlier Sunday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not confirm the specifics of the deal but said, “Any gift given by a foreign government is always accepted in full compliance with all applicable laws. President Trump’s Administration is committed to full transparency.”