>>> ALL RIGHT, NEW SMOKE SWIRLING AROUND TRUMP’S
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE.
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE. "THE NEW YORK TIMES" TODAY
DETAILING EXACTLY WHO NEW YORK
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS THINK MAY
HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN A CROOKED
SCHEME TO CURRY FAVOR WITH THE
INCOMING ADMINISTRATION.
INCOMING ADMINISTRATION. THE FEDS LOOKING AT WHETHER
FOREIGNERS ILLEGALLY FUNNELED
DONATIONS TO PRESIDENT TRUMP’S
COMMITTEE AND A PRO-TRUMP
SUPER-PACK.
SUPER-PACK. USING STRAW DONORS TO DISGUISE
THEIR DONATIONS.
THEIR DONATIONS. IN A MOMENT I’M GOING TO TALK TO
THE PRESIDENT OF PRESIDENT
OBAMA’S INAUGURAL COMMITTEE
ABOUT THIS LONG-STANDING
MYSTERY.
MYSTERY. WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED TO
THE RECORD SETTING MONEY THE
TEAM RAISED BUT NOWHERE NEAR
WHAT THE TRUMP CAMPAIGN BROUGHT
IN.
IN. MUCH THAN TWICE AS MUCH WHAT
PRESIDENT OBAMA RAISED JUST FOUR
YEARS EARLIER.
YEARS EARLIER. AND NOW WE MAY BE STARTING TO
FIND OUT WHERE ALL THAT TRUMP
MONEY WENT AND CAME FROM.
JOINING ME NOW IS THE PRESIDENT
AND CEO OF OBAMA’S 2013
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE.
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE. GENTLEMEN, GREAT TO HAVE YOU
WITH US.
WITH US. I WANT TO PUT UP THAT GRAPHIC
ONCE AGAIN BECAUSE TAKE A LOOK
AT THE STARK DIFFERENCE AND THE
MONEY RAISED FROM PAST
PRESIDENTS.
PRESIDENTS. WHEN YOU LOOK AT SOMETHING LIKE
THIS, WHY WOULD PRESIDENT TRUMP
DOUBLE IN YOUR EXPLANATION WHAT
PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS WERE
ABLE TO RAISE?
YOU SAT IN THAT POSITION OF
HAVING TO RAISE MONEY BUT THIS
IS SOMETHING REALLY
UNEXPLAINABLE.
UNEXPLAINABLE. >> IT IS.
>> IT IS. I WAS CHIEF OF STAFF IN 2009.
HE RAISED MORE THAN WHAT WE DID
IN BOTH OF PRESIDENT OBAMA’S
INAUGURATIONS WHICH WERE THE TWO
LARGEST IN HISTORY, BUT WE’LL
LEAVE THAT FOR ANOTHER
CONVERSATION.
CONVERSATION. LOOK, THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE TO
AN INAUGURAL IS A UNIQUE ONE AND
PARTICULARLY FOR A CANDIDATE
LIKE DONALD TRUMP WHERE, YOU
KNOW, AS HAS BEEN REPORTED, HE
SETUP A SUPER-PACK IN THE SUMMER
OF ’16 BECAUSE FRANKLY HIS
CAMPAIGN WAS WANING IN MONEY.
WHEN IT CAME TO INAUGURAL
SPENDING THIS WAS A CHANCE FOR
FOLKS TO HIM WITH MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS IN FACT AND SAY LOOK,
I’M HERE AND I SUPPORT YOU IN
YOUR PRESIDENCY AND IN YOUR
INAUGURATION.
INAUGURATION. THERE WAS NO NEED FOR $107 MILL
YP.
YP. THEY HAD PROBABLY A THIRD OF THE
STAFF WE HAD, A QUARTER OF THE
EVENTS WE HAD, BOTH OF US HAD
AND THEY RAISED TWICE AS MUCH
MONEY.
MONEY. IT ONLY SENDS UP A RED FLAG WHY
IS THERE NEED FOR THAT MUCH
MONEY.
MONEY. BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT TO GIVE THAT
TO CURRY FAVOR AND BUY AN
OPPORTUNITY.
OPPORTUNITY. THAT’S WHY I’VE BEEN CALLING IT
THE INAUGURAL SLUSH FUND FOR THE
PAST YEAR AND A HALF.
HE CHOSE ALMOST EVERY SINGLE
TIME TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT
AND FRANKLY SHOW US HE HAS NO
INTEGRITY AND REFUSES TO BE
TRANSPARENT WITH THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE.
PEOPLE. >> SO YOU’VE BEEN IN THIS
POSITION.
POSITION. YOU’VE TALKED ABOUT RED FLAGS.
