“The Don and His Criminal Cabal:” Seems More in Focus Every Single Passing Day

Top 5 Involved in the Latest Criminal Investigation

(Trump's Inaugural Committee)

Introduction: Another Criminal Investigation of Trump (Rolling Stone):

The wheel of investigations related to Trump has spun back around to his inaugural committee. SDNY federal investigators issued a wide-ranging subpoena for officials managing the nonprofit organization to turn over documents related to donors, contractors, disclosure filings and more.

Reportedly of interest are a host of potential violations: (1) money laundering, (2) election fraud, (3) false statements to the FEC, (4) and acceptance of foreign contributions (which is illegal).

The Trump inaugural committee brought in a record $107 million in donations and, somehow, spent nearly all of it. Obama’s 2009 inaugural committee raised a then-record of $55 million (Obama’s 2013 committee raised $43 million).

More from this Rolling Stone piece follows the next section:

President Trump’s inaugural committee received a sweeping subpoena from the US Attorney’s Office for the SDNY – meaning criminal investigations into the inauguration’s money (Vox.com here) are heating up.

The scope of documents requested in the subpoena and potential crimes investigators are probing are both remarkable — investigating everything from false statements to money laundering.

Investigators are said to be interested in the inaugural committee’s spending, its donations, whether any donations came from illegal foreign sources, and potential corruption involving favors for donors. 

Since last year, there have been reports that special counsel Robert Mueller was investigating potential foreign donations to the inaugural committee. In December, news broke that federal prosecutors in NY were overseeing a broader probe into the inauguration and its money.

Rick Gates, the former Trump campaign aide who helped run the inaugural committee and struck a plea deal with Mueller in February, has also been cooperating with SDNY prosecutors, per the Wall Street Journal. 

Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, known as “The Fixer” helped fund raise for the inaugural, and his is another major figure, though it’s not entirely clear whether he’s helping out with the investigation or whether he’s a target of it.

What the subpoena demanded from Trump’s inaugural committee. The Wall Street Journal reports that the documents the government is demanding from the inaugural committee include:

·       “All documents related to the committee’s donors and vendors”

·       All records related to “benefits” provided to donors

·       Documents related to the financier Imaad Zuberi and his company Avenue Ventures LLC. (He is the only donor specifically named in the subpoena. The Daily Beast has previously reported on Zuberi’s connections to Michael Cohen.)

·       Documents related to donations “made by or on behalf of foreign nationals,” including communications about possible donations from foreign individuals

·       Documents related to “donations or payments made by donors directly to contractors and/or vendors.” (The Journal reports that there was some discussion on the inaugural committee about having donors pay vendors for the inauguration directly — which could violate disclosure laws.)

The New York Times reports that the subpoena also asks for documents about Stripe, a startup that processes credit card payments, for which Jared Kushner’s brother (Josh Kushner) is an investor.

Meanwhile, CNN reports that the subpoena specifically names several different offenses that investigators are probing:

·       Conspiracy against the United States

·       False statements

·       Mail fraud

·       Wire fraud

·       Money laundering

·       Inaugural committee disclosure violations

·       “Violations of laws prohibiting contributions by foreign nations and contributions in the name of another person, also known as straw donors.”

Story continues here from Vox.com.

More now from Rolling Stone: Suspicions over how the committee spent its money were raised as early as the summer of 2017.

After the committee filed its tax returns the next February, the New York Times reported on a trove of questionable expenditures suggesting the committee may have been little more than a nine-figure slush fund.

In May, ABC News reported that Special Counsel Robert Mueller was questioning witnesses — including committee chairman Thomas Barrack — about donations to the committee, specifically those coming from donors with connections to Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The only individual named in the subpoena is venture capitalist Imaad Zuberi, who has connections to some of the countries flagged by Mueller. Records show that Zuberi’s firm, Avenue Ventures, donated $900,000 to the committee. In December 2016, Zuberi visited Trump Tower in New York with incoming NSC Adviser Michael Flynn.

Flynn along with former Trump campaign CEO Steve Bannon was scheduled to meet with a delegation from Qatar.

Though he wasn’t in the meetings with Trump officials, Zuberi also met with the Qataris at Trump Tower, and then met with the Qatari foreign minister the following day. The Washington Post points to Facebook posts that place Zuberi in Saudi Arabia and the UAE days later.

Steve Rabinowitz, a spokesman for Zuberi, told ABC News: “Imaad knows nothing about a subpoena, other than what is being written. It is well known that after supporting President Obama and later Hillary Clinton that Imaad gave generously and directly to the Trump inaugural committee, but many others gave substantially more. If, in fact, he is named in this subpoena, never mind somehow named alone, he is bewildered why.”

Though no one associated with the Trump campaign or Trump administration has been targeted specifically for their work on the inaugural committee, there is some overlap.

Much of the committee’s fundraising efforts were led by Rick Gates, a senior campaign official who along with campaign manager Paul Manafort was indicted as part of Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation.

Last February, Gates pleaded guilty to several charges and has reportedly been cooperating with both the special counsel’s office and the SDNY.

He even testified against his longtime colleague Paul Manafort last August. While on the stand, Gates allowed that it is “possible that he drew up false expense reports” so that he could steal from the inaugural committee. The SDNY may soon know for sure.

My 2 cents: And we all wait with bated breath as the expression says.

Stay tuned, and thanks for stopping by.