Raskin Demands Information From FIFA on All Transfers and Gifts to Trump

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin has asked FIFA president Gianni Infantino to provide Congress in Washington by Aug. 9 with records on FIFA contacts with the U.S. government and Donald Trump, DER SPIEGEL reported.

Raskin, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also asked Infantino to appear for questioning before the committee when he is in the United States, according to the report. DER SPIEGEL said the apparently close relationship between Infantino and Trump has drawn suspicion in the U.S. Congress.

If Democrats take the House majority from Trump’s Republicans in the November parliamentary elections, Raskin has a strong chance of becoming committee chair, the report said. An anonymous Democratic source told the “New York Times” that questions being asked now could later become formal investigations, according to DER SPIEGEL.

The report said Infantino has been accused of seeking Trump’s goodwill through questionable favors. Under Infantino, FIFA awarded Trump a newly created peace prize after he did not receive the Nobel Peace Prize. During the World Cup, critics also questioned the lifting of a red-card suspension for U.S. striker Folarin Balogun after Trump called Infantino, allowing Balogun to play in the round of 16. FIFA said the disputed decision was made by its formally independent disciplinary committee.

Raskin also cited FIFA’s lease of office space in New York’s Trump Tower, which he said could cost about $600,000 a year at market rates, DER SPIEGEL reported. Together with what Raskin called the “laughably fake” peace prize, he wrote, the lease created the impression that FIFA hoped for decisions from Trump and his government in the governing body’s favor.

Raskin requested a list of all money transfers and gifts to Trump, his government and family members, according to the report. He also asked FIFA to disclose communications with the U.S. government about ticket prices at this year’s World Cup, which DER SPIEGEL said were widely criticized as excessive, and sought visitor lists from FIFA offices in Miami and New York.