• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) says whistleblowers describe rushed, shoddy renovations at the Kennedy Center, driven by President Trump’s aesthetic demands and desire for televised events at the national arts memorial.
• Whitehouse released a letter citing ex-project managers, internal emails and photos that depict rusting columns, a flawed reflecting pool and costly no-bid contracts, including an $8-million hall-floor overhaul.
• The allegations surface after Trump seized control of the center in his second term, installed himself as board chair and renamed the venue after himself, only to have that reversed by court order.
  

A Democratic senator alleges that whistleblowers have detailed several problems stemming from rushed or improper reconstruction of the Kennedy Center, adding a new layer to the travails of the arts complex after President Trump tried to seize control of it and its name.

Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island said in a release Saturday that he had received a whistleblower disclosure from the Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit whistleblower protection group, alleging that “the Center rushed a series of renovations driven by the President’s aesthetic whims and his desire to star in a series of televised events in December.”

“The Center’s subservience to the President’s desires and its corner-cutting contracting practices have resulted in steel columns that are rusting through fresh paint, a reflecting pool that may have to be torn out and...

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