- A judge reinstated the
Trump Organization as a defendant in a lawsuit over inauguration funds. - The DC attorney general alleges the firm wrongly took nonprofit funds from Trump's inauguration.
A Washington, DC, judge reinstated the Trump Organization as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the district's attorney general that accuses former President
DC Attorney General Karl A. Racine filed the civil lawsuit in January 2020. He accused the Trump Organization, the Trump International Hotel in Washington, and Trump's 2017 Presidential Inaugural Committee, which is a tax-exempt nonprofit, of using tax-free funds to improperly pay the Trump Organization and members of the Trump family.
In November, DC Superior Court Judge José M. López cleaved the Trump Organization off the case, ruling that Racine's office didn't bring enough evidence to establish the company may have broken the law.
Racine filed a motion for reconsideration later that month. On December 31, the case was transferred to another judge, Yvonne Williams, who ruled Monday night that the Trump Organization should remain in the case after all.
She said in her ruling that Gentry Beach, a man who the attorney general's office said was acting on behalf of the Trump Organization, appeared to conflate the company and the inaugural committee when booking a block of hotel rooms.
"The contract involved a large block of rooms booked for people affiliated with the Trump Organization at the Loews Madison Hotel during the week of the 2017 Inauguration," Williams wrote. "Mr. Beach signed the contract on behalf of the Trump Organization and listed Lindsay Santoro, Mr. Donald Trump Jr.'s personal assistant, as the point of contact for the rooms."
Lawyers for the Trump Organization said the attorney general's office failed to collect any testimony from Beach. But Williams wrote that López erroneously ruled in their favor without first considering whether Racine should be able to issue a subpoena to depose Beach.
Racine celebrated the new ruling Monday night.
"Big
The case is now headed to trial. Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, former first lady
Wolkoff joined the inaugural committee to help plan the event before joining Melania Trump's office in the White House. She left in 2018 following allegations that she misused inauguration funds herself and later published a tell-all book in 2020 that burned bridges with the former first lady.
Williams wrote in her new ruling that she would hold a conference on Thursday to address discovery motions, at which point she may set a trial date.