Stephanie Winston Wolkoff’s company received almost $26 million to plan events for President Trump’s inauguration last year.
First lady Melania Trump has reportedly severed ties with adviser Stephanie Winston Wolkoff after news broke that Wolkoff’s company was paid millions of dollars by President Donald Trump’s inauguration committee.
Wolkoff, a longtime friend of the first lady’s, had been working for her office on a contract basis as an unpaid senior adviser. The New York Times reported Monday that the first lady’s office had decided to sever this contract — a dismissal purportedly triggered by “displeasure from the Trumps” over news that Wolkoff’s company had been paid almost $26 million to plan events for the presidential inauguration last year. A spokeswoman for Melania Trump said the first lady had “no involvement with the inaugural committee” and did not know how the funds were spent.
EXCLUSIVE: Met Gala mastermind Stephanie Winston Wolkoff has been tapped to plan Trump’s inauguration events https://t.co/KuS2NSHYse pic.twitter.com/KNnoJ0qxec
— Page Six (@PageSix) 23 November 2016
Wolkoff’s hefty payout, reported by the Times earlier this month, was listed in tax filings recently released by the president’s inauguration committee. The documents revealed that the committee paid more than $57 million to four event-planning companies and donated a less-than-expected $5 million to charity.
Wolkoff’s company, which was incorporated just six weeks before the inauguration, received the lion’s share of the funds (exactly $25,843,509, according to CNN). Wolkoff personally received $1.62 million, and a close friend and associate, David Monn, was paid almost $4 million to help plan events, reported the Times.
