This isn't actually a defense at all. The crux of the corruption in question is why a hotel owned by the incoming president determined that the "fair market rate" to stay there during his inauguration was so much higher than comparable hotels in DC. https://twitter.com/IvankaTrump/status/1334519094213816320

Maybe those Trump Hotel towels are just extra fluffy. Or maybe the president's family decided that the market would be willing to pay a little extra for the privilege of putting money directly into his pockets and reaping the rewards.

Inaugural committee staff *at the time* raised objections that prices were excessive and warned "events are in [Trump's] honor at his hotel and one of them is for family and close friends. Please take into consideration that when this is audited it will become public knowledge.”