NYT: Trump Inaugural Committee Paid Melania Advisor $1.6 Million

In the grand lobby of Trump International Hotel, Melania Trump listens to her husband, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump speak at the ribbon cutting for their latest property, Trump International Hotel - Ol... In the grand lobby of Trump International Hotel, Melania Trump listens to her husband, U.S. Presidential candidate Donald J. Trump speak at the ribbon cutting for their latest property, Trump International Hotel - Old Post Office, in Washington, DC on October 26, 2016. The event was closed to the public, and included VIP guests and employees of Trump. (Photo by Cheriss May/NurPhoto) *** Please Use Credit from Credit Field *** MORE LESS
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After months of avoiding questions about how it was going to spend the leftovers of its record-breaking haul, President Trump’s inaugural committee filed tax documents which revealed, among other things, that it had paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm connected to a Melania Trump advisor, according to a New York Times report.

The advisor, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, personally netted $1.62 million, an unnamed inaugural committee source told the Times.

The committee, which was led by longtime Trump friend Thomas Barrack, raised $107 million, about double what President Obama’s inaugural committee raised for his 2009 inauguration. The Trump committee had promised that the money not spent on festivities related to the 2017 inauguration would go to charities, but ultimately, less than $5 million was donated to charitable causes, according to the tax documents.

Three million dollars went to donations the Trump administration has already touted to organizations that assisted with hurricane relief last year. The other $1.75 million in charitable giving when to groups involved in the maintenance of the White House and the Naval Observatory home where the Vice President lives..

In addition to the $25.8 million that went to Wolkoff’s firm WIS Media Partners, another event planning firm that has also worked on events for Democratic politicians received $25 million, according to the New York Times.

Wolkoff’s firm was created in December 2016, according to documents surfaced by the New York Times. Wolkoff is currently a special advisor to the President’s wife. The first lady’s spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham told the Times Wolkoff is not paid in the role. Grisham also denied that Melania Trump had any involvement with the inaugural committee and how its funds were doled out, according to the Times.

 

 

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  1. Avatar for jmacaz jmacaz says:

    Grifters gotta grift

  2. . Damn that Haberman, she’s at it again. NYT headline is worse than TPM’s

    Trump’s Inaugural Committee Paid $26 Million to Firm of First Lady’s Adviser

    President Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm started by an adviser to the first lady, Melania Trump, while donating $5 million — less than expected — to charity, according to tax filings released on Thursday.

  3. Avatar for reggid reggid says:

    Grifters gotta grift, and grifting ain’t cheap!

  4. What is Melania getting advice about? I thought her husband has all the answers!

  5. How to lift the leg properly during Pilates, darling.

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