Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (left) meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the Plaza Hotel in New York on September 19, 2016.
Dominic Reuters | AFP | Getty Images
Democrats on House Oversight Committee question former president Donald Trump Proving he never received any money from Egypt, recent reports say he almost Withdraw $10 million The bank received the funding from the country’s state-owned banks in 2017, days before Trump took office.
Democrats said in a letter to Trump on Tuesday that they are investigating allegations that he accepted “cash bribes” from Egypt’s president and former attorney general. Bill Barr blocked by others Ministry of Justice Investigate the suspected bribery.
The letter comes from Reps. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democratic leader, and Rep. Robert Garcia, minority leader of the national security subcommittee inspired by a report On August 2, the Washington Post disclosed the existence of a secret Justice Department investigation.
“You will no doubt agree that the American people deserve to know whether former presidents and current presidential candidates have accepted illegal campaign contributions from brutal foreign dictators,” they wrote.
They also asked Trump to provide information about Trump’s one-time investment of $10 million. Activity at the end of 2016, including any sources of funds he used to repay “donations or loans.”
The Washington Post first reported the letter from raskin and garcia.
Democrats on Republican-majority panel have no authority to publish summons.
Asked about the letter, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Chang told CNBC in an email, “This is textbook fake news.”
“The investigation mentioned did not reveal any wrongdoing and has therefore been closed. None of the reported accusations or implications have any basis in fact,” Zhang said.
“The media has been deceived by Deep State Trump haters and malicious actors peddling hoaxes and hoaxes,” he added.
The Washington Post reported on August 2 that federal investigators received confidential intelligence showing that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attempted to boost Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign by donating $10 million.
Investigators from a team assembled by former special counsel Robert Mueller reportedly learned in 2019 that the state-run National Bank of Egypt had executed a request to withdraw $9,998,000 in $100 bills into two large bags. Dollar.
According to a Washington Post investigation, the withdrawal request on January 15, 2017 was executed on the same day, just five days before President Trump’s inauguration.
The findings of the troop withdrawal appear to support the notion that Sisi was trying to give Trump money.
Trump previously announced on October 28, 2016 that he would donate $10 million to his campaign. But in an effort to convince Trump to approve the deal, his then-campaign finance chairman framed it as a loan that could be repaid, The Washington Post reported.
In early 2019, Mueller’s team reportedly turned over the Egypt investigation to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C., which was then run by Trump appointee Jessie Liu.
Liu had said she was willing to subpoena a set of Trump’s bank records, but later expressed hesitation after consulting with Barr, according to the Washington Post. Liu has also privately expressed concern that the Justice Department faces more charges of interference in the presidential election as Trump has announced his 2020 re-election campaign.
In late 2019, Liu was nominated to serve in the Ministry of Finance. Her successor, Timothy Shea, reportedly reacted so negatively to a meeting about the Egypt case that investigators believed he would not pursue the investigation.
He was replaced in May 2020 by Michael Sherwin, who decided to close the case due to a lack of evidence, The Washington Post reported.
“As we are sure you can see, these questions remain troubling regarding the credible allegations regarding the source of your $10 million in campaign contributions, the source of any repayments, and the source of all funding,” Raskin and Garcia wrote in Tuesday’s letter. of our country.
They also wrote that in light of “several proven patterns of corrupt behavior exhibited by the Egyptian government and you (of course, as a convicted felon, fraudster and corrupt politician),” the Washington Post’s The allegations made in the report are “particularly shocking”.
