Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into a $150,000 payment from a Ukrainian steel mogul to President Donald Trump’s foundation in September 2015 in exchange for a talk Trump gave, the New York Times reported Monday, citing three people briefed on the matter.
After the special counsel’s office subpoenaed the Trump Organization earlier this year, the company turned over documents on the payment from Victor Pinchuk to Trump’s foundation, according to the New York Times. The donation, given in exchange for a 20 minute appearance over video stream by Trump for a conference in Kiev, was solicited by Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, per the Times.
The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home, and hotel room on Monday, but it’s not clear whether this payment was among the reasons for the raid.
In a statement to the New York Times, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation said it asked Trump to speak to help “promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West.” The foundation noted that their donation to Trump’s foundation came “when there were multiple candidates for the Republican nomination for president and it was by no means assured that Mr. Trump would be the Republican nominee in 2016.”
Read the entire New York Times report here.
