The Accusation
REPORTED (Axios, Oct. 14 and 19; The New York Times, Oct. 15 and 17; Raw Story). On Oct. 9, in the Oval Office, Alina Habba, the president's former personal lawyer, accused Ric Grenell of taking money her husband meant for the Kennedy Center, which Grenell then ran. Her husband is Turhan Mildon, a Turkish businessman whose company, Milvest, builds state projects in Kinshasa; his spokesman says he advises Congo's president, Félix Tshisekedi, and holds a Congolese diplomatic passport. Congo has not confirmed either claim. Habba's account is that Grenell directed a $17.6 million wire in May 2025 to TX-AT (Texas Armament & Technology), a Houston security-equipment company, and that about $5.6 million of it was meant for the Kennedy Center but never arrived. Her figure has moved: she first said $17 million was for the Kennedy Center. Raw Story →
REPORTED. Axios published a May 3, 2025 text, said to be from Grenell to Mildon, offering Kennedy Center VIP access, including to the president, and saying "I will arrange the donation to Kennedy Centre." Grenell denies writing it; a source pointed to the British spelling. White House Counsel Will Scharf is checking the text's digital trail. The president and Scharf called Grenell, who called the story "crazy." Kennedy Center insiders saw Mildon at exclusive events, including in the vice president's box, and an administration official asked why he had such access if the gift was never paid. Grenell has said publicly: "I've never asked for one cent to be sent somewhere else pretending it was for the Kennedy Center, and I've never received any payment from him." He says he consulted for TX-AT in 2024 but had no tie to it when the money moved. Axios →
REPORTED. The New York Times then reported that the $17.6 million did not come from Mildon at all, but from a bank account linked to the Congolese government. The first wire receipt sent to the White House on the couple's behalf had the sender's name blacked out. Which Congolese institution paid, who authorized it, and what TX-AT delivered in return have not been reported. TX-AT did not respond to requests for comment. The Kennedy Center says it is reviewing "relevant pledges and funds." Rio Times →
What the Records Show
DOCUMENTED, from the website at tx-at.com, which press accounts identify as TX-AT. The site uses only the name TXAT LLC and does not spell out "Texas Armament & Technology," so the Old Goat treats the match as likely, not proven. TXAT LLC describes itself as a Houston supplier of "uniforms, ammunition, firearms, and safety equipment" for government, military and police buyers, operating since 2011 in "all 50 states and more than 40 other countries," and as the exclusive North American master distributor of Aguila Ammunition. TX-AT →
DOCUMENTED, from USAspending.gov, for TXAT LLC, which appears to be TX-AT. The federal government's award database shows no contracts to TXAT LLC. Its Mexican affiliate, TXAT LATAM SAPI de CV, holds eight State Department awards from 2023 to 2025 worth $304,336 in all: closed-circuit cameras, laptops, IT equipment and, in August 2025, tactical uniforms bought by the State Department's anti-narcotics bureau. INFERENCE: TX-AT is a real but small federal vendor. Nothing in the federal record explains a $17.6 million payment from a foreign government.
DOCUMENTED, from the Justice Department's Foreign Agents Registration Act database (registrant lists, active and ended, downloaded Oct. 20, 2026). No registrant appears under the names Grenell, TXAT or TX-AT, Milvest, Turhan Mildon or Alina Habba. The check covered registrant names only, not individuals listed under another firm's registration, and a search of foreign principals for Congo did not return. INFERENCE: on what could be checked, the registry that would show anyone working for Congo's government in the United States shows none of these names. Selling equipment to a foreign government is not itself FARA work, and an arms sale abroad would need its own export license; the Old Goat found no public record of one either way.
Two More Doors Closing
REPORTED. On Oct. 13 the White House formally invoked executive privilege to keep records of the president's Kennedy Center discussions from Rep. Joyce Beatty, who is suing over the center's planned closure. Deputy Counsel Joshua Hoyt argued the privilege covers exchanges among the president, his advisers and Kennedy Center staff about its "management, operations, fundraising, and planned activities." Voz →
REPORTED. The same week, Paolo Zampolli, the president's special envoy for global partnerships and the man credited with introducing him to Melania Trump, was removed after Politico published his email war with Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who had told him to stick to cultural diplomacy. Zampolli says he left. Daily Beast →
The Old Goat's View
OPINION. Strip away who is shouting at whom and three facts are left: a wire of $17.6 million, a sender that appears to be a foreign government, and a Kennedy Center gift that the people who say they made it cannot show arrived. Every person in this story was inside the president's circle. The White House's answer so far is to ask the accusers for proof and to claim privilege over its own Kennedy Center talks. A donation that buys a seat in the vice president's box and then cannot be found is a question for investigators, not for an Oval Office shouting match.