Thread: Trump inauguration spending under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors

Trump inauguration spending reportedly under criminal investigation by federal prosecutors

• Manhattan-based federal prosecutors are investigating whether some of the $107 million in donations to then-President elect Donald Trump's inaugural committee were misspent, The Wall Street Journal reports.
• The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, says the investigation arose in part from the slew of materials seized in April raids on Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, by federal prosecutors.
• The criminal probe is also looking into whether some of the committee's top spenders traded money for access to the incoming Trump administration, as well as "policy concessions or to influence official administration positions," sources tell the Journal.

Kevin Breuninger | @KevinWilliamB
Published 48 Mins Ago Updated 11 Mins AgoCNBC.com

Trump Inauguration spending under criminal investigation 13 Mins Ago | 01:51


Manhattan-based federal prosecutors are investigating whether some of the $107 million in donations to then-President elect Donald Trump's inaugural committee were misspent, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.

The Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, said the investigation arose in part from the slew of materials seized in April raids on Trump's former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, by federal prosecutors. Cohen on Wednesday was sentenced to three years in prison on charges that came in part from those April raids on his office and residence.

The criminal probe is also looking into whether some of the committee's top spenders traded money for access to the incoming Trump administration, as well as "policy concessions or to influence official administration positions," sources told the Journal.

"Giving money in exchange for political favors could run afoul of federal corruption laws," The newspaper explained. "Diverting funds from the organization, which was registered as a nonprofit, could also violate federal law."

Federal prosecutors have reportedly also questioned Richard Gates — the ex-partner of onetime Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort — who pleaded guilty in February to conspiracy and lying charges lodged by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Gates, who has cooperated with investigators in Mueller's probe of Russian meddling during the 2016 U.S. election, served as deputy chairman of Trump's inaugural committee.

The White House had no immediate comment on the report.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan declined CNBC's request for comment.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/13/trum...dow-jones.html

GO AFTER CLINTON'S "PAY TO PLAY"!!!

Originally Posted by Beezer

GO AFTER CLINTON'S "PAY TO PLAY"!!!

Republicans examine accusations of ‘pay to play’ at Clinton Foundation

They have done NOTHING about Clintons for TWO YEARS!

They have done NOTHING about DACA for TWO YEARS! Boot them out!

They have done NOTHING about the border for TWO YEARS!

They have not set up Safe Zones and stopped refugees coming here for TWO YEARS!

They have not done NOTHING about booting out TPS for TWO YEARS...keep extending it!

They have not NOT fixed O'vomitcare!

They have NOT stopped birthright citizenship!

They have NOT cut off the freebies to illegal aliens!

They have NOT started infrastructure rebuilding programs!

So ....

looks like the Russia Hoax has .... fizzled .... if not back-fired Bigly .....

the "campaign finance violations" hoax has ..... fizzled (pesky ole First Amendment) ....

and I just saw a report about this on Fox News, out of the $107 million for the Inauguration, they spent $56 million on vendors, about $4.6 million on salaries, and some few million, $4 something on something else on services or something like that, and the rest is "unaccounted for". That means they have spent $64.6 million and have a nice big fat $42.4 million left for Inauguration II.

Read it and weep, Dems!!





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Fact Check: Trump Appears to Again Exaggerate Cost of Mueller Probe

Special counsel’s costs would have had to more than double in six months

Posted Nov 29, 2018 8:34 AM

John T. Bennett
@BennettJohnT
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Then-FBI Director Robert Mueller, right, arrives on Capitol Hill to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee. President Trump slammed the special prosecutor anew on Thursday. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call file photo)


ANALYSIS | Something about Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation struck a nerve with Donald Trump Thursday morning, but the president appeared to exaggerate the cost of the probe.
The president has been inflating numbers for years, before and after he became the primary occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
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For instance, Trump Tower is officially listed as standing 68 floors high — it’s actually 58.

And he infamously contended his inauguration crowd was among the largest in history; former White House press secretary Sean Spicer has since said he erred in angrily — and falsely — insisting it was. More recently, the president has contended tens of thousands of people were outside rally venues when those crowds were merely in the hundreds or around 1,000.

Before 7 a.m. Thursday, Trump appeared to be watching cable news reports on the latest drips of information out of Mueller’s camp and those of Trump and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

“Did you ever see an investigation more in search of a crime?” he wrote in a first tweet that also questioned why the former FBI director is not also investigation 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Then he returned to trying to discredit the entire investigation.
Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump


Did you ever see an investigation more in search of a crime? At the same time Mueller and the Angry Democrats aren’t even looking at the atrocious, and perhaps subversive, crimes that were committed by Crooked Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. A total disgrace!

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3:54 AM - Nov 29, 2018
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He dubbed it an “illegal Joseph McCarthy style Witch Hunt” and called it “So Ridiculous!”

Trump also criticized the investigation for “wasting more than $40,000,000.”

Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump



When will this illegal Joseph McCarthy style Witch Hunt, one that has shattered so many innocent lives, ever end-or will it just go on forever? After wasting more than $40,000,000 (is that possible?), it has proven only one thing-there was NO Collusion with Russia. So Ridiculous!

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Only budget documents and independent fact-checking organizations show the apparent cost of Mueller’s work is less than Trump’s alleged price tag, for which he did not provide supporting data.


Justice Department documents released in late May show the probe cost $16.7 million over its first 10½ months. Trump’s estimate would mean the Mueller team’s costs would have had to more than double over the last six months.

PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning independent fact-checking organization, found that the special counsel’s office was allocated $10.4 million in fiscal 2018 and is set to have the same amount to spend in the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

The organization also noticed a footnote in the Justice Department documents that show the Mueller office also “incurred $3.5 million in indirect costs.”

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That would bring the total to $20.2 million. The special counsel’s office has taken on new costs since May, but it has yet to disclose those figures.

“Officially, it’s not costing that much,” PolitiFact wrote of Trump’s inflated $20 million cost claim in May.
“We rate the statement Half True.”

All indications are a similar rating should be applied to the $40 million claim.

After all, the Washington Post’s full time Fact Checker staff earlier this month updated its database of his false or misleading claims. As of OCt. 30, his 649th day in office, the president had uttered 6,420 such claims.

The White House did not respond to a request for data supporting the president’s claim.

https://www.rollcall.com/news/politi...-mueller-probe

Call Mueller and ask him. He should be "transparent" and tell you exactly how much he's spent as of a certain date. There should be no secrets or guessing game on this. Taxpayers have the right to know directly from Mueller's mouth.