How money flowed into — and out of — Trump’s inaugural committee

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump reach the end of the inaugural parade at Lafayette Square on Jan. 20, 2017. Credit: Katherine Frey, The Washington Post)

On Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump’s inaugural committee has joined his campaign, his business, his administration and his family in being under investigation by federal law enforcement agencies.

At issue, the Journal says, is whether donors to the committee sought official favors from the administration or to influence hiring at the outset of Trump’s term. The probe reportedly stems from material seized during the raid on Michael Cohen’s homes and office in New York in April. Cohen, of course, is the former Trump personal attorney who this week was sentenced to three years in prison on a number of federal charges.

There have long been questions about the money contributed to the inaugural committee. Trump’s team raised more than twice as much as the previous record-holder, Barack Obama’s 2009 committee. In total, the committee brought in more than $106 million — despite being more modest in scope than Obama’s.

View the complete December 14 article by Philip Bump on The Washington Post  website here.