Report: New York Prosecutors Subpoena Trump Inauguration Committee for Documents

TOPSHOT - President-elect Donald J. Trump arrives at his inauguration at the United States
ANDREW GOMBERT/AFP/Getty Images

Prosecutors in New York’s Southern District subpoenaed President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee for documents, according to a report.

ABC News, citing an unnamed source, said prosecutors reached out to attorneys with the committee on Monday afternoon to confirm whether they would accept their request for documents.

The contents of the documents are unclear.

ABC News reports:

Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen has been extensively interviewed by prosecutors in the Southern District office. Longtime family accountant and Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has agreed to cooperate, though the extent of his help is unknown.

The Trump family business has also been in contact with prosecutors, but sources familiar with those discussions would not spell out the specific topics covered.

As the Wall Street Journal reported last December, federal prosecutors in New York are investigating the inaugural committee over suspicions that a portion of the $107 million it raised was misspent.

At the time of the Journal’s report, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office was in the beginning stages determining whether some of the committee’s most prominent donors made substantial contributions “in exchange for access to the incoming Trump administration, policy concessions or to influence official administration positions.”

The Journal reported:

The investigation partly arises out of materials seized in the federal probe of former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s business dealings, according to people familiar with the matter.

In April raids of Mr. Cohen’s home, office and hotel room, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents obtained a recorded conversation between Mr. Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former adviser to Melania Trump, who worked on the inaugural events. In the recording, Ms. Wolkoff expressed concern about how the inaugural committee was spending money, according to a person familiar with the Cohen investigation.

Further, the report stated that prosecutors interviewed Richard Gates, who served as both a Trump campaign aide and the inaugural committee’s deputy chair, regarding the organization’s spending.

The White House or the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan have not issued comment on the matter.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.