Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a $150,000 payment made to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2015 by a Ukrainian steel magnate in exchange for President Trump appearing via video at a conference in Kiev, three people with knowledge of the matter told The New York Times.
The payment by Victor Pinchuk is part of a larger look at foreign money received by Trump and his associates ahead of the 2016 election, the Times reports. After being subpoenaed, the Trump Organization gave Mueller's team records regarding business with foreign nationals, including documents about Pinchuk's September 2015 donation. Trump appeared via video at the Pinchuk-sponsored Yalta European Strategy Conference that month, and he spent 20 minutes criticizing then-President Barack Obama and blaming his own halted delivery on a "terrible" sound system.
The payment was solicited by Trump's personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, and was the largest donation to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in 2015 from someone other than Trump, the Times reports. The Victor Pinchuk Foundation told the Times that Trump was approached to appear at the conference as a way to help "promote strengthened and enduring ties between Ukraine and the West." Cohen and Trump lawyer Jay Sekulow did not respond to requests for comment.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Marcus S. Owens, the former head of the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt organizations, told the Times that Pinchuk's payment is "curious because it comes during a campaign and is from a foreigner and looks like an effort to buy influence." You can read more about the payment, as well as other documents related to Russians the Trump Organization has been ordered to hand over to Mueller, at The New York Times.
-
5 artfully drawn cartoons about Donald Trump's Epstein doodleCartoons Artists take on a mountainous legacy, creepy art, and more
-
Violent videos of Charlie Kirk’s death are renewing debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
What led to Poland invoking NATO’s Article 4 and where could it lead?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION After a Russian drone blitz, Warsaw’s rare move to invoke the important NATO statute has potentially moved Europe closer to continent-wide warfare
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
