Democrats Launch Sweeping Corruption Probe Into Donald Trump And His Family
Democrats from the House Judiciary Committee submitted a request for more than 80 documents related to the president, his campaign, and his family members, indicating the launch of a wide-sweeping corruption probe. The committee demanded information regarding issues ranging from the firing of former FBI director James Comey to details about Jared Kushner’s dealings, according to The New York Times.
On Sunday, the committee announced that it planned to launch a document request. Democratic Chairman Jerrold Nadler from New York told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News’ This Week that a probe was imminent and said that it was clear the president had obstructed justice when he fired Comey. On Monday, the request was officially submitted to the White House.
“Investigating these threats to the rule of law is an obligation of Congress and a core function of the House Judiciary Committee,” Nadler said. “We have seen the damage done to our democratic institutions in the two years that the Congress refused to conduct responsible oversight. Congress must provide a check on abuses of power.”
The White House confirmed that it received the request and said that it would respond at a later date after reviewing it.
“The House Judiciary Committee’s letter has been received by the White House. The Counsel’s Office and relevant White House officials will review it and respond at the appropriate time,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
The committee set a deadline of two weeks for a response, after which time it will take the necessary steps to obtain a subpoena.
BREAKING: House Democrats just demanded documents from these 81 people and organizations in Trump’s orbit. https://t.co/u3RSCKrdKk
— VICE News (@VICENews) March 4, 2019
Democrats took control of the House in January, and since then, they have been actively probing Trump and his associates relating to any dealings with Russia, any fraud involved in Trump’s inaugural committee, Trump’s ties to foreign leaders and many other issues involving people like former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus, former White House communications director Hope Hicks, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and former White House counsel Don McGahn.
The probe will also look at Allen Weisselberg, who has been under scrutiny recently as a key witness involved in alleged hush payments made to women who were claiming to have had affairs with the president after Michael Cohen claimed that Weisselberg knew about the payments.
Additionally, the probe is asking for information from The National Enquirer parent company American Media Inc. (AMI).
The overall goal of the probe is to gather a wealth of data that can be used in the future to guide any investigations.
