US special missions envoy and White House advisor Richard Grenell is at the center of a controversy around misappropriating funds worth $5.6 million during his tenure as the interim president of the Kennedy Center.
The Axios report revealed that the White House counsel has ordered an investigation into whether Richard Grenell misused the President’s trust. What prompted them to look was not revealed. A part of the fund was supposed to go to the Kennedy Center, the rest was for a business transaction. The report adds that the text is a key part of the White House probe into the diplomat. Mildon has now provided the message, at least one financial document and other correspondence, Monday’s Axios report added. Richard Grenell, alongside his Kennedy Center role at the time, was serving as a Special Missions envoy to Venezuela. The time overlapped with the US capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and the US extending control in the country.
Richard Grenell allegedly took a multi-million-dollar donation from Mildon via a US company as part of a business transaction, according to a previous Axios report from October 15. However, Habba and her husband reportedly alleges that $5.6 million of the reported $17.6 million was not transferred to the Kennedy Center. Monday’s report claims that Grennell allegedly sought money in a text sent to the Turkish billionaire on May 3, 2025. The October 15 report had noted that evidence was sought accordingly, but “none has come so far. The previous report had noted that the Kennedy Center dossiers do not record a donation by Mildon anywhere close to $5.6 million. Mildon recorded donation amounts of just $270,000, according to the official figures provided by Kennedy Center. It cited an unidentified staff member to report that the center’s administration had searched for a contribution of around $6 million late last year but was unable to locate it.
In exchange, he offered access to “POTUS,” “VIP events” and other officials of the Trump administration, the report claims. “Once the money comes to the company here, I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre [sic], and you’ll be joining the VIP events and get close with the administration, even with POTUS,” Grennell reportedly texted Mildon, per Axios.
