Federal prosecutors subpoena Trump’s inaugural committee
Funding, spending under question
NEW YORK — Federal prosecutors in New York issued a subpoena Monday seeking documents from President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, furthering a federal inquiry into a fund that has faced mounting scrutiny into how it raised and spent its money.
Inaugural committee spokeswoman Kristin Celauro told The Associated Press that the committee had received the subpoena and was still reviewing it.
“It is our intention to cooperate with the inquiry,” she said.
A second spokesman, Owen Blicksilver, declined to answer questions about which documents prosecutors requested. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, which issued the subpoena, declined to comment.
The investigation is the latest in a series of criminal inquiries into Mr. Trump’s campaign and presidency. Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into whether the Trump campaign coordinated with Russia and whether the president obstructed the investigation. In a separate case in New York, prosecutors say Mr. Trump directed his personal lawyer Michael Cohen to make illegal hush-money payments to two women as a way to quash potential sex scandals during the
campaign.
The Wall Street Journal, citing a copy of the subpoena, reported that prosecutors asked for “all documents” related to the committee’s donors and vendors, as well as records relating to “benefits” donors received after making contributions.
The newspaper reported late last year that federal prosecutors are investigating whether committee donors made contributions in exchange for political favors — a potential violation of federal corruption laws. It said the inquiry also was focused on whether the inauguration misspent the record $107 million it raised to stage events celebrating Mr. Trump’s inauguration — more than twice the amount raised to fund former President Barack Obama’s inaugural in 2009.
The subpoena also requested documents relating to donations “made by or on behalf of foreign nationals, including but not limited to any communications regarding or relating to the possibility of donations by foreign nationals,” the Journal reported.
The New York Times reported late last year that federal prosecutors are examining whether anyone from Qatar, Saudi Arabia or other Middle Eastern countries made illegal payments to the committee and a pro-Trump super political action committee. Foreign contributions to inaugural funds and PACs are prohibited under federal law.
Only U.S. citizens and legal residents can donate to a committee established to finance presidential inaugural festivities.
The head of the inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, confirmed to The Associated Press that he was questioned by Mr. Mueller in 2017. He told the AP he was not a target of the Mueller investigation.
Separately, Samuel Patten, a consultant linked to former Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty in August of using a socalled “straw purchaser” for Konstantin Kilimnik, a “prominent Ukraine oligarch,” to attend the inauguration.