A top Democratic lawmaker revealed how an investigation has found that President Donald Trump and his allies have been accused of using the Kennedy Center for their own personal gains.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, launched the formal investigation in the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee and has found "widespread cronyism, financial mismanagement and corruption," according to a report from The Guardian published Thursday.
Documents obtained during the investigation have suggested the cultural center has been used as a “slush fund and private club for Trump’s friends and political allies.” The results have led to millions of dollars in revenue loss and a severe move from what Whitehouse called the "secular temple to the arts" and its mission.
“You float stuff and you float stuff and you float stuff until people get inured to what a stupid or outrageous thing it is that has been floated and then you pull the trigger," Whitehouse told The Guardian.
Just days following Whitehouse's statement to the outlet, the Kennedy Center was renamed with Trump's name added to the building, in a move reportedly approved by the organization's board but without Congressional approval, which Kennedy family members have criticized. Prior to the move, Trump had also removed multiple people appointed to the board by former President Joe Biden and replaced them with his allies, including Richard Grenell, a Trump ally who was installed as the president of the board.
But that didn't stop Whitehouse from continuing the investigation, demanding all relevant records and documents.
"Grenell issued a fiery response accusing the senator of 'partisan attacks and false accusations' and claimed that the previous Kennedy Center leaders had neglected the location and it was in 'financial chaos' that was 'quite literally making the building fall apart.'"
“We began to get information about mischief taking place at the Kennedy Center and we got strong enough signals that we mounted an effort to dig into it and see what seemed actually to be going on," Whitehouse claimed
“It was out of that effort that the report and letter came, which basically suggested that, when the brigands took the ship, their first instinct was to loot it for their own benefit and hire their friends and put people up in fancy rooms at the Watergate [Hotel] and let favored organizations get free access and it was all part of a MAGA party atmosphere.”
Whitehouse has said that the Trump administration gave FIFA free and exclusive access of the Kennedy Center campus — an estimated $5,038,444 loss that forced other events to cancel. The probe has revealed "lucrative contracts awarded to individuals with personal or political ties to Grenell and his allies."