The former first lady was paid $155,000 by a Donald Trump associated Super PAC in 2021 after they left the White House.
More Donald Trump Problems?
A Super PAC associated with former President Donald Trump made an unusually large payment to former First Lady Melania Trump, in 2021, after the former president left office, the New York Times reported Thursday.
The $155,000 payment, per the newspaper, was not initially reported and only came to light this week with a new filing, which lists that payment and the reason for it, a “speaking engagement.” The Super PAC was called Make America Great Again, Again; it has since folded and been replaced with Make America Great Again Inc.
Earlier disclosures had listed a pair of payments, also amounting to $155,000, which went to “Designer’s Management Agency” and were listed as for “event planning and consulting.”
Per the Times, “it is rare for the spouse of a potential presidential candidate to be paid directly by a campaign or an outside group affiliated with the candidate.”
The payment appeared to coincide with a fundraising dinner that was held at Mar-a-Lago that month.
“Trump is shameless,” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of his Republican opponents for president, said on Twitter Thursday night. “A billionaire using donor money to pay personal legal fees, and now paying his wife more than 2x what the average American makes just to pick some tableware. There’s grifting and then there’s Trump grifting. Undisputed champs.”
“This is yet another example of the outrageous behavior of Donald Trump,” former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who is also running for president, also said on Twitter. “Political leaders should not enrich themselves, but rather seek to enrich everyday Americans. It’s time for us to move past Trump and invest in a new leader for our future.”
Most of Trump’s other opponents, however, have not spoken about the Times story.
Trump Should Worry
The former first lady was not the only Trump family member in the news on Thursday.
Per CNN, Trump’s son-in-law and former White House adviser, Jared Kushner, has testified before the grand jury investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“Kushner’s and Hicks’ appearances before the grand jury are notable because both were members of the former president’s inner circle,” CNN said. “Any indictment from the sprawling probe into the aftermath of the election, efforts to overturn the result or the January 6, 2021, attack at the US Capitol will likely rely, at least in part, on what individuals – from low-level aides to former Vice President Mike Pence – testified to under oath behind closed doors.”
Per The New York Times, Kushner was asked if his father-in-law had ever acknowledged privately that he had lost the 2020 election. If that were the case, it would show that he knew he was lying when he claimed otherwise.
However, per the Times, Kushner “is said to have maintained that it was his impression that Mr. Trump truly believed the election was stolen, according to a person briefed on the matter.”
Kushner did not comment to the media Thursday. Neither Kushner or his wife Ivanka Trump is part of Trump’s 2024 campaign, and the two have largely dropped out of the public eye since Trump left office.
Alyssa Farah Griffin, who worked in the Trump White House and has since become a media figure, has also testified before the grand jury; she has said in the past that she has heard Trump say “can you believe I lost to Joe Biden?”
Attorney Daniel Zelenko speculated to the Times about what might happen.
“Words are incredibly powerful in white-collar cases because in a lot of them you’re not going to hear from a defendant, as they are seldom going to take the stand,” Zelenko said. “So, having those words put in front of a jury gives them more importance and makes them more consequential.”
Expertise and Experience
Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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