DC commissioners fight to revoke Trump Hotel liquor license

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Trump hotel's liquor license challenged by DC group

D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission supporting a petition to revoke the Trump International Hotel's liquor license because the law says licensees should be people of 'good moral character.'

The anti-Trump resistance has gone from blasting Russia's interference in the White House race to interfering with White Russians.

Fox 5 reports that a D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 4C) is backing a petition that looks to pull the Trump International Hotel’s liquor license -- citing D.C. law that only individuals of “good character” qualify for a liquor license.

“Donald Trump, the true and actual owner of the Trump International Hotel, is not a person of good character,” the petition, filed by a group of D.C. residents including two former judges, a pastor and a rabbi, reads.

The complaint, filed in June, cites Trump’s “long history of telling lies,” his alleged lack of integrity in dealings with others and his “failure to abide by the law and to repudiate associations with known criminals.” It goes on to call for a show cause hearing to judge whether the license should be revoked.

"What the complaint says is that the owner of the Trump International Hotel doesn't meet that definition and so ABRA, the Alcohol Beverage Regulation Administration, should take action,” Zach Teutsch, ANC Commissioner 4C, said. He denied that the move was a political stunt.

The Trump Organization dismissed the complaint as "patently frivolous."

“The complaint is patently frivolous and an obvious attempt to harass and to distort the law for political gain. Politics has no place in the licensing process and this complaint is an assault on the hundreds of employees who count on the property for their employment and livelihoods," a spokesperson told Fox News.

While the commission does not represent the area where the hotel is located, the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration can receive a complaint from any civic group against a licensee. 

However, the commission representing the area in downtown Washington, ANC 2C, reportedly has no plans to weigh in on the complaint. Chairman John Tinpe told The Washington Post that it’s a slippery slope to comment on a licensee’s character and could lead to a rush of similar protests.

“Now, if there is criminal activity, that is different,” Tinpe said. “But the subject of character is something different.”

Fox 5 reports that not everyone is on board with the move in D.C., with some local residents arguing that the swipe at Trump will only hurt bartenders and servers at the hotel and hurt the tax take from the hotel.