Top Trump fundraiser is under federal investigation for selling access to Trump

Elliott Broidy, the disgraced former vice-chair of Trump’s inaugural committee, is under federal investigation for allegedly using his position to sell access to Trump, the Associated Press reported Monday.

A federal grand jury in New York is probing the possibility that Broidy used his position with the Trump inaugural committee to enhance his own business dealings with foreign political leaders, including the president of Angola and two Romanian politicians. Broidy, through his attorney, denied the allegations.

Prosecutors are looking into the possibility that Broidy offered foreign leaders access to Trump inaugural events in order to drum up business, which would be a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In the course of their investigation, prosecutors have issued subpoenas for more than 20 individuals and businesses connected to Broidy.

The AP noted that the Broidy investigation is separate from other federal corruption investigations into Trump’s inaugural committee. Prosecutors in New York, as well as attorneys general in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., are looking into how the Trump inaugural committee raised and spent $107 million.

Beyond those investigation, Congress is looking into how one of Melania Trump’s close friends managed to score a massive $1.6 million payday from the Trump inauguration. And Trump’s daughter and White House senior adviser, Ivanka, is also implicated in suspicious spending which may have violated the law.

For Broidy, the investigation around the inaugural committee is not his first scandal in the Trump era. Broidy abruptly resigned as deputy finance chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) after the Wall Street Journal exposed that Broidy impregnated a mistress, then paid for her abortion and paid her hush money.

Broidy’s resignation also wasn’t the only Trump-era scandal for the RNC. The RNC’s finance chair, Steve Wynn, resigned in disgrace after multiple allegation of sexual harassment and rape. Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer, also served as RNC deputy finance chair, and resigned from that position amidst allegations of paying hush money to Trump’s mistresses. Cohen is now serving prison time for breaking federal election law with Trump, among other crimes.

From his family to his campaign staff to his fundraisers, Trump surrounds himself with shady people who are either guilty of crimes or under investigation for crimes. It’s a far cry from his constant promises to only hire “the best people.”

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.