Revisiting Trump's Pay-For-Play Inauguration

Foreign governments aren't allowed to pay off Trump... but-- surprise, surprise-- Trump and the bevy of crooks around him found ways to skirt the law and enrich Individual One and his family. We don't know if Mueller has been investigating these-- but we do know the Wall Street Journal and investigative journalists for ProPublica have been. And so are federal prosecutors in New York. The inaugural committee raised over $100 million, for a small inauguration ceremony that shockingly few people went to. So where did the money go? In what is absolutely a pay-to-play scheme, right into Trump's personal coffers.

The inauguration paid the Trump Organization for rooms, meals and event space at the company’s Washington hotel, according to interviews as well as internal emails and receipts reviewed by WNYC and ProPublica.

During the planning, Ivanka Trump, the president-elect’s eldest daughter and a senior executive with the Trump Organization, was involved in negotiating the price the hotel charged the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee for venue rentals. A top inaugural planner emailed Ivanka and others at the company to “express my concern” that the hotel was overcharging for its event spaces, worrying of what would happen “when this is audited.”

If the Trump hotel charged more than the going rate for the venues, it could violate tax law. The inaugural committee’s payments to the Trump Organization and Ivanka Trump’s role have not been previously reported or disclosed in public filings.

“The fact that the inaugural committee did business with the Trump Organization raises huge ethical questions about the potential for undue enrichment,” said Marcus Owens, the former head of the division of the Internal Revenue Service that oversees nonprofits.

Inaugural workers had other misgivings. Rick Gates, then the deputy to the chairman of the inaugural, asked some vendors to take payments directly from donors, rather than through the committee, according to two people with direct knowledge. The vendors felt the request was unusual and concerning, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they signed confidentiality agreements. It is not clear whether any vendors took him up on his request.

The revelations about the inauguration’s finances show how Trump blurred the lines between his political and business lives, as the real estate mogul ascended to the presidency.

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors in New York have opened a criminal investigation into whether the inaugural committee misspent money and whether donors gave in return for political favors, citing people familiar with the matter. In addition, the New York Times reported that prosecutors are examining whether foreigners illegally funnelled money to the inauguration.

...If the Trump hotel charged the inaugural committee above-market rates, it could violate tax rules, according to Owens, the nonprofit tax expert who is now a partner at the law firm Loeb & Loeb.

If a person with “substantial influence” over a nonprofit group charges the group above-market rates in a transaction with their outside business, the IRS can impose steep fines. In this case, Donald Trump could qualify as a person with such influence. Should the tax agency find that a violation occurred, the Trump Organization would have to refund any overcharge and the inaugural committee would be hit with a 25 percent tax on the money, Owens said.

Owens added that IRS audits of nonprofits are increasingly rare. Since the inaugural committee was incorporated in Virginia, the state attorney general there could also have standing to investigate its operations.

A spokeswoman for the inaugural committee said its finances “were fully audited internally and independently and are fully accounted... These were funds raised from private individuals and were then spent in accordance with the law and the expectations of the donors.”

Which countries sought to buy influence with Trump by slipping him cash through the inaugural committee? Ukraine, Russia (millions through Alexander Shustorovich and other Putin-controled oligarchs, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar for sure but it is suspected that many other nations were solicited for money-- and paid it, as did prominent executives looking for special interest favors from the incoming regime, including NFL owners. Open Secrets pointed out that "Trump pulled in inaugural funds from, among others, corporations and wealthy individuals who hadn't given to his campaign or supported the Republican convention in Cleveland but were subsequently eager to clamber aboard... Another difference [between Obama's committee and Trump's]? The menu of choices offered to donors, where specific dollar values were attached to different levels of access. Admission to a "leadership luncheon" with members of Trump's cabinet and GOP congressional leaders was on offer for a cool $1 million, for example."

Las Vegas mobster Sheldon Adelson, now for funneling money from both China and Israel into American political campaigns, was the biggest single conttibutor to Trump's inauguration-- $5 million. Why isn't he being questioned about what he was buying and for whom? Phil Ruffin, another gambling mobster and Trump crony gave a cool million dollars. As Reuters pointed out in April of 2017, "Many of the companies that donated to Trump... have significant matters pending before the U.S. government or have been invited to White House events.

Money donated to the Trump inaugural committee falls into two categories, said Larry Sabato, political analyst at the University of Virginia.

“It’s either make-up money or it’s a continuation of support by people who are invested in Trump. You don’t give this kind of money to get a few tickets to inaugural balls,” he said.

...Financial services companies and executives were among the $1-million donors to Trump’s big festivities, including Charles Schwab, Bank of America, financier Henry Kravis and Cantor Fitzgerald Chairman Howard Lutnick. Their industry is eager for Trump to roll back regulatory reforms put in place after the 2008 financial crisis.

Coal and oil companies were also prominent donors. Clifford Forrest, owner of the Rosebud Mining, gave $1 million.

Other big donors included Dow Chemical, Boeing, billionaire investor Paul Singer, Patriots owner Bob Kraft, Christopher Cline, billionaire coal magnate who owns Foresight Energy Partners, far right Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren (whose company is building the Dakota Access Pipeline), Qualcomm and Pfizer (each of which shelled out $1 million), Amgen, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Boeing, Aetna, Anthem, MetLife Group, hedge fund manager Ken Griffin, CVS Health, Monsanto, Walmart, UPS, Coca-Cola, Altria, Microsoft, Casino mogul Steve Wynn, AT&T and sugar company Florida Crystals. New York Jets’ Woody Johnson, another million dollar contributor, seems to have been in the market for an embassy-- and he got... London!