President Trump’s inaugural planning committee paid more than $25 million to a company owned by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a personal friend and current adviser to first lady Melania Trump, new tax filings show.
The committee, which was chaired by longtime Trump pal Tom Barrack, raised a record-breaking $107 million for the president’s inauguration last January, with a majority of contributions coming from wealthy GOP donors and major corporations.
A 116-page filing made public on Thursday shows a significant portion – $50 million – of the total funds raised went toward two companies who had assisted with planning and securing vendors for the 58th Presidential Inauguration.
One of those companies, WIS Media Partners, was founded by Wolkoff in December 2016, a month before Trump was sworn into office. One official familiar with the committee’s expenditures told the New York Times Wolkoff herself personally received $1.62 million from the inaugural committee.
Though the former Manhattan events planner currently serves as an unpaid adviser to the president’s wife, a spokeswoman for Trump said the first lady “had no involvement” in planning her husband’s inauguration, nor was she aware “of how funds were spent.”
Barrack had pledged to contribute any leftover funds from the inauguration to charity but the tax filings also show that the committee donated less than $10 million in total to various charitable organizations. That includes a $3 million donation to hurricane relief efforts, which was made public last September, and $1 million to the American Red Cross, Salvation Army, and the Samaritan’s Purse.
In addition to Wolkoff, a company that regularly plans trade shows around the country, was paid $25 million and two other event planners received a combined $6.4 million. Committee officials also spent nearly $15 million on travel expenses, salaries, and legal fees.
