Direct Payment to Treasury of Foreign Income to Trump Organization Properties

To Whom It May Concern:

This is a request under the Freedom of Information Act. I hereby request the following records:

Any communications or memoranda between the Trump Organization and Treasury Department establishing the schedule of payments to the Treasury and the format to be used for reporting such transactions; any records of such payments that have already been made from the Trump Organization to the Treasury

I am an individual seeking information for personal use and not for commercial use. I intend to share the results of this FOIA request with the general public on the Muckrock and Internet Archive sites. There has been a significant amount of public interest in whether foreign income to Trump Organization hotels would be considered a violation of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution. At a news conference on January 11, 2017, Trump's tax lawyer Sheri Dillon had declared that the Trump Organization would pay all foreign income to Trump Organization hotels directly to Treasury to avoid any potential violations of the Emoluments Clause. I am making this FOIA request to see what actual arrangements have since been made for facilitating these payments to the Treasury Department and what level of detail is provided to the government about which countries have spent at Trump Organization hotel. Since this is a matter of vital public interest, I request that fees be waived. Per DOJ FOIA guidance, "a requester should be granted a fee waiver if the requested information (1) sheds light on the activities and operations of the government; (2) is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of those operations and activities; and (3) is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requester." As this FOIA meets all of those requirements (see above), a fee waiver is warranted.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Jacob Harris