Trump’s crime spree, with thanks to Sean Hannity

Harry Welty

Sean Hannity recently shared a list of Trump investigations with his Fox audience to prove how excessive they are. And yet, House Republicans spent two years investigating three deaths in Libya’s Civil War to weaken a potential Presidential campaign by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Compare:
• Russia collusion investigation. This includes both criminal probes and congressional inquiries of the 2016 Trump campaign contacts with Russian intelligence. 


• “Crossfire Hurricane” investigation. FBI code name for an investigation into Russian interference and efforts to obstruct the Mueller probe by Attorney General William P. Barr, who with a change of heart has ridiculed Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election.

• C. investigates inaugural funds. After Trump’s 2016 election, his nonprofit inauguration committee vacuumed up millions of dollars. It settled a lawsuit with the District of Columbia for $750,000.
Ditto – New York investigates inaugural funds.
Ditto – a New York federal probe where a prominent donor pled guilty to obstruction charges.
Ditto – New Jersey investigates inaugural funds in 2019.

• Emoluments clause investigations. The Constitution’s emoluments clause, prohibits the President from receiving benefits from foreign governments. A lawsuit regarding foreign government reps renting rooms in Trump hotels was dismissed by an appeals court in 2019.

• Ways and Means tax investigation. In a break with decades of precedent the President did not open his taxes to public review to reveal potential conflicts of interest. In 2019, the Ways and Means Committee subpoenaed the documents but their request was denied by the courts. Last month, Courts granted the request.

• Trump hotel lease investigation. When the Trump Organization turned the old D.C. post office into a hotel, the lease forbade federal officials from being party to the agreement. Then Trump became President. The General Services Administration approved the lease in 2017. An internal watchdog decried the decision.

• Foreign gifts investigation. When Trump left office foreign gifts were poorly documented and an investigation was launched. Gifts were recovered from Mar-a-Lago.

• Fulton County, Ga., 2020 election investigation. The district attorney is investigating whether Trump violated the law by pressuring state officials to overturn the certified 2020 vote in the state.

• NAACP Michigan Voting Rights Act investigation. This is a lawsuit filed by the NAACP against Trump allies for attempting to subvert the 2020 election results in Michigan.

• Mar-a-Lago search. A federal probe into the unauthorized retention of government documents, including ones marked top secret.

• House Oversight classified materials investigation. A civil investigation by Congress of the same documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

• Jan. 6 committee investigation. A House select committee is investigating the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and Trump’s months-long effort to retain power despite losing the election.

• C. attorney general investigation into Jan. 6. A lawsuit was filed in December although it doesn’t target Trump!

• Jan. 6 impeachment investigation. A week after the riot, Trump was impeached by the House for stoking the day’s violence. He was acquitted by the Senate after the failure to achieve the two-thirds vote for conviction. Nevertheless, seven members of Trump’s party voted to convict.

• Ukraine phone call impeachment investigation. In late 2019, House investigators outlined how Trump pressured Ukraine to aid his 2020 reelection bid. Senate Republicans acquitted Trump at trial.

• Hush money payments investigation. Trump paid two women to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters with him. For anyone else, this would have ended their political career.

• Michael Cohen pardon investigation. Trump lawyer Michael Cohen said that Trump’s team floated the possibility of his pardon before his decision to cooperate with federal prosecutors. The Manhattan district attorney reportedly investigated the allegation.

• Save America PAC investigation. The government is apparently investigating Trump’s efforts to fundraise in the aftermath of the 2020 election. This investigation overlaps with the criminal investigation of the Capitol riot.

• White House security clearance investigation. Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law failed to get security clearance from federal officials so Trump sidestepped the process and gave him clearance. House Democrats announced a probe.

• Trump’s net worth investigated in House. The Washington Post reported in early 2019 that Trump had inflated the value of his properties to lenders for years. House Democrats are investigating whether this is bank fraud.

• Use of private email by Jared and Ivanka. After excoriating Sec. Of State Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server it was discovered that Trump’s own family used private email after joining his administration. This began as a White House investigation. Democrats joined in later.

• Investigation into communications with Putin. In early 2019 congressional committees demanded White House documentation of Trump’s communications with Russia’s president. The law governing retention of documents also undergirds the Mar-a-Lago search.

• Possible money laundering investigation. In May, the Federal Election Commission deadlocked on the question of whether Trump’s 2020 reelection concealed hundreds of millions of dollars in spending. The FEC is made up of three Democratic and three Republican appointees. A tie vote blocked the investigation.

• Saudi Arabia nuclear venture investigation. Michael Flynn’s tenure as national security adviser was short but whistleblowers said that he sought to transfer nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia in violation of federal law. Trump pardoned Flynn.

• New York A.G. Trump property values. Just as the Trump Organization stands accused of inflating property values to investors it is also accused of understating the values to the IRS to falsely report low tax bills.
Ditto – Manhattan A.G. Trump property values. 
Ditto – Westchester A.G. Trump property values. 

• Trump SPAC/Truth Social investigated. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and federal law enforcement are probing possible insider trading involving Trump’s social media platform.

• Inflated insurance claims investigation. Last October, Rolling Stone reported that investigators were looking at whether a Trump property had overstated storm damage more than a decade ago.
Before Donald Trump became President, Trump was involved in something like 5,000 lawsuits. He is not a man you would wisely do business on a gentleman’s handshake.

Welty runs his mouth of at lincolndemocrat.com