IT'S NOT OVER FOR TRUMP AND HIS HENCHMEN, Despite What His Obsequious, Bootlicking Serfs Claim.

[Cicero]

Faint Hopes for Trump. Vile Rightists Face "Reckoning" No Matter What The
Outcome of The Mueller Investigation


Get the rope out for the Trump lovers. Give 'em enough, and they'll hang
themselves.



After Mueller: The Ongoing Investigations Surrounding Trump

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has wrapped up, but Trump
and his associates may not be out of legal jeopardy yet.

After 675 days, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation is over. But
President Donald Trump’s legal troubles are far from finished.

What has ended is the Department of Justice’s investigation into Russia’s
role in the 2016 presidential election, which began after the United States
assessed that Moscow had intervened in the vote to tip the election in
Trump’s favor. Both Trump and Russia have consistently denied this. But
Mueller’s investigation has led to 215 criminal charges, 38 indictments or
pleas, and five prison sentences so far. His probe ensnared Trump’s
business associates, many of whom had become involved in his political
career, including his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen and former
campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The special counsel’s office also
unearthed a web of criminality, not always directly related to Russian
interference.

Mueller’s probe pursued multiple lines of inquiry, spiraling out from
Trump’s immediate circle into investigations implicating foreign nationals
and Washington lobbyists. As a direct result of Mueller and his team’s
work, at least eight people, including Manafort and Cohen, were convicted
of crimes ranging from unregistered foreign lobbying to campaign-finance
violations.



Mueller referred a number of cases to federal prosecutors in New York,
Virginia, and Washington, D.C.—and their investigations are ongoing. At the
same time, several congressional committees are also pursuing their own
investigations.

Here’s a list of all the ongoing government investigations that could spell
legal trouble for Trump, regardless of whether he’s president, and the
people and entities associated with him.

Federal Jurisdictions
Many of the investigations that Mueller’s team prosecuted or referred to
other prosecutors ended up in federal attorneys’ offices in the Washington,
D.C., area. Even though the special counsel’s probe is over, some of the
investigations remain ongoing. Here’s what’s left, as far as we know:

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York
At least three investigations in this district have not yet concluded.
Prosecutors are reportedly looking into the financial dealings of Trump’s
inauguration committee, which took in a record $107 million for the
festivities surrounding his inauguration, in January 2017. In February,
prosecutors subpoenaed a wide range of documents from the inauguration
committee, and investigators seem particularly interested in whether it
took money from donors connected to Middle Eastern governments.

Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York are also reportedly
looking into whether Manafort, as chairman of Trump’s campaign, illegally
coordinated with a pro-Trump super PAC, Rebuilding America Now, and whether
that super PAC also received donations from people connected to Qatar and
other Middle Eastern countries. These investigations have not yet led to
any indictments or charges.

Read: New York prosecutors may pose a bigger threat to Trump than Mueller


Michael Cohen testified before Congress that SDNY prosecutors are looking
into his communications with the president. (Dennis Van Tine / Star Max /
AP)
Two lobbying firms indicted for their failure to register as foreign
lobbyists, Mercury Public Affairs and the Podesta Group, have also not
reached a conclusion in their cases. A third firm, Skadden Arps, settled
its case in January.

During testimony before the House Oversight Committee in February, Trump’s
former personal lawyer Cohen revealed that prosecutors were also looking
into his communications with Trump and Trump’s representatives following
the FBI raid of Cohen’s office in April 2018. SDNY prosecutors have not
publicly commented on this investigation, though recently released court
documents show that Mueller had a warrant to look into Cohen’s emails as
early as July 2017.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia
Three unresolved cases are in this district. Kamil Ekim Alptekin, an
associate of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, was indicted
and charged for acting as an agent of the Turkish government and lying to
the FBI. He has not appeared in court and, as far as we know, hasn’t been
arrested; his case is unlikely to be resolved quickly for that reason.
Another Flynn associate, Bijan Kian, is still awaiting trial for failing to
register as a foreign agent after working on behalf of the Turkish
government. Kian has pleaded not guilty.


Read: A surge in foreign-influence prosecutions

Prosecutors have also indicted Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova, the accountant
for the Internet Research Agency, the Russian troll farm that authorities
believe created fake social-media accounts to influence United States
elections. She has been charged with crimes relating to interfering in both
the 2016 presidential election and the 2018 midterm election. Though a
warrant has been out for her arrest since last October, she isn’t in
custody as far as we know, either.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
The ongoing cases in the D.C. District Court are almost all related to the
WikiLeaks release of hacked emails from the Hillary Clinton campaign and
the Democratic Party. A number of Trump associates charged as part of the
Mueller probe are still awaiting sentencing in this district as well.


