And not but two lines below what you quoted was corporate's response, which doesn't match what the local hotel was saying: "The Marriott spokesperson clarified

And not but two lines below what you quoted was corporate's response, which doesn't match what the local hotel was saying: "The Marriott spokesperson clarified in a statement to Axios that hosting the conference would not have violated any "political neutrality" policy, and said the reference to 'corporate management' in the email referred to 'hotel-level management.'" IOW, it sounds like the local hotel said to themselves, "it's late, and I don't need this shit right now. Tell them 'corporate' says we can't do it."