Karl Racine’s official title is Office of the Attorney General for the District of Columbia and he just crossed the mythical red line. He issued a subpoena to Melania Trump’s former right-hand woman and friend from her time as a socialite in New York.
Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has turned over the documents requested by Karl Racine – and it should be noted she already cooperated with the SDNY when they nailed Michael Cohen for his crimes.
Wolkoff also turned over documents to Adam Schiff. So if she did anything wrong, she would’ve been caught a long ago. No, this looks like an attempt to embarrass first lady Melania and to get to President Trump.
Vanity Fair also reported that while Cohen reads through the prison library and works out with “The Situation” in the Otisville Correctional Facility’s gym, his former neighbor on Park Avenue Stephanie Winston Wolkoff was having a different sort of summer.
Last month, she received a subpoena from the Washington, D.C., attorney general’s office, requesting documents related to Trump’s inauguration, which Wolkoff had a heavy hand in planning.
The event that costed $107 million has been under investigation for months, including by federal prosecutors in New York and New Jersey, for profligate spending and questions about foreign donations. The latest subpoena appears to be probing potential self-dealing by the Trump Organization and members of the president’s family, according to people familiar with the investigation.
Wolkoff complied as requested, according to these sources, by the July 26 deadline, which asked her to turn over records involving the inaugural event, President Trump’s family and associates, and expenditures by the inaugural committee that could shine a light on whether the nonprofit group provided private benefits to the Trump Organization.
The attorney general appears to be particularly interested in payments being made through the inaugural committee to Trump-owned businesses, and whether there was a fair bidding process for contractors.
Response to a request for comment, Wolkoff said she signed a nondisclosure agreement and could not comment on any investigation, subpoena, or her cooperation.
“If the [Presidential Inaugural Committee] wants to release me from this obligation, I would be able to speak freely without the fear of legal or financial repercussions,” she said in a statement. “Otherwise, I am regrettably unable to provide substantial comment.”
Wolkoff’s lawyer didn’t respond to a request for comment. The White House also declined to comment. A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office did not immediately respond.
The gulf between what Wolkoff knows and what she is publicly able to say can be measured in tens of thousands of documents, email exchanges, meeting minutes, phone calls.
After all, she has known first lady Melania Trump for years, making her one of a small circle of confidants. As reported earlier this year, the two were close enough that she would spend the night in the residence at the White House with the first lady.
