That money 'could be in somebody's pocket': John Dean speculates on Trump's inaugural money
John Dean, former White House counsel for Richard Nixon, speculated Wednesday that President Donald Trump's inauguration cash could be in someone's pocket by now.
As the Southern District of New York investigates the donations to the president's inaugural committee, legal experts are returning to questions about why so much money was raised for an inauguration that was so small.
Dean joined legal analyst Elie Honig in calling the way the Southern District has done things "a little different" than other districts.
"So, this is historic also," Dean said. "When I was White House counsel, the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District called me at the White House and said I'm having trouble with the Justice Department. I want the White House to understand we see things differently. This was a fight over Pentagon Papers and how to deal with it in court."
Dean said that he was told it was their "tradition" and "we do our own thing up here."
When it comes to the subpoena and the allegations the committee is facing, Dean said the greatest threat is the possibility of foreign contributions.
"We know there are foreign contributions," he said. "But just the fact that they collected $107 million, that's a lot of money to spend on an inauguration that didn't have that many events, didn't have that big a crowd. That money was never well accounted for. So who knows? And it could be in somebody's pocket."
Honig recalled that the subpoena came out of the Southern District's public corruption unit, which is separate from the financial crims. The public corruption unit looks at officials, bribery and election-related offenses, he said.
"They have Rick Gates," Honig continued. "Rick Gates is a cooperator. Mueller and [the Southern District] would certainly freely share Rick Gates' information with the southern district. They roll over his sentencing several times because they're still using him. He was the deputy chair of the inauguration."
Watch the full conversation below:
