CAMPAIGN FINANCE/INVESTIGATIONS/NEW JERSEY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “New Jersey’s attorney general has stepped into the investigation of President Trump’s $107 million presidential inaugural fund, issuing an administrative subpoena for the fund’s financial records, including any that document fund-raising in the state. The action, taken last week by the state’s consumer protection office, came on the heels of a subpoena issued this month by federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Federal investigators are examining whether all donations to the fund were reported, as required, and whether any foreigners illegally contributed money using Americans as straw donors. The New Jersey subpoena also demands records of any contributions made on behalf of foreigners, who are barred from contributing to inaugural funds, campaigns or political action committees in the United States. It also covers audits, contracts with vendors, documents related to the nonprofit organization’s tax status, and any records of advertisements, direct mailings or fund-raising events in New Jersey.”
-Maggie Haberman and Sharon LaFraniere, “New Jersey Attorney General Seeks Records From Trump Inaugural,” The New York Times online, February 15, 2019