Washington, DC Attorney General Karl Racine told Rachel Maddow that the ongoing civil investigation into the Trump Organization overcharging the 2016 Trump Inauguration Committee for rooms at the Trump Hotel is going forward with strong evidence, despite claims by lame duck president Donald Trump’s daughter’s claims.
Ivanka Trump confirmed that she was questioned earlier this week by the DC AG in relation to an investigation into the use of funds donated to the inauguration committee, which was a not-for-profit group. Ivanka tweeted an image of an email in which she claimed that on December 14th, she specifically said the inaugural committee should be paying market rates.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) December 3, 2020
Racine told Maddow that information Ivanka made public was “highly misleading, and at best… part of the story.” Racine said Ivanka neglected to disclose a number of other subsequent emails in following days in which she and Stephanie Wolkoff discussed the inflated rates the hotel ended up charging, with Wolkoff pointing out the rates were much higher than expected.
Racine also related to Maddow direct parallel evidence of a non-profit rate at the hotel: On one day of the inaugural celebration, the inaugural committee paid $175,000 for full use of the hotel’s event space, including a ballroom for a half day. The ballroom was double-book for use by another not-for-profit, the Presidential Inaugural Prayer Breakfast. The PIPB was charged only $5,000 for that same ballroom.
“That doesn’t sound like market rate to me,” Racine said.
Stephanie Wolkoff will be deposed in the case on December 9th, and Rick Gates will be deposed on December 17th.