Overview
- Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, sent a Nov. 20 letter seeking Kennedy Center contracts, invoices, and financial records.
- Committee documents and reporting cite steeply discounted rentals for conservative-linked events, including a roughly $22,000 break for the American Conservative Union Foundation and a separate discount for a NewsNation town hall.
- Records also show FIFA was granted about three weeks of exclusive access with no rental fee, with outside estimates placing potential foregone revenue at more than $5 million for the Nov. 24–Dec. 12 World Cup draw period.
- Richard Grenell rejected the allegations as partisan, asserted the center now has a balanced budget, said FIFA provided several million dollars in donations and covered event costs, and described new revenue-neutral programming rules.
- Democrats highlighted contracts and spending benefiting associates, including a $15,000-per-month research and speechwriting deal, $10,833.33 per month for multimedia work by Jeff Halperin, and nearly $40,000 on hotels and meals, while noting they lack subpoena power to compel records.