Update: This story was updated at 7:55 p.m. with comment from Gentry Beach.

WASHINGTON — Eric and Donald Trump Jr. are distancing themselves from a Dallas-based charity after questions over whether the nonprofit is effectively peddling access to President-elect Donald Trump during inauguration weekend.

Amid questions about their involvement in the charity and a planned January fundraising event, the eldest sons of the next president are removing their names as registrants of the newly organized Opening Day Foundation, according to a spokeswoman for the Trump transition team.

In addition to the Trumps, state records show the nonprofit was founded by Trump supporters and longtime friends Tommy Hicks Jr., the eldest son of Dallas billionaire Tom Hicks, and Dallas hedge fund manager Gentry Beach.

The Center for Public Integrity first reported that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were co-registrants of the nonprofit, which is geared towards raising funds for conservation efforts.

The charity came under fire this week for an early version of a brochure promoting its “Opening Day 2017” event planned for Jan. 21, the day after Trump is sworn into the White House.

In exchange for donations to the charity, donors who give $1 million would have the opportunity to meet the new president at a private reception and take a hunting or fishing excursion with Eric or Donald Jr., according to a draft version of the brochure.

The event details were "merely initial concepts" that had not been approved by the Trump family, spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a written statement. While the Trumps are supporters of conservation efforts "which align with the goals of this event," the Trumps "are not involved in any capacity," she said.

While there’s nothing illegal about the charity, experts said, the Trumps’ initial involvement raised ethical questions about the potential for "pay-to-play" access to the First Family.

The men behind the foundation and the event — who in November were named vice chairs of finance for Trump's presidential inaugural committee — were surprised by the attention this week. They said it's a misunderstanding.

“You’re helping the environment and people attack you over it?" Beach said. "I don’t understand it.”

Early Tuesday, hours before the Trumps announced they are removing themselves from the charity, Hicks Jr. told The Dallas Morning News that he didn't "realize this was newsworthy."

“We just wanted to do something that honors and raises money for conservation efforts, which is a very important thing for Don Jr. and Eric,” Hicks Jr. said. “They’re avid outdoorsmen. It’s conservation, conservation, conservation.”

An unnamed official with the Trump transition team told the Associated Press that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. were unaware they had been named in the nonprofit.

Hicks Jr. said the charity was initially Donald Trump Jr.’s idea as a way to promote conservation efforts. Beach, however, said he and Hicks came up with the idea in early December, formed a committee and had the nonprofit’s documents drawn up, he said.

Shortly after the nonprofit was registered, Beach said attorneys advised the foundation’s committee that the Trumps’ names needed to be removed if the foundation was to be more than a one-night stand. On Wednesday, the Texas Secretary of State's office confirmed it received a correction filing to have their names removed.

“We want to create something with lasting presence for helping conservation and the environment,” Beach said. “It became clear that we needed to go in a different direction. So we took Don Jr. and Eric out of the foundation completely.”

Mark Brinkerhoff, a spokesman for the event, said much of the confusion stemmed from the fact that the widely circulated brochure included information that had not been finalized. The president-elect's attendance had not been confirmed, he said, adding that the Trump sons were planning to attend as honorary co-chairmen -- not organizers.

Brinkerhoff also provided an updated brochure that neither offers a private reception or hunting trip with the Trumps, but still lists the men as honorary co-chairmen.

"This isn't about glad-handing with the president. That's not what this event is designed to be," Brinkerhoff said.

The Opening Day Foundation has applied for tax-exempt 501(c)(3) status and plans to continue raising funds for conservation groups, he said, making donations tax deductible.

Experts noted it’s routine business to donate to a political party or candidate and receive access or photo opportunities in return, particularly during inauguration weekends, when supporters flood Washington in the hope of rubbing elbows with the new president or key staffers. President Barack Obama was slammed four years ago for reversing his decision to ban corporate donations for his 2009 inauguration.

“Some of the criticism could be perceived as hypocritical,” said Richard Painter, who served as former President George W. Bush’s ethics attorney.

But the charity isn’t a political campaign or committee governed by campaign finance laws, he noted. Painter called the Trumps’ involvement in the Opening Day Foundation a “new twist.”

“There’s nothing illegal about it, but the whole thing of paying money to get access to important people in the government is unsettling,” he said. “There’s too much complexity already with the business enterprise. This brings another layer of distraction and inherent conflict.”

Kathleen McCarthy, the director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society at the City University of New York, said the initial offer to meet Trump in exchange for donations is “straightforward influence peddling” that “sullies the name of philanthropy.”

Although it’s not unusual for celebrities to use themselves as bait for contributions, she noted, the ethical questions are different when the celebrity in question is the president-elect.

“Philanthropy should not be rooted in direct access to the president,” McCarthy said. “If you want to use your money to get to the president, do it in some other way.”

Marcus Owens, the former director of the IRS' Exempt Organizations division, called the Trumps' involvement in the charity and inaugural weekend fundraiser a "high-risk situation" and an "ethical mess."

But he gave the Trumps the benefit of the doubt, noting they are still learning the rules and ethics governing public servants.

Just last week, Eric Trump's personal charity attempted to auction a 45-minute private meeting with his sister Ivanka to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital of Tennessee. After the event raised concerns that business leaders were bidding on a chance for face time with a Trump family member and confidante, the auction was abruptly canceled.

"Their world has been the world of business deals and putting together fairly complex financing vehicles for business deals, and that involves a lot of playing golf with people and entertaining," Owens said.

Now, he said, they have to be careful about appearances and special access.

Part of what makes the Trump sons' venture different is the degree to which Trump railed against the exchange of money for access on the campaign trail. He accused Hillary Clinton of soliciting donations to the multimillion-dollar Clinton Foundation in exchange for meetings with the former secretary of state.

Although the AP walked back the story that originally implied Clinton was engaging in "pay-for-play" activities, Trump frequently pointed to the organization as an example of Clinton's corruption.

"If it's true, it's illegal," Trump said in August. "You're paying and you're getting things."

Most presidential historians also point to President Bill Clinton's use of the Lincoln Bedroom as an example of the access major donors are granted. According to documents released by the White House in 1997, more than 821 individuals stayed overnight in the Lincoln Bedroom between 1993 and 1996.

In September, Trump added that he was certain politicians respond to the demands of their major donors.

"When you give, they do whatever the hell you want them to do," Trump said. "As a businessman, I need that."

Staff writers Jamie Lovegrove and Cheryl Hall contributed to this report.