A, DID YOU GUYS EVER -- WALK US
THROUGH THE DUE DILIGENCE YOU
GUYS DID WHEN SOMEONE WANTED TO
COME AND GIVE THE OOBAMA
INAUGURAL COMMITTEE A BIG CHUNK
OF CHANGE, AND DID YOU IN YOUR
POSITION EVER TURN AWAY MONEY,
SAYING, HEY, WE CAN’T ACCEPT
THIS FOR THIS EVENT?
>> ABSOLUTELY.
>> ABSOLUTELY. WE DO WHAT’S CALLED VETTING IN
THE DONOR AND POLITICESS
BUSINESS WHERE YOU INVESTIGATE
THE PERSON TO DETERMINE WHETHER
OR NOT THEY MEET YOUR STANDARDS
THAT YOU AS AN INAUGURAL
COMMITTEE SETS.
COMMITTEE SETS. AND WE HAD VERY STRICT
STANDARDS.
STANDARDS. BACK IN ’09 YOU COULDN’T BUY AN
IN
IN INUG RAL TICKET IF YOU DIDN’T
MEET OUR STANDARDS.
FRANKLY, WE TURNED AWAY AN AWFUL
LOT OF MONEY.
LOOK, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR
A PRESIDENCY RIGHT AT THE OUTSET
TO SET THE PACE AND THE EXAMPLE
OF WHAT THEIR PRESIDENCY IS
GOING TO BE ABOUT.
PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR BOTH OF HIS
INAUGURATIONS WANTED IT TO BE
ABOUT SERVING THE AMERICAN
PEOPLE, GIVING PEOPLE AN
OPPORTUNITY TO SERVE EACH OTHER
AND WORK TOGETHER.
AND THAT’S WHY WE SET OUR
RESTRICTIONS ON MONEY.
WE SET A VERY STRONG SET OF
PRINCIPLES ON WHO WE WOULD TAKE
MONEY FROM AND WHICH WELL ABOVE
AND BEYOND THE LEGAL LIMITS.
AND YES, WE RETURNED A LOT OF
MONEY.
MONEY. >> AND I THINK IT’S PROBABLY
FOLKS OF THIS CURRENT
INVESTIGATION.
INVESTIGATION. SETH, IS THIS SIMPLY
MISMANAGEMENT OF FUNDS OR DO YOU
THINK SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON
HERE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE SPIKE
IN THE NUMBERS FROM PREVIOUS
ADMINISTRATIONS?
ADMINISTRATIONS? >> WELL, WHETHER I DO OR NOT
CLEARLY THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF
NEW YORK, THE PROSECUTORS
LOOKING INTO THIS DO.
WHAT YOU HAVE ARE TWO QUESTIONS.
THE MONEY COMING INTO THE
COMMITTEE AND THE MONEY GOING
OUT.
OUT. THE MONEY COMING IN FOREIGNERS,
NOT AMERICANS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO
DONATE TO THESE TYPES OF
COMMITTEES.
COMMITTEES. IF YOU HAVE FOREIGNERS DONATING
FUNDS THROUGH AMERICANS, IN
OTHER WORDS STRAW DONORS TO
CONSEAL THE NATURE AND SOURCE OF
THOSE FUNDS, THAT COULD BE A
CAMPAIGN FINANCE VIOLATION.
AND IF THOSE FUNDS ARE BEING
DONATED TO CURRY FAVOR WITH THE
PRESIDENT OR THE THEN CANDIDATE
OR PRESIDENT-ELECT, AND WAS
PROMISING FAVORS IN RETURN YOU
HAVE A POTENTIAL BRIBERY CASE.
AND THEN ON THE OTHER END THE
MONEY COMING OUT, IF ANY OF
THOSE FUNDS WERE BEING USED FOR
NONINAUGURATION PURPOSES, IF
ANYONE WAS USING THEM TO PAY
THEIR MORTGAGE OR TAKE FANCY
TRIPS OR ANYTHING
NONINAUGURATION RELATED THEN YOU
COULD HAVE A CAMPAIGN FINANCE
CASE.
CASE. >> HOW DO FEDERAL INVESTIGATORS
FIGURE THIS OUT, SETH?
HOW DO THEY GO ABOUT PIECING
THIS TOGETHER?
THIS TOGETHER? >> YOU LOOK AT BANK RECORDS,
E-MAILS AND TEXTS AND YOU START
TALKING TO PEOPLE.
YOU TRY TO FLIP THEM AND THEN
THEY TELL YOU WHAT THE PURPOSE
AND HOW THE TRANSACTIONS WERE
STRUCTURED.
STRUCTURED. SO MUCH LIKE WE’VE HEARD THROUGH
MUCH OF THE MUELLER
INVESTIGATION THERE ARE BUILDING
BLOCKS.
BLOCKS. YOU START LOW, YOU WORK YOUR WAY
UP AND YOU TRY TO FIGURE OUT IF
THERE WAS CRIMINAL WRONGDOING.
>> AND THERE’S EVEN SOME
REPORTING OF E-MAILS EXCHANGED
WITH IVANKA TRUMP SUGGESTED