Mueller may not have found coordination between Trump and his people and Russia, but Trump is still facing a whole raft of investigations that are still on-going. There are at least eight federal criminal cases continuing in this post-Mueller environment. And then there’s all those Congressional committees …
At least 15 investigations in all. It’s way too soon for any Trumpistas to be popping the corks. Trump and his people are not exonerated by anybody.
In general, there are 2 types of investigations: those from within the executive branch – including the Department of Justice and the various offices of federal prosecutors – and those Congressional investigations being launched over wide-ranging inquiries on multiple topics beyond the Russian interference issue.
These DOJ cases will likely continue:
- Roger Stone: Prosecutors have charged him with obstruction, witness tampering and lying to Congress in connection with his 2016 work on behalf of Trump’s campaign. Stone has pleaded not guilty, and that case could go to trial later this year.
2. Russian company Concord Management and Consulting – The case against the company is linked to Russia’s social media disinformation campaign, and continues in Washington, D.C.
3. Michael Flynn – charged in a case in the Eastern District of Virginia – — hasn’t been sentenced..
4. Rick Gates – has been cooperating with investigators in several investigations outside of DC since pleading guilty last year to conspiracy and making false statements.
5. Maria Butina and her boyfriend, Paul Erickson and the NRA – DC prosecutors secured a guilty plea from her, who admitted to conspiring to serve as a Russian agent inside the U.S. Erickson has been indicted on fraud charges in South Dakota, and may be charged in a case related more closely to Butina’s.
6. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange – a grand jury may be working now to compile more information for new charges.
7. Natalia Veselnitskaya – the Russian attorney who met with Donald Trump Jr., Manafort and others at Trump Tower in June 2016, has been charged with obstruction of justice in an unrelated case.
8. Trump’s 2017 inaugural committee –
Federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York subpoenaed the Trump inaugural committee, seeking every piece of documentation related to the inaugural’s donors, vendors and finances. This shows prosecutors are investigating a broad array of potential crimes: conspiracy against the US, false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, inaugural committee disclosure violations and violations of laws prohibiting contributions by foreign nations and contributions in the name of another person, also known as straw donors, and specifically sought information on a donor Imaad Zuberi and his investment firm, Avenue Ventures LLC, which donated $900,000 to the inaugural fund.
State attorneys general in New Jersey and DC are looking into the inaugural as well.
9. Michael Cohen Matters
- emails Cohen says suggest the possibility of a presidential pardon may lead to an obstruction inquiry;
- Cohen accused Trump of indirectly instructing him to lie in a statement to Congress.
- Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have requested the emails.
- Cohen alleged Trump engaged in insurance fraud; state regulator in New York is looking into.
- Cohen alleged Trump lied to Deutsche Bank when trying to get a business loan.
- Cohen provided details about campaign finance impropriety around the time Trump took office.
- Manhattan federal prosecutors are examining whether executives at the Trump Organization violated campaign-finance laws in the company’s effort to reimburse Cohen for the $130,000 he paid during the 2016 election to silence Stormy Daniels.
10. Manafort Lobbying Matters
- Mueller inquiry into Manafort’s lobbying efforts for Ukrainian politicians has been farmed out to other Federal prosecutors’ offices.
- Manhattan District Attorney filed new criminal charges against Manafort for fraud less than an hour after he was sentenced in federal court this month for admitting to similar violations.
- Trump SuperPAC Funding: Related to the news about the inauguration inquiries was word that prosecutors are digging into the funding of a Trump SuperPAC, Rebuilding America Now, where Paul Manafort also played a role.Manafort aide Sam Patten is cooperating with investigators.
11. Emoluments Lawsuit: The attorneys general for Maryland and DC have subpoenaed the Trump Organization for hotel financial records relating to their lawsuit that alleges Trump is in breach of the so-called Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits the president from accepting payments from foreign powers while in office. The lawsuit’s discovery phase could bring into public view how foreign governments funneled business to Trump’s organization, as for example, the Saudi government purchased more than 500 rooms at Trump’s hotel in DC in the months after the election.
