NEW YORK _ Manhattan federal prosecutors subpoenaed documents from President Donald Trump's inauguration committee in hope of learning where its money came from _ and how it was spent, said a report Monday night.
Investigators from the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office are especially interested in who gave money to the committee, and what perks they expected in return _ "such as photo opportunities with President Trump," said the ABC News report.
Trump's inaugural committee raised about $107 million for the lavish ceremonies. That's more than twice what was raised for President Barack Obama's first inauguration, even though Trump's inauguration involved smaller, more intimate gatherings.
The committee intends to "cooperate with the inquiry," a spokesperson told ABC News.
Prosecutors have looked into whether top Trump inaugural donors were promised access and influence in the administration, the Wall Street Journal reported in December.
Samuel Patten, a consultant linked to former Trump campaign aide Paul Manafort, pleaded guilty in August of using a so-called "straw purchaser" for Konstantin Kilimnik, a "prominent Ukraine oligarch," to attend the inauguration.
Patten asked a third party to buy four tickets to inaugural events on behalf of Kilimnik, who was barred by federal law from buying the tickets himself. Kilimnik then reimbursed the straw purchaser $50,000 for the tickets, the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. said.
Federal prosecutors are also looking into whether foreigners, including some from Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, used inauguration donations to gain influence, the New York Times reported in December.
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York declined to comment when reached by the New York Daily News.
