Rep. John Garamendi, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness, told MSNBC's Alex Witt that he plans to get to the bottom of who ordered the Air Force to be propping up Trump's failing Turnberry Resort in Scotland sooner and not later.
Given your expertise with the Armed Services Committee, does that give you enough assurance that there is no cooperation between the military and the president in an effort to make money for his resorts, or curry favor with this president? I mean, are you going to try to seek some answers for your committee?
GARAMENDI: Absolutely. I told the generals and I told the secretaries when I became chairman of the readiness subcommittee, which is directly responsible for this oversight, I said, we are not mushrooms. You will not keep us in the dark, and you will not feed us blank, blank. You're going to have to provide up to date current and accurate information.
There will be a phone call tomorrow morning by this chairman to the secretary, the Air Force Secretary, the acting, as well as to the Chief of Staff, General Goldfein, what is going on here, get us the specific information. We need to know, and everything that I have seen, and everything that I have heard indicates that this is totally outside normal process, it is wrong and it is clearly enriching the president. There is no doubt about it. He says that I will give back the profits. There are no profits at this particular resort in Scotland and in other places.
WITT: Because he had offered reduced rates for the military, right? Can I ask you about the specifics that you have asked and have answered if any.
GARAMENDI: Well, we are going to find out tomorrow, and I will not be stonewalled. The president can stonewall others, but I'm telling the military, you don't stonewall this chairman. Isn't going to happen.
We're going to get the information. You're going to give it to us now, not later, not tomorrow, not next year, now. What is going on here? And apparently, there are other indications that this is more routine than we would want to have happen.
WITT: Okay. Sounds like somebody has to buckle up in getting in front of that committee tomorrow.
GARAMENDI: Tomorrow is going to be an interesting day.
The stonewalling has worked pretty well for this administration so far with no one in their own party being willing to hold them accountable for anything and with them slow walking subpoenas through the court system rather than complying. I'm not sure why Rep. Garamendi expects anything to be any different with this latest scandal, but we shall see.
