New York prosecutors seek documents from Trump's inauguration committee: Sources

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have summoned documents from the inauguration committee of President Donald Trump, told ABC News sources informed, saying that although the investigation Special advocate seemed on the verge of completing, another investigation could his lawyers expand.

The Southern District's contact, which comes from its section on public corruption, is the latest activity devoted to Trump's political fundraising both before and immediately after his election of 2016.

"We have just received a subpoena for documents. While we are still reviewing the assignment, we intend to cooperate with the investigation, "said a spokesman for the inauguration at ABC News.

According to sources close to the request, prosecutors are looking for documents relating to the donors of the committee at the massive inauguration fund. Prosecutors are also looking for attendees at events surrounding the inauguration, including benefits for leading donors, such as photo shoots with President Trump, sources said.

Pool via Getty Images, FILE

Trump's former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, was interviewed by prosecutors from the South District Office. Allen Weisselberg, long-time accountant and chief financial officer at Trump Organization, has agreed to cooperate, but the scale of his help is unknown.

The Trump family company has also been in contact with prosecutors, but sources close to these discussions would not specify the topics discussed.

The people involved in the discussions around the inaugural fund, a non-profit organization charged with organizing the festivities surrounding the president's inauguration, refused to detail the specific questions asked by the investigators. Trump's inaugural fund raised $ 107 million – the largest in modern history.

A spokesman for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

ABC News reported previously that federal investigators were interested in foreign guests at the inaugural ceremony, as well as any contributions from foreign nationals, which would be prohibited. Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg was among the list of oligarchs sanctioned by the Treasury Department.

Last year, the Special Council team, Robert Mueller, interviewed several witnesses about millions of dollars in donations from donors with links to Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States. Qatar, told ABC News directly informed sources. One of Mueller's targets, a political consultant named Sam Patten, acknowledged as part of an advocacy agreement that he was accepting $ 50,000 to buy tickets on behalf of a gentleman. Ukrainian businessman who wanted to attend inaugural events.

Despite the money raised, the festivities surrounding Trump's inauguration were far more modest than previous inaugural events. The non-profit group set up to oversee the celebration has only organized three major events with a few intimate private affairs. The record-breaking fundraiser was double the first inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The committee was chaired by a longtime friend of President Trump, Thomas Barrack. It has already been reported that Barrack had had an interview with Mueller's office late in 2017. Sources close to the New York attorneys' summons claim that Barrack is not mentioned and n? has not been contacted by the Southern District.

Recently, internal documents obtained by ABC News showed that the committee had spent more than $ 1.5 million at the Trump International Hotel in Washington prior to the inauguration of the 2017 President. This is part of a set of expenses, including more than $ 130,000, for personalized seat cushions at two gala dinners for the President-elect, $ 10,000 for servers at another official dinner and $ 2.7 million for company that produced Frank Sinatra's Broadway performance of "New York, New York" featuring Las Vegas girls presented by Trump boyfriend Steve Wynn for a private event.

Initial expenditure issues were raised for the first time last year when tax returns revealed that the five largest suppliers included payments of nearly $ 26 million to a planning firm. Run by a punctual advisor and close friend of Melania Trump. Councilor Stephanie Winston-Wolkoff created a company called WIS Media Partners, based in California, which ran some of the festivities. This company has contracts with other subcontractors who have been hired and used part of the funds to hire subcontractors.

Winston-Wolkoff also received $ 1.62 million directly for his work, ABC News reported.
The tax return shows that the committee spent $ 104 million out of the $ 107 million it raised. In comparison, for the inauguration of 2009, Barack Obama's elected president's team had raised about $ 53.2 million and reported spending about $ 51 million.

The inauguration of Trump also gave $ 5 million to various charities, including the American Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Smithsonian Institute, among others.

Aaron Katersky of ABC News, Soorin Kim contributed to this report. [ad_2]
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