Donald Trump Jr. Deposed As Part Of Inaugural Committee Investigation

Donald Trump Jr. was deposed this week as part of the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s lawsuit alleging the misuse of Trump’s inaugural funds.

In a court document dated Tuesday, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine‘s office revealed Trump Jr. was deposed on February 11.

According to the document, Trump’s deposition “raised further questions about the nature” of a hotel invoice Racine’s office has been investigating. The attorney general’s office alleges that the Trump Organization signed a contract with the Loews Madison hotel for $49,358.92 for a block of rooms during the 2017 inauguration. The invoice was later forwarded to the Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC), which then paid the bill.

Rick Gates, who was deputy chair of the Presidential Inaugural Committee, testified that he’d received an email from a collection agency in July 2017 for the unpaid Loews Madison bill.

Gates said the hotel rooms were booked by a man named Gentry Beach, who was a friend and chief of staff for Trump, Jr. He also said he was told by Beach the rooms were for people who had donated to the PIC, and so “the hotel bill should be paid by PIC,” according to Gates’ deposition, adding that there was a “donor package” which included hotel rooms “if you donated at a certain level.”

However, Trump Jr. said the rooms bill’s names were “associated with the campaign or with the Trump family,” according to the attorney general’s office.

Trump Jr. and brother Eric Trump run the Trump Organization as executive vice presidents. Authorities have started investigations into properties the brothers are involved in.

Additionally, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office are digging into the company’s finances and asking questions about business units that both of Trump’s sons are involved with, including Seven Springs, the Trump family compound in New York, as well as the Trump Tower and 40 Wall Street skyscrapers.

Investigators with the New York attorney general’s office also deposed Eric Trump as part of a civil investigation into the Trump Organization. Ivanka Trump sat for a deposition with the Washington attorney general’s office in December.

Article by Taylor Masi