Amazon grilled over suspicion Melania doc broke bribery laws
A documentary on Melania Trump has prompted calls for a probe into the financial donations from Amazon to Donald Trump
Representatives signed a letter to the E-commerce company asking where the funding came from and suggesting money given to the Trump team for the film could have breached bribery laws. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) led the charge on the letter, with calls for Amazon to answer questions on the sum of money given to the team behind the Melania documentary.
Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Dan Goldman (D-NY) also signed the letter, according to The Hill. The letter notes the undisclosed figure given by Amazon to the Trump administration as part of the ongoing White House ballroom renovations.
It reads, "If Amazon officials have made any donations or payments as part of a quid-pro-quo arrangement to influence President Trump or other Administration officials, the company may be in violation of federal bribery law."
The letter also noted the "ways in which Amazon has appeared to curry favor with President Trump since the 2024 election." This included a $1 million donation to Trump's 2025 inauguration and the unspecified ballroom sum.
Dem reps also wrote that Amazon should address "the serious concerns that its investment in ‘Melania’ was part of an apparent pay-to-play arrangement with the Trump Administration."
Melania documentary crew members had privately hoped the Brett Ratner-directed feature would flop at the box office. Insiders confirmed some had gone as far as to request their name be removed from the credits of the controversial film.
One insider, speaking to Rolling Stone, said, "People were worked really hard. Really long hours, highly disorganized, very chaotic."
Another source suggested almost two-thirds of the crew who worked on the film in New York had requested their name be pulled from the credits of the documentary. A third anonymous source who worked on Melania said, "I feel a little bit uncomfortable with the propaganda element of this. But Brett Ratner was the worst part of working on this project."