Kuwaiti embassy, Roger Stone returning to hotel (separately)

Welcome to 1100 Pennsylvania, a newsletter devoted to President Donald Trump’s Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. (and his other companies). President Trump, of course, still owns his businesses and can profit from them.

If you like what you see, tell someone—and support this work by paying for a subscription. If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, subscribe for yourself at zacheverson.substack.com. Questions? Read our FAQ/manifesto. Tips or feedback? Contact me, Zach Everson, securely via email at 1100Pennsylvania@protonmail.com or on Signal at 202.804.2744.

Report: Kuwait’s U.S. embassy plans return visit to Trump Hotel

Kuwait’s U.S. embassy reportedly plans to celebrate the country’s independence day on Feb. 26, 2019 in a ballroom at the Trump Hotel D.C. It would be at the third year in a row the country has held this celebration in the U.S. president’s hotel.

1100 Pennsylvania first learned about the event from an invitation posted on Twitter by an account named @OpWolverines. According to that Twitter user, he or she received the invitation from a third party to whom it was originally sent. A voice mail message left at the embassy to confirm the invite’s authenticity was not immediately returned. [Updated Jan. 27, 2019, 10:46 p.m. After publishing this newsletter, a second source has

Kuwait famously switched its 2017 national day celebration from the Four Seasons Washington, D.C. to the Trump Hotel after its owner became president. Emoluments cases filed against the U.S. president cited the previous Kuwaiti celebrations at his hotel as possible violations of the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments clause:

No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.

Roger Stone to headline Virginia Women for Trump’s 2020 campaign kickoff

Last week, Virginia Women for Trump announced Roger Stone as the headliner at its 2020 campaign kickoff dinner gala on Feb. 2 at the Trump Hotel D.C. Five days before that event, Stone, an advisor to President Trump, is due to be arraigned in U.S. District Court in D.C. on one count of obstruction of an official proceeding, five counts of false statements, and one count of witness tampering.

Stone was added to the event’s lineup before he was arrested on Friday, according to Virginia Women for Trump’s founder and president. Alice Butler-Short. “I landed Roger through a friend in Florida,” Butler-Short wrote via email. “As of now he is still confirmed, but I have to assume that something could change in the next few days.

Stone was not listed on the event’s invite on Jan. 2 when 1100 Pennsylvania first reported about the event. He will be available for photos and to sign his book, which will be available to purchase for $30. Tickets for the summit are currently $40, gala tickets are $165 to $280, and 20 hotel rooms are available at $295/night (among the lowest rates seen at the hotel).

Virginia Women for Trump is an LLC and not affiliated with the Trump campaign. It’s hosted several events at the Trump Hotel D.C., most notably the Tea for Trump birthday party.

Other prominent guests at the kickoff, which combines an afternoon summit and an evening black-tie gala, include former Rep. Frank Wolf (R–VA) and economist Steven More.

Stone was also at Trump’s hotel on the eve of his Congressional testimony that led to him being indicted.

Trump Hotel D.C. client Ginni Thomas lobbies president

From “Trump meets with hard-right group led by Ginni Thomas” by Maggie Haberman and Annie Karni for The New York Times:

President Trump met last week with a delegation of hard-right activists led by Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, listening quietly as members of the group denounced transgender people and women serving in the military, according to three people with direct knowledge of the events.

Ginni Thomas also hosted an event at the Trump Hotel D.C.—the 2017 Impact Awards luncheon. It honored “12 conservative leaders who are making a transformational impact on American culture,” Thomas wrote in The Daily Caller. Her piece name-checked the hotel in the second paragraph.

Managing director makes a Saturday-night news dump

Two days after complaining that the media failed to cover the Trump Hotel D.C.’s high rankings in Trip Advisor’s Travelers' Choice Awards, hotel managing director, Mickael Damelincourt, shared his company’s press release about the honor. At 9:39 p.m. On a Saturday.

Noteworthy sightings

Far-right British media personality Katie Hopkins was back.

One America News investigations reporter, Neil McCabe, hung out with his aunt.

Digital advisor for Republican politicians (“Senator Tom Cotton, Senator David Perdue, Senator Marco Rubio, Congressman Trey Gowdy and more parties, PACs and issue advocacy groups than we can count)” Wesley Donehue found President Trump’s “bacon game popping hard.”

Staff attorney at Superior Court of Pennsylvania, Kristen Sidari Carroll, and U.S. Naval Reserve officer Kieran Carroll, celebrated a birthday at the commander-in-chief’s hotel.

According to some Qanon believers, a Trump supporter named Vincent Fusca is JFK Jr. and leading the battle against the deep state on behalf of President Trump. Anyway, Fusca reportedly was at the Trump Hotel D.C. in December.

