Federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether President Donald Trump's 2017 inaugural committee misspent some of the $107 million raised from donations, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The Journal quoted sources saying that the criminal probe by the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan is looking into whether some donors gave money in exchange for access to the Trump administration or to gain favor for administration policies in a way that could violate federal corruption laws.
Franklin Haney, of the Franklin Haney Company, speaks with Tom Decosimo before the event. The Electric Power Board of Chattanooga unveiled its new 100 kilowatt, 4-hour, vanadium redox flow battery made by UniEnergy Technologies of Mukilteo, Washington on September 22, 2017.The Journal also reported that Stephanie Winston, a former advisor to Melanie Trump who worked on inaugural events, had expressed concerns about how the inaugural committee was spending the record amount of money collected for the president's inaugural celebration.
The probe reportedly includes a request for documents related to a $1 million donation that former Chattanooga developer Franklin L. Haney made for the Trump inauguration in December 2016, the Journal said, citing "a person familiar with the matter."
"Haney was asked for documents related to his correspondence with members of the [inauguration] committee, meeting calendars and paperwork for the donation," the Journal reported.
Larry D. Blust, a Chicago attorney who is representing Haney, said Thursday he is unaware of the report and declined any immediate comment.
Haney is seeking to buy the unfinished Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in Alabama and has requested nearly $5 billion in federal loan guarantees to help finance the plant completion through the U.S. Department of Energy.
Haney has previously said he knows Donald Trump from his membership in Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, but Haney said he has not tried to lobby the president about the loan guarantees.
Earlier this year, Haney hired Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and paid him $200,000 to help pursue possible Qatari investment in his Bellefonte project. U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth, D-Illinois, has called Haney's arrangement with Cohen a "pay for play" scheme.
But Haney said he severed the three-month contract with Cohen early and he never asked Cohen to lobby the White House. Haney said he never ultimately obtained any money from the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar for the Bellefonte project.
The Tennessee Valley Authority last month said it was canceling the sale of Bellefonte to Haney because the construction permit for the unfinished plant had not been transferred to Haney from TVA within the two years TVA granted for the deal to be completed.
But Haney is suing TVA to complete his $111 million purchase of Bellefonte and his applications for a license transfer from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the federal loan guarantees from DOE are still pending.
The Journal quoted sources that Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office is also investigating whether any foreign money flowed into the inaugural fund, which is prohibited. In August, a Washington consultant admitted he used a U.S. citizen as a "straw purchaser" to allow a "prominent Ukraine oligarch" to attend the inauguration. The names of those involved were not disclosed in the guilty plea, which the consultant made to the U.S. attorney's office in Washington on a referral from Mueller, the Journal said.