Federal investigators are probing US President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to find out if money donated to it or spent by it was used for corrupt purposes, the Wall Street Journal revealed Thursday.
The committee for funding the celebration expenses associated with Trump’s inauguration to the presidency in January 2017 raised a record amount of money: $107 million, more than twice what his predecessor, Barack Obama, raised in 2008, which was itself a record. That money, raised from donations, was spent paying for reservations, caterers, entertainment, and a host of other expenses.
The Manhattan US attorney’s office is now investigating whether or not people who made those donations received policy concessions or influence over official administration positions and is also probing the committee’s finances to find out if it spent money on something other than the inauguration. Both circumstances would be violations of federal law.
According to the committee’s mandatory tax filing, it spent $77 million on conferences, conventions and meetings; another $4 million on ticketing; $9 million on travel; and $4.5 million on salaries, wages and other expenses.
