What documentary evidence exists about Melania Trump’s contracts with Metropolitan International Management in 1996–1997?

1. The documents themselves: ledgers, accounting papers and a management agreement

News organizations cited by AP and aggregated outlets describe three classes of paperwork provided to reporters: detailed accounting ledgers listing assignments and payments, ancillary accounting documents and a management agreement signed by Melania Trump that covered portions of 1996 and 1997 ^{[1] [3] [4]}.

2. What the ledgers record: clients, dates and dollar amounts

The ledgers reportedly list roughly 10 U.S. modeling assignments in a roughly seven‑week span that together paid about $20,056 (variously reported as $20,056 and $20,526 in different ledger extracts), with specific entries for work between Sept. 10 and Oct. 15, 1996, and other line items spanning July through late September 1996 and into 1997 in some records ^{[3] [2] [5]}.

3. The management agreement: a dated, handwritten entry tied to arrival date

The management agreement obtained by AP and reported in multiple outlets bore a handwritten date of Aug. 27, 1996 — the date Melania’s lawyer has said she entered the U.S. — and the document reportedly stated it was not an employment agreement, indicating a manager‑client relationship rather than a direct employer‑employee contract ^{[6] [4] [7]}.

4. Agency bookkeeping practices reflected in the files

Metropolitan International Management’s records, as reported, show the firm managed roughly 65 models in 1996–1997, treated models as independent contractors, collected a roughly 20 percent commission and deducted expenses and, in some ledger lines, federal taxes from gross earnings — practices visible in the accounting files provided to AP ^{[3] [8]}.

5. Provenance and verification: how the records reached reporters and competing claims

AP said it obtained the files after requesting copies from former employees of the defunct agency; outlets uniformly note the documents came from AP’s reporting rather than from government releases ^{[3] [2]}. Melania Trump’s immigration attorney reviewed the materials and cautioned that the documents “have not been verified” and pointed to passport stamps as a differing contemporaneous record referenced by the lawyer, signaling the Trump camp’s objection to the interpretation and completeness of the materials ^{[8] [9]}.

6. Legal and evidentiary limits in public reporting

Coverage stressed that the documents, if authentic, indicate paid work before issuance of an H‑1B in October 1996 — a timing question with potential immigration implications — but outlets also noted that the E‑Verify system postdates these events and that public reporting did not include direct government adjudication or prosecutorial findings tied to these ledger entries ^{[5] [10]}. Reporters repeatedly caveated that the AP obtained these files from former agency employees and that some aspects remained unverified publicly ^{[2] [8]}.

7. Bottom line: what the documentary record publicly shows and what it does not

Public reporting documents that accounting ledgers, other agency bookkeeping papers and a signed management agreement exist showing Melania Trump’s engagements with Metropolitan International Management in 1996–1997 and listing specific assignments, dates and payments; journalists relied on those files as the primary documentary evidence ^{[1] [3]}. What those sources do not provide in the public record is independent government authentication of every entry, a complete chain‑of‑custody publicly disclosed by AP, or adjudication of legal violations — matters the subject’s attorney contested in public statements ^{[2] [9]}.