President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee said on Wednesday it received a subpoena for documents from the attorney general for the District of Columbia, the third agency to demand information on how it raised and spent $107 million.
The subpoena follows similar requests for documents in recent weeks by New Jersey’s attorney general and federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.
“The Presidential Inauguration Committee is in receipt of the subpoena issued by the Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and is in contact with staff regarding this inquiry,” a spokesperson for the inaugural committee said in a statement.
News of the subpoena was first reported by the New York Times, which said Washington Attorney General Karl Racine appeared to be looking for evidence of self-dealing and whether funds raised were wasted or mismanaged for private benefit.
Racine’s office, which enforces the laws of the district, including for non-profits like the inaugural committee, declined to comment.
Although campaign finance laws restrict the size of campaign contributions, inaugurations can accept unlimited donations, including from corporations.
The amount raised by Trump’s inaugural committee, chaired by real estate developer and investor Thomas Barrack, was the largest in history, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Racine’s subpoena seeks documents related to payments made to the Trump International Hotel or the Trump Organization, including communications concerning “the pricing of venue rentals,” The New York Times reported.
The committee paid the Trump International Hotel $1.5 million to rent rooms and other expenses related to the inauguration, the New York Times said.
The subpoena also seeks documents on what role Trump’s adult children filled on the committee, and any payments to committee officials that might raise conflict of interest concerns.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have been investigating whether the inaugural committee misspent some of the money it raised, whether some donors gave money in exchange for policy concessions and whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee.
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