Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and adviser, was questioned under oath this week as part of a civil lawsuit alleging misuse of nonprofit funds for Donald Trump’s inauguration four years ago.
District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine’s office disclosed in a court filing on Tuesday that the deposition had taken place that day.
In a January 2020 lawsuit, Racine claimed Donald Trump’s real estate business and other entities misused nonprofit funds to enrich the Trump family.
According to the suit, a tax-exempt nonprofit corporation called the 58th Presidential Inaugural Committee coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel in Washington.
Racine’s lawsuit alleged that in one case, the nonprofit paid more than $300,000 to hold a private reception at the Trump hotel for the president’s three oldest children – Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric – on the inauguration evening of Jan. 20, 2017.
“District law requires nonprofits to use their funds for their stated public purpose, not to benefit private individuals or companies,” Racine said earlier this year.
This is a couple of weeks old, but reflects her growing legal woes
Authorities conducting fraud investigations into Donald Trump and his businesses are reportedly looking at consulting fees that may have gone to his daughter Ivanka Trump, prompting her to accuse them of “harassment”.
The criminal inquiry, led by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus Vance Jr, and a civil investigation by the state attorney general, Letitia James, are just some of many legal challenges that will probably face the president and his family business when he returns to being a private citizen.
The Times, which said the two investigations have subpoenaed the Trump Organization in recent weeks, follows publication of Trump’s long-sought tax records and revelations that he personally guaranteed debt running into the hundreds of millions that could soon be called in or come due.
