Michelle Obama Remembers Trump Inauguration As Over Spending Investigation Heightens

What former first lady Michelle Obama remembers most about Donald Trump’s inauguration as U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2017 at the United States Capitol Building was that it was the day after her family’s last day at the White House.

The White House was her family’s second home when they moved in on January 2009. Malia, the Obama's oldest daughter, was in fifth grade and Sasha in second when they made this historical house their home for the next eight years.

The White House was the home where her girls grew-up, noted Obama.

"The truth is on that day, I was moving my children out of the only house they had really grown up in -- and I think that gets lost on people," said Obama to "CBS This Morning" co-host Gayle King.

"So you've got tears and I'm pushing people out of freight elevator and my kids are crying -- I don't know where they're going -- all of that was happening and the staff was crying.”

She was also concerned about meeting the Trumps that morning red-eyed from crying. "I didn't want to go out and greet them with tears in my eyes because people would think I was crying for other reasons,” Obama noted.

The former First Lady also remembered the huge challenge of having to “do everything perfectly, no scandal," for eight years.

Trump’s inauguration wasn’t that memorable for Mrs. Obama, which is understandable.

She referrs to Trump’s inauguration as the "other Inauguration Day.” She said attending it was a "very emotional" time for her as a mother.

She also said the inauguration was an emotional time for her politically and logistically because she had to oversee all the work that went into her family leaving the White House.

Who would have thought after only two years of the Obamas exiting the White House, Trump’s inauguration that was such an emotional moment for Mrs. Obama would have become another festering scandal in this administration.

Trump’s inauguration cost $107 million and is the most expensive presidential inauguration ever. This amount was more than twice that spent on Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration, and the 2001 inauguration of George W. Bush.

Multiple agencies are currently investigating the Trump inauguration scandal. Among these are federal prosecutors in New York. Authorities are investigating if any of the donation money was misspent, used to improperly benefit certain individuals or came from foreign donors.

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend of first lady Melania Trump, continues to take the heat for the massive overspending on the January 2017 inauguration of president Donald Trump despite mounting evidence the excessive spending was the handiwork of Trump’s handpicked team.

Last April, Wolkoff said she’s ready to tell all about the workings of Trump’s Presidential Inauguration Committee (PIC) but couldn’t because she signed a nondisclosure agreement with PIC, the nonprofit group that oversaw Trump's inauguration.

"If the PIC were to release me from this obligation, I would be able to speak freely without the fear of legal or financial repercussions. Otherwise I am regrettably unable to provide any substantive comment."

Wolkoff in July received a 10-page subpoena ordering her to turn-over to the government information, including any evidence of inaugural-related expenditures that were "wasteful, mismanaged, and/or improperly provided private benefit."

The subpoena also asks for communications between the inaugural committee and several business entities connected to Trump or his family. It also demands communications between Wolkoff and a number of Trump family members, including Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.

Two people close to Wolkoff and cited by CNN said she has responded to the latest subpoena issued in July. Her response will be a problem for people connected to the inauguration.

Wolkoff, who was deeply involved in minute details of the inauguration planning, disputed she had been fired by the White House in February 2018 because her firm, WIS Media Partners, was paid some $26 million to plan events for the inauguration.

A meticulous planner who records everything, Wolkoff provided documents showing all but $1.6 million of the $26 million payment to her company went to vendors and subcontractors for broadcast production services of events.

Wolkoff said she had been "thrown under the bus” by the White House over the inauguration spending scandal. Sources said she’s told a number of people she believes she was deliberately set-up as a scapegoat to deflect attention away from people involved with the inaugural.

She said these people are guilty of the misspending. She also said she had a difficult relationship with these people.

Multiple media sources said Wolkoff was referring to the men who led PIC: Tom Barrack, Trump's longtime friend and PIC chairman, and deputy chairman Rick Gates.

Barrack is currently being investigated by the government over his dealings with Saudi Arabia while Gates in February 2018 pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators. These were charges unrelated to the inauguration, however.

It’s known Wolkoff constantly protested to Barrack and Gates over their approvals of lavish PIC spending. She and both men clashed repeatedly over the huge expenses being charged by Hargrove Inc., a special events company.

In one instance, Wolkoff said Hargrove’s bid to decorate two halls of the convention center was "literally 5 times anywhere else would be. We've accounted for some premium increase, but this is exceptionally high."

Despite Wolkoff’s protests, Gates approved the hiring of Hargrove for Barrack's Chairman's Global Dinner held at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.