Chris Lefkow -
Donald Trump rails on an almost daily basis against the federal probe into whether his campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected to the White House.
But the investigation by former FBI director Robert Mueller into the 2016 election is just one of many ongoing inquiries into Trump, his businesses and his associates.
Trump’s ex-national security adviser, retired lieutenant general Michael Flynn, appeared in court on Tuesday for sentencing after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.
New York’s attorney general announced that Trump’s personal charity, the Trump Foundation, had agreed to shut down amid a lawsuit accusing it of engaging in illegal activity.
Exactly how many investigations target Trump is subject to interpretation because many of the probes overlap with others or have spun off in different directions. But the scrutiny is extensive.
And that’s before a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives convenes in January with wide-ranging powers to dig into Trump’s affairs.
Whether Trump could personally face charges while in the White House is a matter of debate — legal experts are divided on whether a sitting president can be indicted.
The following are the main investigations facing Trump as he approaches two years in office:
The core focus of the Special Counsel’s probe is whether there were “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals” associated with the Trump campaign.
One focus of the probe is a June 9, 2016 meeting at the Trump Tower in New York in which a Russian lawyer was to offer dirt on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. The meeting was attended by Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, his son Donald Jr, and son-in-law Jared Kushner. Mueller is also looking into whether WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange coordinated his leaks of stolen Democratic Party emails with Trump campaign advisor Roger Stone.
Trump is facing potential legal jeopardy over hush money payments made to two women who were threatening to go public during the election campaign with claims they had affairs with the Republican candidate.
Michael Cohen, Trump’s personal lawyer, said $130,000 was paid to porn actress Stormy Daniels and $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal.
Prosecutors have described the payments as illegal campaign contributions intended to influence the election and Cohen said they were made “in coordination and at the direction” of Trump.
One avenue of the Mueller probe is whether Trump obstructed justice by abruptly firing then FBI director James Comey and asking him to shut down an investigation into General Flynn.
Trump dismissed Comey in May 2017 while he was investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a probe that was eventually taken up by Mueller.
According to The Wall Street Journal, federal prosecutors in New York are investigating whether Trump’s inauguration committee misspent some of the record $107 million it received in donations.
The newspaper said prosecutors were looking into whether some donors gave money in exchange for access to Trump administration officials.
One of the cases facing the president is linked to his Trump International Hotel in Washington and an obscure provision in the US Constitution known as the Emoluments Clause, which forbids office holders from accepting money from foreign entities.
The attorney generals of Maryland and Washington have sued Trump arguing he is in violation of the clause because his hotel does business with foreign governments.
Trump agreed to shut down his personal charity, the Trump Foundation, after it was targeted in a lawsuit by the New York attorney general.
State attorney general Barbara Underwood filed a lawsuit against the foundation in June, accusing it of “persistently illegal conduct” to advance Trump’s business and political interests.
The suit named Trump, sons Don Jr and Eric and daughter Ivanka, who were on the foundation board. — AFP
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