Office of Inspector General United States Department of State July 22, 2019 The Honorable Tom Carper United States Senate 513 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Elizabeth Warren United States Senate 309 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings Chairman Committee on Oversight and Reform US. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Senators Carper, Warren, and Chairman Cummings: This letter responds to your July 31, 2018, correspondence regarding expenses incurred by the Department of State (Department) in relation to President Trump?s visit to the Trump Turnberry Resort from July 14-15, 2018. Your letter set forth eight specific questions regarding the cost, nature, and purpose of the President?s trip to Scotland. After receiving your letter, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined which of the questions could be answered using information obtained from the Department. For those items, obtained data from the Department and performed analyses of the data provided. Based on the work performed, believes that it has obtained sufficient information to respond to those questions. However, OIG was unable to answer some questions because the requested information was not available. We have included below each question from your correspondence along with our answer. 1. How much did the State Department spend to arrange for, staff, and otherwise facilitate the President and his family during their stay at the Trump Turnberry? Because the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has performed work in the past to determine Government expenditures related to the travel of high-ranking Government officials, OIG requested that GAO of?cials describe the types of expenditures that it had included in the costs that it reported in response to similar inquiries. Among other suggestions offered, GAO officials stated that during their projects, GAO had not included costs that would have been paid by the Government regardless of whether the official had or had not travelled. Therefore, based on past practice, OIG did not obtain or include data on costs that would have been incurred by the Government regardless of whether travel had been performed, including salaries for the Department employees that supported the President?s trip or facilities-related costs (for example, utilities at Department office space or computer equipment already owned by the Department). For the President?s trip to Scotland, the Department of Homeland Security reimbursed the Department for certain costs. OIG did not include such costs in its analysis. OIG requested that the Department provide a listing of costs incurred to support the President?s trip to Scotland as well as reports from the accounting system and other supporting documentation. The categories of expenditures identi?ed by the Department related to the President?s travel to Scotland were overtime for employees, hotels, rental vehicles, and Government-provided temporary duty costs (meals and incidental expenses and travel). OIG performed analyses of the information initially provided and requested and obtained additional information as necessary. Based on the information provided by the Department, OIG determined that the Departmentexpended, and was not reimbursed for, approximately $233,732.86, as detailed in the following table. OIG performed certain steps to analyze the reliability of the data provided by the Department and to identify costs that might not have been reported. In particular: 0 Due to the volume of the supporting documentation related to temporary duty costs, OIG elected to request travel vouchers only for a random sample of travelers. OIG con?rmed that the data reported by the Department for the employees selected by OIG matched the travel voucher information. OIG concluded that additional testing of the temporary duty costs was not needed. 0 OIG did not receive the overtime request forms for six overtime charges. The amount of each overtime charge was not significant. For those six instances, OIG included the cost identi?ed by the Department. 0 The Department did not include'temporary duty costs for six employees in its initial listing of expenditures. These employees were generally from an overseas post other than Embassy London. OIG estimated the costs for these employees using actual per diem rates as well as similar travel for other employees. The amount for each of these employees was not significant, and OIG believes the estimate to be reasonable. Based on its work, believes that the information provided in the table below reasonably . reflects the Department?s unreimbursed expenditures in support of the President?s travel to Scotland. Although it is possible that some expenditures may have been incurred that were not identi?ed by OlG?s analysis, OIG believes that any missing information would not be significant to the amount reported. Page 2 Category Amount Overtime $42,406.54 Hotels $111,261.44 Rental Cars $28,625.27 Temporary Duty Costs $51,439.61 Total $233,732.86 2. How much did Trump Turnberry gain in pro?ts from the State Department's spending for I the President and his family's visit? OIG does not have access to information that would allow it to respond to this question. 3. How much in total will the State Department pay the Trump Turnberry? Based on information provided by the Department (including data from its accounting system and supporting invoices), OIG determined that the Department expended funds to the Trump Turnberry Resort for three rooms for two nights. According to the Department, the rooms were used by the US. Ambassador to the United Kingdom and his wife and the Ambassador?s Chief of Protocol. The total cost was $728 (using the exchange rate for the date of the accounting entry). This cost is included in the table provided as part of the response to Item 1. 4. What was the rate that the State Department paid for hotel rooms at the Trump Turnberry? According to the invoices from the hotel, the room rate for the three hotel rooms funded by the Department at the Trump?Turnberry Resort was ?95.06 each night. Using the exChange rate for the date of the accounting entry, the room rate was the equivalent of $121.40 each night. - 5. Did the State Department compare the prices at the Trump Turnberry with prices at any other hotels in the area? If not, why not? According to the Justi?cation for Other Than Full and Open Competition (JOFOC) document provided by the Department, the Department reviewed other hotels in the area and used some of the other hotels to provision the requirements of the visit.According to the JOFOC, the Department considered these hotels:1 Square Hotel, Glasgow - ?215 per night. Hilton Glasgow - ?249 per night. Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor - ?229 per night. Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow - ?185 per night. Radisson Blu Hotel, Glasgow - ?179 per night. 1 In support of the President?s trip, Department employees stayed at the Square Hotel, the Hilton Glasgow, the Grand Central Hotel, and the Radisson Blu Hotel. The rates charged to Department employees matched the amounts cited in the Department?s JOFOC for those hotels. Page 3 The Department included this conclusion in the JOFOC document: ?The rate offered by the Trump Turnberry is the lowest of all the hotels being utilized for this VIP visit. All the other hotels are offering prices in the same range and the prices offered are in line with the hotel?s star rating and availability at a very busy time of the year in Glasgow. The Trump Turnberry is situated outside Glasgow, and the rates offered here are very favourable to the Government. The Trump Turnberry is therefore determined to offer a fair and reasonable rate to the Govern ment.? 6. What was the nature and purpose of the April 2018 visit" to the Trump Turnberry? Department officials suggested contacting officials in the White House to obtain information on the nature and purpose of the President?s visit to Scotland. 7. How much did the State Department spend on meals and other incidental costs at Trump Turnberry? As noted in our response to Question 3, according to Department records, the amount spent directly by the Department to the Trump Turnberry Resort was $728 for three hotel rooms for two nights. Employees who were on site providing support for the President?s visit would have received funds for meals and incidental expenses as part of per diem. However, costs associated with meals and other incidental expenses would have been paid directly by Department employees. Employees may obtain meals and incidental services from whatever provider they choose, and the Department does not maintain a record of employees? personal expenditures. 8. What other costs did the State Department incur related to the President's visit to Trump Turnberry? The response to Question 1 describes the complete result of OlG?s analysis of the Department?s costs related to the President?s trip to Scotland from July 14?15, 2018. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me. You may also contact Ryan Holden, Director of Congressional Affairs, at rvan.d.holden@stateoig.gov or (571) 349?9259. Sincerely, eve A. Li ick Inspector General cc: The Honorable Jim Jordan Ranking Member House Committee on Oversight and Reform Page 4