Democratic senator asks administration to turn over Trump golf records

WASHINGTON — The top Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee asked the Trump administration Thursday to turn over the names of visitors to President Trump's private clubs and the identities of his golfing partners after a USA TODAY investigation into the membership at Trump's golf courses.

That investigation found that members of the golf clubs Trump visited most often as president — in Florida, New Jersey and Virginia — include at least 50 executives whose companies hold federal contracts and 21 lobbyists and trade group officials. Two-thirds played on one of the 58 days the president was there, according to scores they posted online.

Membership lists at Trump's private clubs are secret. USA TODAY found the names of about 4,500 members by reviewing social media and a public website golfers use to track their handicaps and researched hundreds to determine whether they had business with the government.

In a letter to the Department of Homeland Security's acting secretary, Elaine Duke, Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said USA TODAY's examination "raised the possibility that members of the president's private clubs could receive special access to the president not available to private citizens."

White House officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Joanne Talbot, a Homeland Security spokeswoman, said the agency does not comment on correspondence from members of Congress but would "respond appropriately."

Wyden asked the administration to provide by Oct. 13:

• Logs of all visitors and guests to Trump resorts and golf clubs during his presidential visits.
• The names of Trump's golfing partners during his time in office
• The names of club visitors and members who work for foreign governments or have ties to enterprises owned by foreign governments
• Anyone who needed Secret Service screening to visit a Trump property

Wyden, whose committee oversees tax and international trade issues, said "transparency about the president's ties to business leaders, trade groups and foreign officials are critical to successful trade policy."

Trump has visited his private clubs on more than a quarter of the days of his presidency. While there, he routinely mixes his visits with government business, entertaining foreign leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago, his Palm Beach, Fla., resort. 

Wyden said the "full extent of the business conducted by the president during these trips is unclear." He cited USA TODAY's disclosure that Trump club members include the head of a pesticide trade group that successfully urged the Trump administration not to ban an insecticide government scientists linked to health risks. 

Another member: The president of a company that owns the Harrisburg, Pa. factory Trump visited to mark his 100th day in office.

Democrats have clamored for more information about Trump's businesses since he took office, but have not gained much traction with those efforts in a Republican-controlled Congress. One Wyden measure, for instance, would require Trump to disclose his income, assets and liabilities in a foreign country before embarking on trade negotiations.

Trump has bucked four decades of presidential tradition by refusing to release his tax returns. And unlike his modern predecessors, he has opted not to relinquish ownership of his businesses, a far-flung real-estate and branding empire. He has shifted the businesses into a trust and management responsibilities to his two adult sons and a longtime Trump Organization, but he has retained the right to draw money from the trust at any time, trust documents released earlier this year show.

More:Trump condos worth $250 million pose potential conflict

More:Trump gets millions from golf members. CEOs and lobbyists get access to president

It is unclear whether Wyden will get answers to his questions.

Previous Democratic requests for the public release of White House and Mar-a-Lago visitors’ logs have been rebuffed, prompting several senators to introduce the Make Access Records Available to Lead American Government Openness Act (MAR-A-LAGO Act) to force the release of logs for the White House or other locations where the administration conducts official business.

The administration and executives in Trump’s businesses, however, have responded to inquiries from the bipartisan leadership of the House Oversight Committee on issues ranging from ousted National Security Adviser Michael Flynn’s security clearance to the Trump Organization’s plan to track foreign profits at the president’s hotels.

This week, the public is slated to get another glimpse into the world of a Trump exclusive club. The administration faces a noon deadline Friday to comply with a court order to release information about people who visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago during his trips there between his January swearing-in and early March.

The release is the result of a lawsuit brought by three watchdog groups.

Contributing: Steve Reilly