US President-elect Donald Trump must divest his luxury Washington hotel in a building leased from the federal government because the arrangement violates conflict-of-interest rules, congressional Democrats said yesterday.
The General Services Administration, which manages property owned by the federal government, including the Old Post Office housing the Trump International Hotel, has concluded that the lease would violate federal conflict-of-interest rules once the Republican businessman is sworn in on January 20, according to a letter to the agency from lawmakers. 
The letter referred to a December 8 briefing to congressional staffers by a GSA official whom the letter did not name.
“The deputy commissioner made clear that Trump must divest himself not only of managerial control, but of all ownership interest as well,” Representative Elijah Cummings of Maryland and three other Democrats said in the letter, which was made public yesterday.
The hotel is a few blocks from the White House and has become a rallying point for anti-Trump protesters since it opened in September. It is part of a web of businesses that could create unprecedented conflicts of interest for Trump, a New York real estate developer and former reality TV star.
Trump’s company has not responded to the GSA’s concerns about the potential conflict, the Democratic lawmakers said.
The agency has been dealing with Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, about the lease, even as she acts as a presidential transition team official, they said.
The Democratic lawmakers asked the GSA for documents about the hotel’s lease, profit and expense projections and legal memos about the potential conflict of interest.