By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
Special counsel Robert Mueller is investigating a $150,000 donation that a pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarch made to the Trump Foundation.
Ukrainian billionaire Victor Pinchuk allegedly donated the money in exchange for Trump delivering a 20-minute speech via video to a conference in Kiev, the New York Times reports.
Trump was one of several Republican candidates for president at the time.
The speech was set up in August 2015 by Doug Schoen, a political consultant who works for Pinchuk, a steel magnate.
According to the Times, Schoen personally contact Trump to deliver the speech but did not broach the subject of a payment. But Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is believed to have contacted Schoen a day after the speech to request a $150,000 payment in exchange for the speech.
The FBI raided Cohen’s office, home and hotel on Tuesday, seizing e-mail, tax records and communications between his clients.
Mueller is investigating foreign money that Trump’s campaign accepted and whether any of it benefits his personal finances.
