Prosecutors in Manhattan have ordered the Trump inaugural committee to hand over documents relating to how the team raised and spent over $100m (\u00a377m).<\/p>\n
The subpoena requests a wide range of data regarding who donated to the inauguration, whether they were non-US citizens, and how the money was spent.<\/p>\n
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told CNN on Tuesday that the order has “nothing to do with the president”.<\/p>\n
The subpoena, which has not been made public, does not allege any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
“We have just received a subpoena for documents,” a spokeswoman for the Trump inaugural committee told US media.<\/p>\n
“While we are still reviewing the subpoena, it is our intention to co-operate with the inquiry.”<\/p>\n
According to federal election law, foreign nationals are prohibited from donating to a US inaugural committee.<\/p>\n
The investigation is separate from special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of possible Trump campaign ties to Russia, an investigation that has led to several indictments and guilty pleas.<\/p>\n
The subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office comes grew out of the campaign finance prosecution of Michael Cohen, President Trump’s ex-personal lawyer.<\/p>\n
The investigation into Cohen, who is due to begin a prison sentence next month after implicating Mr Trump, arose from a referral from Mr Mueller’s team to New York prosecutors.<\/p>\n
According to ABC News, prosecutors are also requesting information about who attended inaugural events as Mr Trump was sworn into office in January 2017 and whether they were promised photo-ops with the president-elect, ABC News reports.<\/p>\n
Tom Barrack Jr, a real-estate developer and close friend of the president who served as chairman of the inaugural committee, is not named in the documents.<\/p>\n
The only man named is Imaad Zuberi, a former fundraiser for Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton whose company gave $900,000 to the committee.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Mr Zuberi said he had given “generously and directly” to the inaugural committee, but added that many others donated “substantially more”.<\/p>\n
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mr Zuberi had several conversations with Cohen about access to inaugural events.<\/p>\n
In 2014, Mr Zuberi registered as a lobbyist for Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"