A group of Senate Democrats pressed Attorney General Pam Bondi for transparency regarding a luxurious aircraft Qatar gifted the Trump administration.
In a new public records request, Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA) demanded to see a legal opinion Bondi “reportedly” issued that advised President Donald Trump that it was permissible to accept the $400 million jet, as they question whether the White House broke federal guidelines by doing so.
“After public accusations that this ‘gift’ violates the U.S. Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause, Attorney General Bondi reportedly issued a legal memorandum to White House Counsel David Warrington concluding it would be ‘legally permissible’ for the donation of the aircraft to be conditioned on transferring its ownership to Trump’s presidential library before the end of President Trump’s second term,” Whitehouse wrote.
The senators said they were forced to make a Freedom of Information Act request after the Trump administration refused to hand over the alleged legal opinion, according to the Hill.
“The ‘no transparency’ Trump administration has repeatedly thumbed their nose to my many legitimate oversight requests,” Whitehouse said. “For Democrats, there’s plenty of dripping contempt, insults, and stonewalling of Congress’s constitutional oversight authority.”
“But for Republican priorities, there’s a fast-track for document dumps,” he added. “FOIA requests are my last resort to get answers to questions that are important to the American public.”
Qatar gifted the Boeing 747 jet to the United States earlier this year. Trump said it would be converted for use as the new Air Force One, as Boeing’s work on building an aircraft to replace the dated plane the president uses faced costly delays.
Democrats swiftly questioned the gift’s legality, even as the Justice Department argued it did not constitute bribery.
“The Justice Department has already concluded that accepting the jet would not violate the Constitution’s prohibition of any U.S. government official accepting gifts from any King, Prince or foreign State,” according to reports in May, because “the gift is not conditioned on any official act, [thus] it does not constitute bribery.” The DOJ additionally argued that since Qatar technically gave the plane to the U.S. Air Force and it will eventually be given to the Trump Presidential Library Foundation, the $400 million gift was “legally permissible.”
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The Trump administration has worked closely with Qatar throughout the past year to help seal a peace deal between Israel and Hamas, which the White House hopes will stabilize the broader Middle East and promote democracy in the region.
Qatar holds deep ties to Hamas, among other terrorist groups. The Trump administration has sought to leverage those links by giving Qatar a key mediator role in peace talks, providing an avenue for the White House to negotiate with Hamas.