$750,000 settlement reached with DC attorney general in case involving funds used in 2017 Trump inauguration
The Trump Organization and the Presidential Inaugural Committee will pay a total of $750,000 to settle with the Washington, DC, attorney general's office over allegations they misspent money raised for former President Donald Trump's inauguration.
2022-05-03 19:59:06 - VI News Staff
The Trump Organization will pay $400,000 and the PIC will pay $350,000, according to a person familiar with the settlement. As part of the deal, the money will be directed to two DC nonprofits, DC Action and Mikva Challenge DC, the DC attorney general's office said.
In announcing the settlement, DC Attorney General Karl Racine said, "After he was elected, one of the first actions Donald Trump took was illegally using his own inauguration to enrich his family. We refused to let that corruption stand. With our lawsuit, we are now clawing back money that Trump's own inaugural committee misused."
In a statement released by the Trump Organization, the former President said the settlement reflects "absolutely no admission of liability or guilt."
"As crime rates are soaring in our Nation's Capital, it is necessary that the Attorney General focus on those issues rather than a further leg of the greatest Witch-Hunt in political history," Trump said. "This was yet another example of weaponizing Law Enforcement against the Republican Party and, in particular, the former President of the United States. So bad for our Country!"
Lee Blalack, an attorney for the inaugural committee, said the committee is confident it would prevail at trial but settled to avoid "significant costs" of litigation. He said the committee's insurer, which is funding the settlement, would have paid twice as much to go to trial.