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Politics and Government News
Brian Naylor, NPR

Ivanka Trump deposed in inauguration fund lawsuit

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Ivanka Trump was deposed by lawyers with the Washington D.C.'s attorney general's office.
Ivanka Trump was deposed by lawyers with the Washington D.C.'s attorney general's office.
Wilfredo Lee/AP

Ivanka Trump gave a deposition Monday as part of suit filed by the Washington D.C. government over the costs of her father's 2017 inauguration.

The District is suing the Trump inaugural committee, charging it with "grossly overpaying" for event space at the Trump International Hotel as a way of funneling money to the Trump family.

CNN reported on the deposition on Thursday.

As a nonprofit entity, the committee must not allow "any portion of its funds to be spent in a way that are designed to benefit private persons or companies," according to the lawsuit.

The suit charges that the inaugural committee spent $1 million to rent event space at the hotel, which it asserts was above the market rate. In the plaintiffs' theory of the case, the Trump family's businesses pocketed the surplus between the market cost and what it calls the higher amount paid by the inaugural committee.

The Trump International Hotel is part of Donald Trump's family business. In a statement to the Associated Press, Alan Garten, a Trump Organization lawyer said: "Ms. Trump's only involvement was connecting the parties and instructing the hotel to charge a 'fair market rate,' which the hotel did."

Ivanka Trump said on Twitter that she was the victim of a biased investigation.

"This week I spent 5+ hours with the Democrat D.C. AG's office," she wrote. "This 'inquiry' is another politically motivated demonstration of vindictiveness & waste of taxpayer dollars."

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.