Trump Inaugural Ball Saw Huge Influx of Cash, Which Then Seemingly Disappeared
Photo by Leigh Vogel/Getty
The night before Donald Trump was elected President, hundreds of black ties and ballroom gowns filed into DC’s Mayflower Hotel for the first ever “Asian Pacific American Presidential Inaugural Gala.” Over 900 people paid at least $75 for entry, a handful of sponsors gave anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000, and hundreds of others made small contributions to the National Committee of Asian American Republicans for the event. But all that cash was never accounted for.
Among the donors? A casino in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands which happens to be one of the most profitable in the world, as well as “a Guam-based shipyard and a handful of Pacific Island hotel operators.”
Investigative reporters for the Palm Beach Post revealed today that the registered political committee never reported these contributions to the Federal Election Commission. The committee’s executive director, tech entrepreneur Zhonggang Li, curiously told The Post that he is aware of what happened to the money, “but I don’t want to tell you.”