Washington, December 18 (RHC)-- In the U.S., lobbyists representing Saudi Arabia’s government paid over a quarter-million dollars to rent rooms at Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel within a month of Trump’s election in 2016. 

According to The Washington Post, which reports the lobbyists then offered the rooms to U.S. military veterans as part of a free trip to Washington.  Once in D.C., the veterans were sent to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers against a bill the Saudis opposed.  The Washington Post reports the lobbyists paid for some 500 nights’ stays at the Trump International Hotel, where rooms average a rate of $768 per night. 

The case is a central focus of a lawsuit charging President Donald Trump violated the Foreign Emoluments Clause of the Constitution by receiving payments from foreign governments.