A for-profit company collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government for locking up migrant children apparently decided it wasn’t such a great idea after all to hold its holiday bash at Trump's Virginia golf course, according to reports.
Caliburn International — operator of the Homestead facility for children in Florida — had already sent out invitations to its December 6 gala at the Trump National Golf Club in Potomac Falls, Virginia. Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, who was instrumental in the president’s immigration policy, joined the company's board of directors after leaving the White House.
After one of the invitations was leaked to the press, Caliburn issued a mass email to workers changing the venue. “Our team leaders have made the decision to change the venue so that our employee holiday event is focused on the spirit of compassion and thankfulness to our employees who work every day supporting missions of humanitarian service, national security, and medical care around the world,” the company said in a statement.
A federal contractor paying for a party at a property owned by a current U.S. president is unprecedented, as American presidents typically divest from their businesses before taking office to avoid conflicts of interest. However, this wouldn't be the first time that private interest attempted to curry favor with Trump by steering business to one of his properties. “It’s hard to overstate how problematic it is for a company with billions in government contracts to be paying the president directly,” said Noah Bookbinder, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel for CREW, said: “Obviously for a contractor that has hundreds of millions of dollars in business before the federal government, I don’t think it’s any small coincidence that they’re patronizing a Trump business. These facilities are ways for people to influence the administration.”
Virginia Canter, chief ethics counsel for CREW, said: “Obviously for a contractor that has hundreds of millions of dollars in business before the federal government, I don’t think it’s any small coincidence that they’re patronizing a Trump business. These facilities are ways for people to influence the administration.”
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