D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine had alleged that Trump sough to enrich himself by forcing his inaugural committee to overpay for a Trump-owned property in Washington.
Former President Donald Trump’s businesses and have inaugural committee have agreed to pay Washington, D.C., $750,000 to settle allegations that the committee overpaid for events hosted at Trump-owned hotels.
According to D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, the city reached its settlement with the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the Trump Organization, and the Trump International Hotel in Washington on Tuesday.
“After he was elected, one of the first actions Donald Trump took was illegally using his own inauguration to enrich his family,” Racine said in a statement. “Nonprofit funds cannot be used to line the pockets of individuals, no matter how powerful they are.”
However, the agreement has yet to be signed by a judge and is still subject to approval by the court.
Representatives for Trump’s interests maintain that the former president did not wrong, and that the case is being resolved “to avoid the cost, burden, and risks of further litigation.” President Trump’s organizations continue to “dispute these allegations on numerous grounds and deny having engaged in any wrongdoing or unlawful contact.”
The settlement, says National Public Radio, will require the Trump organizations to pay Washington, D.C., a total of $750,000.
The settlement funds will then be distributed to three different non-profit organizations in D.C.
“We’re resolving our lawsuit and sending the message that if you violate DC nonprofit law—no matter how powerful you are—you’ll pay,” Racine wrote in a Tuesday Twitter post.
However, former President Donald Trump released his own statement in which he decried the settlement and reiterated that neither he nor his interests admitted wrongdoing or liability.
“Given the impending sale of The Trump International Hotel, Washington, D.C., and with no admission of liability or guilt, we have reached a settlement to end all litigation with Democrat Attorney General Racine,” Trump said in a press release that reiterated both Racine’s political affiliation and years-old conspiracy theories.
“As crime rates are soaring in our Nation’s Capital, it is necessary that the Attorney General focus on these 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.”
The New York Times notes that Racine’s lawsuit was filed shortly after emails surfaced showing former Trump aides questioning whether the inauguration committee was being over-charged for the Trump-owned hotel.
While the Trump Organization later reduced its charges for the Presidential Inauguration Committee, records still show that the P.I.C. paid a substantially higher rate than other non-profit groups being accommodated at the same property on the same dates.
Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, told The New York Times that the settlement is an important concession, no matter the Trumps’ insistence on innocence.
“Trump displayed from the very first day of his presidency that the whole enterprise was a grift,” Weissman said. “And much of it was in plain sight of the public.”
Sources
Trump inaugural committee settles D.C. lawsuit related to hotel overpayments
Trump Settles Suit Over Payments to Hotel for 2017 Inauguration
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