Nobel committee investigating possibly fake Trump nomination for Peace Prize

The Nobel Peace Prize awarding committee is investigating an allegedly fraudulent nomination of President Trump for the coveted international award, according to Wednesday reports.

“I can say that we have good reason to believe that [Trump’s nomination] is a fake,” Nobel Institute Director Olav Njølstad told Norwegian broadcaster NRK, according to the BBC.

Njølstad did not say whether the committee has specific suspects, but the Nobel Institution has filed a report with the Norwegian police, according to Spanish news agency EFE.

{mosads}Potential recipients can only be nominated by a select group that includes national ministers, members of parliaments, certain university professors and former honorees.

He added that there was no precedent for similar fraudulent nominations, with one exception.

“The same ‘fake’ nomination probably took place last year too,” Njølstad said.

Peace Prize nominations are collected by the Norwegian Nobel Committee — all other Nobel prizes are awarded in Sweden.

Peace Prize nominations are due by Jan. 31 each year, and the award is announced in October. The committee keeps the names of nominators secret for 50 years, unless they agree to make themselves known.

Former President Obama received the award in 2009 for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples.”