Congress
12. Senate intelligence committee – yet to complete its 2016 election interference investigation and issue a report. Panel split between Democrats and Republicans on issue of Trump campaign collusion with the Russians.
House Committees
13. Oversight committee Chairman Elijah Cummings, D-Md., is in process of receiving responses from his requests for information from 71 people and entities, on issues about everything from the White House’s protocols on handling security clearances to the Trump Organization’s business practices to the conduct of Trump’s sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump.
14, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y. leads the committee that would have the responsibility of introducing articles of impeachment against Trump. Nadler believes there’s already evidence that Trump committed acts that may rise to the level of impeachment, especially potential obstruction of justice.
15. Intelligence Committee – Chair Adam Schiff will be interviewing witnesses and holding hearings as part of Russia Investigation
Sources:
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
#7 sounds like a made up person. I’ve seen her name in the news before and I have always thought it sounded like the name of a Russian character in poorly written spy novel. Lol. Natalia. I almost used that as my drag queen name early on.
What was the plan to interfere with the election? Was it rigging the voting machines? Illegal. Tampering with vote counts? Illegal. Or running ads? Is that illegal?
Wait, I think #8 answered my question. I don’t know much about campaign regulations. In years past it’s always been said that rich candidates try to July elections. But the grassroots method seems to have gained traction!
I liked how #11 had an example. Thank you, Frank.
I think a blanket statement from an ethical perspective would be that social media is still a novelty and I imagine will continue to evolve, so kind of an ongoing discussion of law and ethics.
Lol. Trumpistas don’t read the rag. They watch Fox, right? Actually wouldn’t be surprised it Fox turns against POTUS soon.
Random question: does any of this scandal by chance closely resemble the plots to any Hollywood movies? It sounds kinda scripted.
A good summary, Frank, thanks for that, b/c its getting really hard to keep it all straight these days :/. Depressingly for me, it drives home the fact that our country, culture and govt are mired in unending lawsuits, from one coast to the other; from environment, guns, harassment, corruption, money, climate, abuse, education, defamation (anyone notice Nunes is suing the friggin’ COW?!), opioid malpractice, and pretty much anything anyone can think of on which to file a lawsuit, most of which have disappointing, generally useless outcomes, other than adding more lawyers to the 1%ers.
Are we now going to have a new buzz phrase: “legal fatigue”? Sadly, lawsuits are not going to solve our problems, they never have. They just deflect us. And yet, when did the lawsuit avenue become our only way forward? Now we have to “demand” everything? There just has to be another approach…I am hopeful these newcomers to the political arena can also stop what has become a very consumptive MO. :-)
I don’t feel like the gun issue is really an issue in the U.S. In 2012 there were almost 9,000 homicides by guns and roughly 30,000 fatalities with automobile accidental shouldn’t we be more worried about auto safety? Personally, I wish the US would ban assault rifles because I think they are lame and nobody buys them for any good reason. I would go so far as to say that assault rifle purchasers have no valid reason to own that stuff and what the hell man.. You’ll never need it. If they’re not mentality unstable they’re probably posting instagrams of themselves shirtless with the weapons. And that’s not cool. Lol
The other thing I would argue with the last post is that the state of the world isn’t depressing. It’s slightly optimistic at best. The human condition doesn’t change but quality of life keeps improving. So the life satisfaction for to be average male might decline over time but at significantly lower rates than previous generations.
As a betting person, I’m betting every Ttump scandal will be dropped. And no impeachment will be made. If I’m wrong I’ll volunteer to do trash cleanup for 24 hours at any spots of Frank’s choosing.
Do we have any stats on # of lawsuits, Botanist?
Also, I find the character of Julian Assange to be unconvincing. He seems like the sort of person who benefits from other people’s work. And I just don’t have much tolerance for people like that. Oh state secrets? Snooze . I say set him free. Give him a podcast! Lets make him a talk show host regular
I still feel like I’m unable to make any significant contributions to the comment section, Retired Botanist, since the news seems so mired in outdated and juvenile wordplay, Retired Botanist. Are any of Trump’s scandals potentially bad for the Earth’s ecosystems?