Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

The D.C. Trump International Hotel in the Old Post Office lost more than $1 million in net income during its first two months of operation and its revenues were $2 million less than estimates it provided to the General Services Administration, which owns the historic building, according to a letter released by House Democrats.

The hotel sits on the same street at President Donald Trump’s new White House digs, and House Democrats are continuing to make noise about the apparent breach of contract represented by Trump taking office while not fully divested from the lease.

A new letter from House Democrats, led by Elijah Cummings of Maryland, the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee, outlines their continued concerns about the hotel, with a few digs about its economic viability.

Trump and the GSA negotiated a 60-year lease back in 2012, before the current president ever ran for office, which says that “No member or delegate to Congress, or elected official of the Government of the United States … shall be admitted to any share or part of this Lease, or to any benefit that may arise therefrom.”

The group had sent out an earlier letter on the topic of the International Trump Hotel in December that explains a briefing with an official from the General Services Administration. “GSA assesses that Mr. Trump will be in breach of the lease agreement the moment he takes office on January 20, 2017, unless he fully divests himself of all financial interests in the lease for the Washington D.C. hotel,” the letter said. The GSA responded by saying that “no determination regarding the Old Post Office can be completed until the full circumstances surrounding the President-elect’s business arrangements have been finalized and he has assumed office.”

While Trump announced through a spokesperson today that he resigned from his businesses, it remains unclear what, precisely, that means, and no proof has been released that substantiates it. Earlier this morning, a government ethics watchdog filed a federal lawsuit against the president, claiming his global business interests mean that he is personally making money off foreign governments—a violation of the Emoluments Clause.

The letter from the House Dems illustrates just how complicated it is for Trump to fully divest from his business interests with a chart that shows who owns majority interest in the D.C. hotel lease, gleaned from documents obtained by members of Congress.

Image via House Democrats.

While this letter continues to raise the point of the lease violation, it also shoots some daggers at how the International Trump Hotel did not meet its own economic projections when it first opened, according to documents from the GSA.

While the hotel had a “soft opening” in September before the ribbon-cutting in late October, the real revenue and income numbers were both lower than estimated.

Image via House Democrats.

It’s notable, however, that all these numbers stem from the months before Trump was elected to the highest office in the land, back when the hotel was a punching bag. Since then, it has grown in popularity for foreign diplomats and as the site of events.

“Why wouldn’t I stay at his hotel blocks from the White House, so I can tell the new president, ‘I love your new hotel!’ Isn’t it rude to come to his city and say, ‘I am staying at your competitor?’” one diplomat told The Washington Post 10 days after the election.

The nation of Bahrain, for instance, hosted a reception there, raising further ethical concerns. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations held its Hannukah party at the hotel, prompting eight liberal members of the group to skip it.

House Democrats point out in their letter that “the possibility that President Trump will profit from large increases in hotel revenues because he was elected President highlights the grave concerns we have raised for months about his conflicts of interest and potential violations of the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution.”

GSA letter from Oversight Dems 1/23/17 by Rachel Kurzius on Scribd