at the ltluiteh ?tatea
Washington, E01 21.1515

February 4, 2019

The Honorable Carol F. Ochoa
Inspector General

General Services Administration
1800 Street, NW.
Washington, DC. 20405

Dear Ms. Ochoa:

On January 16, 2019, the General Services Administration Of?ce of Inspector General?s
(GSA OIG) released a report titled, ?Evaluation of Management and Administration of
the Old Post Of?ce Building Lease.?1 We write to request information and documents related to
the GSA evaluation of this issue.

As the Ranking Members and Chairman, respectively, of the Committees with legislative
jurisdiction over GSA, we appreciate the tireless efforts of your of?ce to root out ?'aud, waste,
and abuse on behalf of American taxpayers. In this instance, the GSA OIG conducted an
evaluation lasting well over a year, interviewed over 24 employees, and reviewed more than
10,000 documents.2

The GSA OIG report cited no evidence of improper interference in decision-
making process concerning the Old Post Of?ce Building.3 GSA OIG noted in the report that the
objective was not to make a determination of any violation of the Constitution or the lease with
Trump Old Post Of?ce LLC, but ?rather, sought to determine whether there were
any improprieties in decision?making process regarding these issues.?4 However, the
report includes a seven-page legal analysis of the Emoluments Clause of the US. Constitution,
Without accounting for relevant positions taken by the Department of Justice in ongoing
litigation.5

 

GENERAL SERVS. ADMIN, OFFICE or INSPECTOR GEN, JE19-002, EVALUATION or MANAGEMENT AND
ADMINISTRATION OF THE OLD POST OFFICE BUILDING LEASE (2019), 

anuary%201 6%2
02019_Redacted.pdfSee, e.g. Memorandum in Support of Defendant?s Motion to Dismiss at 45-54, District of Columbia v. Trump, No.
(D.M.D. ?led Sept. 29, 2017); see also Defendant?s Reply in Support of Motion to Dismiss at
14-29, District of Columbia v. Trump, No. (D.M.D. ?led Dec. 1, 2017).

PRINTED ON RECYCLED PAPER

The Honorable Carol F. Ochoa
February 4, 2019
Page 2

To allow us to better understand the GSA evaluation, we request the following
information and documents:

1. The case file supporting GSA OIG Report No. E19-002, including but not limited to all
documents gathered, reviewed, or used by GSA OIG during this evaluation and
transcripts or summary memoranda of all witness interviews;

2. A complete description and account of how the GSA OIG incorporated comments from
GSA into the ?nal draft of this report;

3. A personnel and time 10g accounting for the GSA OIG of?cials involved with the
constitutional law research required for this report;

4. A complete description and account of the GSA policies for issuing reports
involving pending litigation matters.

Please provide this information as soon as possible, but not later than 5:00 pm. on
February 18, 2019. If you have any questions about this request, please ask your staff to contact
James Lesinski of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform staff at (202) 225-5074,
Courtney Allen of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs staff at (202) 224-
4751, or Johanna Hardy 0f the House Committee on TranSportation and Infrastructure staff at
(202) 225-9446. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Win?

R0 0 son

airm 

ate ommittee on Homeland
Se and Governmental Affairs

      

 

 

Sam Graves Mark Meadows 

Ranking Member Ranking Member?designee

House Committee on Subcommittee on Economic Development,

Transportation and Infrastructure Public Buildings, and Emergency Management
House Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure
Ranking Member

Subcommittee on Government Operations
House Committee on Oversight and Reform

The Honorable Carol F. Ochoa
February 4, 2019
Page 3

cc: The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings
Chainnan
House Committee on Oversight and Reform

The Honorable Gary C. Peters

Ranking Member

Senate Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs

The Honorable Peter A. DeFazio
Chairman
House Conunittee on Transportation and Infrastructure

The Honorable Gerald E. C01molly

Chairman

Subcommittee on Government Operations
House Committee on Oversight and Reform