Suit: Inaugural spending enriched Trumps
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s inaugural committee spent more than $1 million to book a ballroom at the Trump International Hotel in the nation’s capital as part of a scheme to “grossly overpay” for party space and enrich the president’s own family in the process, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday.
The District of Columbia’s attorney general, Karl Racine, said the committee misused nonprofit funds and coordinated with the hotel’s management and members of the Trump family to arrange the events. He said one of the event’s planners raised concerns about pricing with Trump, the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump and Rick Gates, a top campaign official at the time.
“District law requires nonprofits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies,” Racine said. “In this case, we are seeking to recover the nonprofit funds that were improperly funneled directly to the Trump family business.”
It was the latest allegation that Trump and his family have used public and nonprofit funds spent at Trump-owned properties to enrich themselves — part of the peril of Trump not fully withdrawing from his businesses while he is president. Trump has maintained ownership but turned the reins over to his adult sons, who have bristled at the charge that they are profiting o≠ their father’s presidency.
The committee has maintained its finances were independently audited and that all money was spent in accordance with the law. The committee raised an unprecedented $107 million to host events celebrating Trump’s inauguration in January 2017. But the committee’s spending has drawn mounting scrutiny.
The inaugural committee said Wednesday it cooperated with the investigation and that Racine’s offce hadn’t contacted its lawyers to interview any employees. A spokesman for the committee also said the group had not been contacted by the Attorney General’s Office since the summer and suggested the timing of the suit was politically motivated, as the Senate impeachment trial of the president was underway.