President Trump’s inaugural committee confirmed that it had received a subpoena from federal prosecutors in New York as part of an investigation into the group’s fundraising activities, reports USA Today. “While we are still reviewing the subpoena, it is our intention to cooperate with the inquiry,” the committee said. The investigation is being led by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, and represents potentially more legal trouble for the Trump administration as it continues to confront the ongoing inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and spinoff investigations. Prosecutors are seeking documents linked to the committee’s fundraising activities, including donors and those who provided services to the organization. The committee raised more than $100 million to host events related to Trump’s inauguration.
Prosecutors are believed to be reviewing whether the committee received contributions from foreign sources. Federal law prohibits such donations. The investigation arose in part out of information seized while investigating Michael Cohen, the president’s former attorney and fixer. Cohen has been sentenced to three years in prison for a host of crimes, including making secret hush payments before the 2016 election to women who accused Trump of having affairs and lying to Congress. During raids on Cohen’s home, office, and hotel room, federal investigators discovered a taped conversation between Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who worked with the inaugural committee. Wolkoff voiced concerns over how some inaugural funds were being spent. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Tuesday that the inaugural committee subpoena is part of “a hysteria” over the fact that Trump is president, the Associated Press reports. Sanders told CNN that there’s “so much hatred out there” that people will “look for anything” while trying to “create problems” to tie to the Republican president.