Is this the criminal scandal that takes down Melania Trump?

Even as everyone around Donald Trump keeps getting sent to prison, and it’s becoming clear that Donald Trump and his kids will have a hard time avoiding prison, one of the questions in the background has been whether Melania Trump will also end up being taken down. That would require a criminal scandal, of course – and now there finally is one.

Earlier this year it was widely reported that the Donald Trump inauguration committee paid an astonishing $26 million dollars to a friend of Melania Trump for “event production services.” This amounted to roughly one-fourth of the $107 million that was raised for the inauguration in total. This was clearly corrupt in the moral sense, but at the time it seemed to be just that. Now, as it turns out, the overall Trump inauguration is being investigated as a criminal financial scandal.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday that the Southern District of New York is investigating both where the Trump inauguration money came from and where it went. The SDNY also has a tape of Melania’s friend calling Michael Cohen and expressing concern over the money flow. Harry Litman, former U.S. Attorney and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, appeared on MSNBC on Thursday night and stated his view that based on what the WSJ reported, Melania could indeed be facing criminal exposure over this.

There are some key questions that must be answered. Did Melania Trump personally push for her friend to be paid $26 million for services that didn’t appear to be worth nearly that much? Did the money come from outside the United States, which would be illegal? If so, did Melania know that the money came from outside the U.S.? The SDNY will have to answer these questions with its investigation. But it’s fascinating that a former high ranking DOJ official thinks Melania may end up facing criminal exposure here.