Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Washington, D.C.'s Kennedy Center, under the leadership of Trump appointee Richard Grenell. The new leadership of the institution is being accused of corruption and mismanagement of the center's $268 million budget, and turning the Kennedy Center into a "swamp for cronyism and self-dealing."

Wrote Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island and ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW), in a November 20 letter to Grenell (which was provided to Playbill): “Contracts, invoices, and facility use agreements reveal that you operate the Center for the enrichment of your friends and acquaintances, to dole out political favors, and as a playground for the President of the United States and his allies. The Center is being looted to the tune of millions of dollars in foregone revenue, cancelled programming, unpaid use of its facilities, and wasteful spending on luxury restaurants and hotels—an unprecedented pattern of self-dealing, favoritism, and waste.”

A series of contracts and receipts obtained by the EPW showed the Kennedy Center providing venue rentals to allies at a deep discount; spending almost $40,000 on luxury hotel rooms, lavish meals, and entertainment for friends over a period of three months; and providing work contracts to friends that were seemingly unrelated to Kennedy Center business.

The most notable example, which was also reported by the Washington Post, was the Center letting FIFA use its entire space for three weeks at no charge—at a loss of over $5 million to the Center. 

The EPW documents also showed deeply discounted venue rentals to conservative organizations, including a $19,820 discount for a NewsNation town hall and a $21,982.60 discount to the American Conservative Union Foundation—the latter contract included a note of “waived costs from OOP” (the Office of the President).

In his letter, Whitehouse also detailed that Grenell provided a former colleague a $15,000-per-month contract to perform “policy research and speechwriting," noting it's "unclear how this work relates to your role at the Kennedy Center, since the contract is devoid of any detail, nor have you delivered any substantive speeches or remarks that would justify these payments." The Center also entered into a $10,833.33 per month contract with Jeff Halperin, husband of conservative pundit Kari Lake, for “social media capture/editing” services.

In his letter, Whitehouse requested the Kennedy Center's financial records. 

In response to Whitehouse, Grenell issued a response, saying the EPW documents were filled with "partisan attacks and false accusations." He then said that under his leadership, "for the first time in decades, we have a balanced budget at the Kennedy Center." 

He wrote that FIFA provided "several million dollars" in donations to the Kennedy Center in exchange for the venue use, that the new contracts were for work done for the organization, and that the food and hotel spendings were for fundraising and new staff hires—and were much less than in previous years. 

He also noted his cost-savings measures at the Kennedy Center: "The cost of convening a single board meeting under previous leadership was over $120,000 in expenses. Today, it’s a fraction of that cost, with the next Board meeting being hosted by a Board Member at no cost to us. While you enjoyed those previous exorbitant Board meetings, you have not attended one under the new leadership."

Grenell had previously claimed that the Kennedy Center, prior to his appointment, was financially mismanaged (something that its previous leadership denied).

In a statement provided to Playbill, a spokesperson from Whitehouse's office accused Grenell of misrepresentation: "Contrary to what Grenell claims, Senator Whitehouse did not serve on the Kennedy Center board prior to this year, nor has he ever been invited to attend a board meeting. If Grenell is willing to make things up about Senator Whitehouse, one has to believe that most of his other claims about current and past financial dealings at the Kennedy Center are also made up. There is one way to get to the bottom of this: Grenell must release the Center’s records as Senator Whitehouse has requested.”

This is the latest saga in President Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center. Previously, as a federally supported institution, it had a bipartisan board made up of Democrat and Republican appointees. Trump removed the Center's Democrat leadership and appointed his own loyalists, turning the Washington, D.C. institution into a political lightning rod.

Despite Grenell's claims that the Kennedy Center is financially healthy, it has been reported that ticket sales has fallen steeply since the change in leadership, with artists and audience members boycotting the institution.