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Wednesday, March 27, 2024 | Back issues
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Reverend Says Inaugural Committee Blocked Her DC Prayer Breakfast

The committee overseeing next week's presidential inauguration forced the Trump International Hotel to cancel a contract with a reverend who planned to host an annual prayer breakfast at the hotel the morning Donald Trump is sworn in as president, the reverend claims in court.

WASHINGTON (CN) - The committee overseeing next week's presidential inauguration forced the Trump International Hotel to cancel a contract with a reverend who planned to host an annual prayer breakfast at the hotel the morning Donald Trump is sworn in as president, the reverend claims in court.

In a complaint filed in the District of Columbia Superior Court on Monday, Merrie Turner says she booked the presidential ballroom at the Trump International Hotel in September intending to host an interfaith prayer breakfast "for leaders from America and around the world" just before the inauguration.

She says her reservation remained on track until December, when The 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee, the group charged with planning the upcoming inaugural activities, got wind Turner was planning to host an unsanctioned event in President-election Donald Trump's hotel.

Turner claims the committee warned her the event was not an official inaugural event before it reached out to the hotel to convince it to cancel the breakfast. The hotel obliged, informing Turner in a Dec. 28 letter it was backing out of their deal, the complaint says.

Turner claims the inaugural committee interfered with her contract with Trump's hotel, causing guests she had invited to the breakfast to cancel, putting a freeze on new attendees and forcing her to incur additional costs while trying to move the breakfast.

"In addition, Turner has great suffered [sic] embarrassment and a loss of credibility for her ministry and standing in the Christian community in America and other countries around the world," the complaint says. "As a consequence, Turner suffered, suffers and will, in the future, suffer from severe emotional anguish."

The prayer breakfast's website, which lists Turner as host, says the "sold out" event is still scheduled for 7 a.m. on Jan. 20 in the presidential ballroom.

The Daily Caller reported Monday that the inaugural committee reversed its stance on the breakfast over the weekend.

Turner seeks $1 million from the inaugural committee for tortious interference with her contract with the hotel.

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