Trump Backers Postpone Fundraiser That Promised Access to President-Elect
The Opening Day event was postponed from the day after Inauguration Day.
— -- A group of Trump supporters has delayed a fundraiser that was recently criticized for plans to offer top donors access to the president-elect during Inauguration Weekend.
"Opening Day, which was originally contemplated to be held around the Inauguration, will now be scheduled in the Spring of 2017," the Opening Day Foundation, the group organizing the event, said in a statement announcing the schedule change. The statement made no mention of Trump and his family.
"The unifying efforts of conservation is the banner of Opening Day, and this unique celebration will allow us to honor and support some of America's finest wildlife conservation organizations."
Mark Brinkerhoff, a spokesman for the group, which is applying for nonprofit status, said in a statement: "The decision to move the event to the spring was a joint one made by the organizers to allow for additional time and effort to make it a success. All net proceeds from this will be donated to nonprofits, such as fish and wildlife conservation groups. Stay tuned."
Gentry Beach, a director of the foundation and organizer of the event, did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the schedule change.
The foundation, established by associates of Donald Trump Jr., planned to offer donors private receptions with Trump at an event celebrating his inauguration in Washington -- along with multi-day hunting and fishing excursions with his sons -- in exchange for $500,000 or $1 million contributions to unnamed conservation causes, according to a draft invitation first obtained by TMZ and confirmed by ABC News.
An updated invitation provided to ABC News removed all mention of the president-elect and his family from the donor perks, and said donors would get the opportunity to meet with "VIPs and celebrities."
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said the family did not approve the early draft invitation.
Trump's sons distanced themselves from the event and organization -- which listed them honorary co-chairmen and directors of the foundation in an initial nonprofit filing with the Texas secretary of state. (The secretary of state updated its database and removed their names from the group's file.)
The announcement Wednesday comes as Trump and his transition team work to distance the president-elect and his family from potential conflicts-of-interest before he takes office. Earlier this week, Trump announced that he will work to close his Donald J. Trump Foundation, which is currently under investigation by the attorney general of New York.