CNBC: Trump to reportedly dine with key figures in America First Policies, a secretive pro-Trump nonprofit group
President Donald Trump will reportedly dine Wednesday night with officials from the pro-Trump nonprofit America First Policies, just one week after a group representative told CNBC that it maintains "very clear lines and high walls" intended to keep its work separate from the White House.
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By attending a small, private dinner with key figures at American First Policies, "Trump is saying, in effect, that America First Policies has the White House's blessing," said Brendan Fischer, an election law expert at the nonprofit Campaign Legal Center. "It also sends a signal to deep-pocketed financial interests that they can buy influence with the administration through secret donations to the White House's preferred dark money group."
The dinner also presents an opportunity for America First Policies "to make sure that its political spending is of maximum value to the president, which in turn means that donations to the group can buy maximum influence with the president," Fischer said.
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All of which leaves Campaign Legal Center's Fischer deeply concerned about the secrecy that America First Policies, as a nonprofit, is allowed to offer to potential donors.
"Are they taking money from foreign donors, or from lobbying groups that want something from the White House? We don't know!" Fischer exclaimed. "But if President Trump learns anything about America First Policies' funding sources over dinner tonight, I sure hope he lets the public know."