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Washington Official Subpoenas Trump Inaugural Committee

President Trump and his wife, Melania, at his inaugural celebration in January 2017. Three government entities have subpoenaed the inaugural committee.Credit...Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The attorney general for the District of Columbia has subpoenaed documents from President Trump’s inaugural committee, the third governmental body to delve into how the fund raised $107 million and spent it to celebrate Mr. Trump’s swearing-in.

The latest subpoena follows similar demands for documents by federal prosecutors in Manhattan and by New Jersey’s attorney general. It cites a civil statute that governs the operation of nonprofit organizations like the inaugural committee.

No other recent inaugural committee has generated such intense scrutiny of its finances. Typically short lived, the committees are charged with staging balls, concerts and black-tie dinners in the nation’s capital during inauguration week.

Mr. Trump’s inaugural committee raised and spent at least twice as much as its predecessors, but it ended in acrimony amid allegations of misspent funds. Federal prosecutors are examining whether foreigners illegally contributed to events using Americans as straw donors, a possible violation of criminal law. New Jersey authorities appear to be examining whether the committee obeyed civil statutes governing how nonprofit organizations raise funds, among other matters.

Karl A. Racine, the Washington attorney general, appears to be looking for any evidence of self-dealing. Under the local statute, a court can dissolve a nonprofit organization for a variety of reasons, including if a judge finds that it has misspent or squandered money.

According to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times, investigators are seeking to determine whether funds “were wasted, mismanaged and/or improperly provided private benefit, causing the committee to exceed or abuse its authority or act contrary to its nonprofit purpose.”

It seeks documents showing payments to the Trump International Hotel or the Trump Organization, including any communications related to “the pricing of venue rentals.” The committee, which is registered as a business in the District of Columbia, paid Mr. Trump’s hotel $1.5 million for guest rooms, meals and the use of a ballroom.

The subpoena requests documents identifying what role three of Mr. Trump’s adult children — Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump — played on the committee. None of them had any official role in running the committee, which was overseen by Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a billionaire and friend of Mr. Trump.

Investigators also named the Fairmont Hotel and AccorHotels, a firm that owns the hotel’s management company. The Fairmont received $1.56 million in inaugural funds for guest rooms that the Republican National Committee booked, together with rooms at other hotels, before the inaugural committee was formed, former officials said.

Mr. Barrack’s investment firm owned less than 5 percent of AccorHotels and sold it in February 2017 in a transaction planned long before the inauguration, a representative said.

The subpoena seeks records of any payments to any committee official or official’s business, any agreements with a vendor in which a committee official had a financial interest and the committee’s conflict of interest policies.

The bulk of the Trump committee’s funds came from major corporations, such as AT&T, or wealthy Republican donors, such as Sheldon G. Adelson. Much of the money was spent on a concert at the Lincoln Memorial, three inaugural balls, several candlelight dinners and payroll.

A spokesman for Mr. Racine declined to comment on the subpoena. A spokesman for the committee said officials were in touch with Mr. Racine’s office about the inquiry.

Mr. Racine and Brian E. Frosh, the Maryland attorney general, have been pursuing a lawsuit claiming that Mr. Trump’s continued involvement in his business empire violates anticorruption clauses of the Constitution — a groundbreaking case that appears ultimately headed to the Supreme Court.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 20 of the New York edition with the headline: Inaugural Committee Receives a Third Subpoena Amid Scrutiny Over Its Finances. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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