The allegedly independent planning commission reviewing Trump’s ballroom building changed its own official documentation about the project at the White House’s request, records show.
The National Capital Planning Commission is scheduled to vote today on the project, the final procedural obstacle to a project that would dramatically remake one of the most recognized symbols of American power and democracy. Emails obtained by The Washington Post through a public records request show the commission changed what would become a public FAQ document about the ballroom after a White House staffer asked it to soften language about the commission’s authority over the project. The commission then released the document ahead of its Jan. 8 meeting to provide information about its role in reviewing federal construction projects, when it would take up the ballroom and whether it had reviewed previous White House projects.
The draft included the subhead “Why is the National Capital Planning Commission reviewing the project?” under which it stated that the White House sits on federal land — a fact that “requires” federal agencies to get commission approval, according to a Dec. 19 email sent by commission General Counsel Meghan Hottel-Cox. White House staffer Heather Martin requested the addition of a sentence explicitly stating the White House is not a federal agency but had asked the commission to review the project “in the spirit of cooperation.”
The commission deleted the entire subhead and the word “require,” softening the explanation of its role to: “Projects located on federal land within the District of Columbia come to NCPC for review.”