Other Trump Organization news

• “Trump’s golf course employed undocumented workers—and then fired them amid showdown over border wall’” by Joshua Partlow and David A. Fahrenthold for The Washington Post

• “Trump tears down social walls in new Mar-a-Lago book” by Frank Cerabino for The Palm Beach Post

• Given the indictment of Roger Stone, this tweet from Trump 2020 campaign manager Brad Parscale may foreshadow some legal problems for Trump Organization EVP Eric Trump

  

House investigations, current status (latest change, Jan. 25, 2019)

• Financial Services—Sent an inquiry to Deutsche Bank AG on its ties to Trump, according to the bank on Jan. 24.

• Foreign Affairs—Chair Elliot Engel (D–NY) “plans to investigate whether President Donald Trump’s businesses are driving foreign policy decisions, including whether Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution in the process” per CNN on Jan 23.

• Intelligence—Sent an inquiry to Deutsche Bank AG on its ties to Trump, according to the bank on Jan. 24.

• Oversight and Reform—Chair Elijah Cummings’s (D–MD) staff “has already sent out 51 letters to government officials, the White House, and the Trump Organization asking for documents related to investigations that the committee may launch,” according to CBS News on Jan. 13.

• Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, and Emergency Management—Chair Dina Titus (D–NV) announced plans to investigate “Donald Trump’s attempts to prevent the relocation of the F.B.I headquarters and to profit from his presidency at his D.C. hotel” on Jan. 24.

Legal cases, current status (latest change, Jan. 28, 2018)

• D.C. and MD attorneys general’s emoluments lawsuit (district court docket, appellate court docket)—

  • Official capacity—On Dec. 20, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled it would hear the president’s appeal of district court rulings that allowed the case to proceed to discovery, and the appellate court halted discovery in the case. Oral augments on the appeal are tentatively scheduled for March 19–21, although on Dec. 26 the briefing schedule was suspended until further notice after Trump’s DoJ attorneys asked for a stay because of the federal government shutdown. (Discovery had started Dec. 3 and was scheduled to run through Aug. 2, 2019, with the AGs already having issued 38 subpoenas, including to the Trump Organization; the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, and Treasury and the GSA; and the state of Maine.)

  • Individual capacity—On Dec. 14, Trump’s personal attorneys appealed the denial of their motion to dismiss the case, also to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. On Dec. 19, the AGs replied to Trump’s motion for a stay pending that appeal by voluntarily dismissing the claims against Trump in his “individual capacity to allow the claims against President Trump in his official capacity to move forward expeditiously.” (The AGs only brought suit against Trump in his individual capacity after the judge suggested they do so.) Trump’s personal attorneys, on Dec. 21, opposed the motion to dismiss at the district level, saying the appeals court now has jurisdiction and accusing the AGs of “gamesmanship.”

• 196 Democratic senators and representatives’ emoluments lawsuit—On Sept. 28 judge Emmet G. Sullivan ruled that the legislators have standing to sue. Trump’s Justice Department attorneys filed an interlocutory appeal on Oct. 22.

• CREW et. al’s emoluments lawsuit—In February, CREW appealed its suit being dismissed for lack of standing to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments on that motion were held on Oct. 30.

• Cork’s unfair competition lawsuit—Judge Richard J. Leon dismissed the case on Nov. 26, writing “Cork has failed to state a claim for unfair competition under D.C. law.” On Dec. 10, Cork’s attorneys filed a notice of appeal and on Jan. 10 they submitted a statement of issues to be raised. The next steps, which don’t yet have a timeline, include a briefing schedule being set and both sides filing appellate briefs.

• UPDATED: Employees’ class-action suit alleging racial discrimination—Two of the three plaintiffs did not appear at a status hearing on Jan. 25; their cases were moved to arbitration. Their attorney, A.J. Dhali, has not responded to an email asking why his clients did not appear. The next status hearing is scheduled for Oct. 4.

Health inspections, current status (latest change, Aug. 10, 2018)

• ❌Hotel: five violations on May 7, 2018; two were corrected on site

• ❌BLT Prime and Benjamin Bar: nine violations on Aug. 10, 2018

• ❌Sushi Nakazawa: two violations on Aug. 10, 2018

• ✔️Banquet kitchen: no violations on Aug. 10, 2018

• ❌Pastry kitchen: two violations on Aug. 10, 2018

• ✔️Gift shop: no violations on May 7, 2018

• ❌Employee kitchen and in-room dining: five violations on Aug. 10, 2018; two were corrected on site

One thing that has nothing to do with Trump’s businesses (I think, tough to tell sometimes!)

Huffington Post editor-in-chief, Lydia Polgreen, replied to President Trump’s taunt about media layoffs:

Thanks for reading. If you like what you saw, tell someone—and support this work by paying for a subscription. If you’ve been forwarded this newsletter, subscribe for yourself at zacheverson.substack.com. Questions? Read our FAQ/manifesto. Tips or feedback? Contact me, Zach Everson, securely via email at 1100Pennsylvania@protonmail.com or on Signal at 202.804.7274.