Portland hotelier concealed $1 million donation to Trump inauguration

President Donald Trump delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States during the 58th Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (Patrick Semansky)

Prominent Portland hotelier Gordon Sondland donated $1 million to the inauguration of President Donald Trump, records show, but didn't use his own name.

Gordon Sondland, CEO of Provenance Hotels.

The donations to Trump's inauguration were made through four Oregon and Washington companies connected to Sondland: BV-2 LLC, Dunson Cornerstone LLC, Buena Vista Investments LLC and Dunson Investments LLC.

Sondland's donations were first reported by news website The Intercept, which connected the dots between the LLCs and Sondland after inaugural donation data was released by government accountability group the Center for Responsive Politics.

Sondland's contributions to Trump came months after he abruptly withdrew from hosting a major Seattle fundraiser for Trump in August following the then-candidate's feud with Khizr and Ghazala Khan, the parents of a Muslim soldier killed in action. Through a spokeswoman, Sondland went to pains at the time to distance himself from his party's standard bearer.

Donations to the inauguration have been scrutinized in recent days through a crowdsourced Twitter campaign maintained by Huffington Post reporter Christina Wilkie.

Sondland is founder and chief executive of Provenance Hotels, which owns or manages several successful Portland hotels, including the Westin Portland, Hotel Lucia, Hotel deLuxe, The Benson, Sentinel and The Heathman Hotel.

A Provenance Hotels spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

Other Oregonians and Oregon-based companies also donated to Trump's inauguration.

Chipmaker Intel gave $500,000, while Robert Freres of logging company Freres Lumber gave $25,000, Pacific Crest Securities chief executive George Glass gave $22,500 and Bill Furman of railcar builder Greenbrier gave $10,000.

-- Gordon R. Friedman

503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman

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