Ivanka Trump, who is her father’s adviser, sat for a deposition with investigators from the attorney general’s office in Washington DC. Mr Trump’s wife Melania is also on the list of those wanted to give evidence. In January, state attorney Karl Racine sued the Trump Organization and Presidential Inaugural Committee (PIC).
He alleged they abused more than $1million (£740,000) raised by the non-profit organisation by “grossly overpaying” for use of event space at the Trump hotel in Washington for the 2017 inauguration.
Mr Racine claims the inaugural committee knew it was paying above-market prices and failed to examine cheaper alternatives.
The lawsuit, filed in DC Superior Court, alleges the money was wasted on improper payments to the Trump International Hotel.
When announcing the lawsuit in January, the Washington attorney general’s office wrote that one of the inauguration’s planners, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, “raised concerns” about the hotel’s rate with both Ivanka and the deputy chairman of the committee, Rick Gates, saying it was at least twice the market rate.
A statement read: “Despite this warning, Gates allowed the PIC to enter into a contract with the Trump hotel for four days of event space at a total cost of $1.03million, an amount far above even the hotel’s own internal pricing guidelines.”
Ms Wolkoff, once Melania’s best friend, is set to give a sworn statement next Wednesday. The attorney general has also subpoenaed records from inaugural committee chairman Tom Barrack and Mr Gates.
Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said of Ivanka: “Her only involvement was connecting the parties and instructing the hotel to charge a ‘fair market rate’, which the hotel did.”
According to the lawsuit, Mr Gates “personally managed” talks with the Trump hotel about event space.
In December 2016, he is said to have written to Ivanka, telling her he was “a bit worried about the optics of PIC paying Trump Hotel a high fee and the media making a big story out of it”.