Tag: Trump inauguration

Chair of Trump’s 2017 inaugural fund arrested on federal charges

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Real estate investor Tom Barrack, a longtime ally of former President Trump who chaired his 2017 inaugural fund, was arrested Tuesday and charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent for the United Arab Emirates, the Department of Justice announced.

Why it matters: The DOJ said Barrack attempted to advance the interests of the UAE by influencing the foreign policy positions of Trump’s campaign in 2016 and, subsequently, the foreign policy positions of the U.S. government in the incoming administration.

  • Matthew Grimes and Rashid Sultan Rashid Al Malik Alshahhi, a UAE national, were also charged with conspiring to act as agents of the UAE between April 2016 and April 2018. Grimes was arrested on Tuesday and Alshahhi remains at large. Continue reading.

Federal grand jury investigating former RNC finance chair and major Trump donor for inaugural violations

AlterNet logoA federal grand jury is investigating whether former Republican National Committee finial official and top GOP donor Elliott Broidy violated federal law by using his position on Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to secure business deals with foreign leaders, according to the Associated Press.

The AP reports that the U.S> Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn sent a “wide-ranging subpoena” to Trump’s inaugural committee in search of financial records corresponding to 20 different people and business entities.  Every one of them has something in common: Broidy.  Federal investigators are examining whether Broider traded things like access to Trump in order to secure business contracts for his global security firm Circinus, thereby violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.  Broidy’s attorneys maintain that their client did nothing wrong.

The Brooklyn investigation into Broidy seems to be taking place alongside a separate probe in Manhattan examining whether foreign entities unlawfully contributed money to the record-setting $107 million inaugural fund.

View the complete July 8 article by Kerry Eleveld from Daily Kos on the AlterNet website here.

Inside the opulent Trump inaugural dinner designed as a glittery overture to foreign diplomats

President-elect Trump delivers remarks at the Chairman’s Global Dinner on Jan. 17, 2017. Credit: Kevin Dietsch, Getty Images

Three days before Donald Trump was inaugurated president in January 2017, he arrived at a remarkable scene inside an auditorium in downtown Washington designed in the style of a Neoclassical temple.

About 550 guests — diplomats, wealthy megadonors, members of Congress and Cabinet nominees — dined on filet mignon and black cod as they watched a performance by the country music band Alabama and a straight-from-Las Vegas musical extravaganza. Mounds of red roses were arranged on tables, and a calligrapher was on site to inscribe the names of last-minute guests on seating cards.

The gathering, which cost the inaugural committee about $8,000 per person, was one of the most opulent events of the five-day inaugural celebration — yet it was not designed to showcase the new president, who decided to attend at the last minute, according to internal documents and people familiar with the planning.

View the complete March 15 article by Michael Kranish, Rosalind S. Helderman, Mary Jordan and Tom Hamburger on The Washington Post website here.

At Trump’s Inauguration, $10,000 for Makeup and Lots of Room Service

President Trump and his wife, Melania, at a ball on Inauguration Day in 2017. Credit: Doug Mills, The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Private donors put up $107 million to usher Donald J. Trump into office in style two years ago, and it is now clear just how enthusiastically his inaugural committee went to town with it.

There was $10,000 for makeup for 20 aides at an evening inaugural event. There was another $30,000 in per diem payments to dozens of contract staff members, in addition to their fully covered hotel rooms, room service orders, plane tickets and taxi rides, including some to drop off laundry.

The bill from the Trump International Hotel was more than $1.5 million. And there was a documentary, overseen by a close friend of Melania Trump’s, that was ultimately abandoned.

View the complete January 14 article by Maggie Haberman, Sharon LaFraniere and Ben Protess on The New York Times website here.

Trump’s Inauguration Paid Trump’s Company — With Ivanka in the Middle

The Trump International Hotel, Washington, DC. Credit: Win McNamee, Getty Images

As the inaugural committee planned the landmark celebration, internal concerns were raised about whether Trump’s Washington hotel was overcharging for event space. The spending could be a violation of the law.

When it came out this year that President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee raised and spent unprecedented amounts, people wondered where all that money went.

It turns out one beneficiary was Trump himself.

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.

View the complete December 14 article by Ilya Marritz with WNYC and Justin Elliott with ProPublica on the ProPublica website here.

Mueller is Probing Why Russian Billionaires Were Given ‘Unusual’ Access to ‘Invitation-Only’ Trump Inauguration Parties

The following article by Chris Sosa was posted on the AlterNet website June 28, 2018:

One of the individuals was sanctioned by the U.S. government.

Credit: U.S. Army

ABC News has obtained a guest list that shows several “billionaires with deep ties to Russia attended exclusive, invitation-only receptions during Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities.”

The billionaires reportedly had access to events usually “reserved for top donors and close political allies” and included at least one individual now sanctioned by the U.S. government.

“This reflects a Russian strategy of gaining access to our political leaders at a time when they are just forming a government,” Matthew Olsen, a former senior national security official who now serves as an ABC News consultant, said. “They don’t need to be spies in the James Bond sense. They are powerful people with significant wealth who are in a position to exert influence on U.S. policy makers. And they’re in a position to report back to Russian intelligence services on what they’re able to learn.” Continue reading “Mueller is Probing Why Russian Billionaires Were Given ‘Unusual’ Access to ‘Invitation-Only’ Trump Inauguration Parties”

Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg met with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen days before the inauguration

The following article by Rosalind S. Helderman was posted on the Washington Post website May 25, 2018:

Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg acquired his wealth in the post-Soviet era’s oil and gas industry. Credit: Alexander Ryumin, AP

President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, met at Trump Tower in New York days before the 2017 inauguration with a Russian billionaire who was sanctioned this year by the U.S. government.

The meeting between Cohen and Viktor Vekselberg, who made his fortune in the energy industry, was an impromptu session arranged by Vekselberg’s cousin, Andrew Intrater, a New York investment manager who was also in attendance, according to a person with knowledge of the encounter.

Among the topics the three men discussed was Vekselberg’s desire for better relations between the United States and Russia, the person said, who added that Vekselberg did not encounter Trump or any of his other advisers. The meeting was first reported by the New York Times. Continue reading “Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg met with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen days before the inauguration”