Roger Stone has known Trump since the 1980s. (Jacquelyn Martin / AP)
The longtime Trump associate Roger Stone was arrested in January 2019 and
charged with making false statements, witness tampering, and obstructing an
official proceeding. The FBI raided his home in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
when he was arrested. Stone has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is set
for November 5. After a series of ill-advised social-media posts, one of
which depicted Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is presiding over his case, in
crosshairs, Jackson placed Stone under a full gag order.

Flynn, the former national security adviser, pleaded guilty to making false
statements to the FBI in December 2017. He has not been sentenced, because
he has been cooperating with Mueller’s investigation, leading to
speculation that he could receive a greatly reduced sentence due to the
extent of his cooperation.

Rick Gates, a business associate of Manafort, was charged with conspiracy
and failure to register as a foreign agent, among other charges. Gates
pleaded guilty and cooperated at length with Mueller’s investigation,
including testifying at Manafort’s trial in the Eastern District of
Virginia.

Konstantin Kilimnik, another Manafort associate charged with obstruction of
justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice, has also been indicted, but has
not yet appeared before the court.

Read: The origins of Paul Manafort, Trump’s campaign manager

Prosecutors have also been busy charging Russians and Russian companies
with attempting to interfere in the United States political system. Maria
Butina, a Russian national attending graduate school in the United States,
pleaded guilty to conspiring to act as an unregistered Russian agent. She
worked to infiltrate a number of conservative organizations at the
direction of a Russian government official. Butina pleaded guilty as part
of a plea deal, but has yet to be sentenced.

In February 2018, three Russian businesses, including the Internet Research
Agency, and 13 Russian nationals were charged with federal crimes committed
while they allegedly attempted to interfere in the United States political
system, particularly the 2016 presidential election. The Trump
administration imposed financial sanctions on the individuals and
businesses indicted.

In July 2018, a grand jury charged 12 Russian intelligence officers for
their roles in “large-scale cyber operations” aimed at meddling in the 2016
presidential election. These officers are alleged to have been behind the
email hacks, and they allegedly coordinated with WikiLeaks to release the
hacked emails before the election. As far as we know, the Russian
intelligence officers haven’t been arrested, and no further public
information is available on this case.

Department of Justice (Public Integrity Section)
In August 2018, The Washington Post reported that the Department of Justice
was investigating Elliott Broidy, a prominent Republican fundraiser, for
possibly attempting to cash in on his connections with the Trump
administration by requesting millions of dollars from foreign governments
in exchange for pushing the administration to take actions benefiting those
countries. ProPublica reported in March that federal investigators had, at
some point the previous year, raided Broidy’s Los Angeles office. Their
search warrant authorized them to seize a wide range of evidence related to
Broidy’s contacts with foreign governments, including the United Arab
Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and China, as well as people including
Rick Gates.

Broidy has been linked to George Nader, a witness in Mueller’s probe who
also has close ties with the UAE.

Other State and Local Investigations
In addition to the investigations in New York, Virginia, and Washington,
D.C., that are directly related to Mueller’s probe, other jurisdictions are
conducting numerous investigations into various people and organizations
with connections to Trump.

State Attorneys General Investigating Trump’s Inauguration Committee
The attorneys general of Washington, D.C., and New Jersey, like
investigators in the Southern District of New York, have each subpoenaed
the records of Trump’s inauguration committee, indicating a widening
prosecutorial interest into that committee’s practices.

New York State and New York City
At least four ongoing investigations are happening at the state and local
level in New York. The tax departments for both New York State and New York
City have opened investigations into Trump’s taxes after a New York Times
investigation found that Trump benefited from a $400 million tax scheme.

In March, the New York attorney general opened an investigation into Trump
Organization projects, including four major Trump Hotel and Tower projects
and the organization’s failed attempt to purchase the Buffalo Bills
football team. The office subpoenaed Deutsche Bank and Investors Bank for
its financial records related to the Trump Organization. Even when other
banks refused to lend to Trump, Deutsche Bank became his go-to lender, and
the New York attorney general hopes that it kept records of his financial
practices that could be of use to the state in its investigations.


Then-candidate Donald Trump presents a mock check from the Trump Foundation
to an organization in Iowa in January 2016. Three years later, the
foundation is dissolving. (Rick Wilking / Reuters)
The New York attorney general is reportedly still conducting a criminal
investigation into the activities of the Trump Foundation, even though the
foundation is dissolving. After a two-year investigation, the New York
attorney general’s office filed a lawsuit alleging that the Trump
Foundation violated campaign-finance law and coordinated with Trump’s
presidential campaign.

State Attorneys General Suing Trump or His Organizations
Other states have moved to file lawsuits against Trump and his businesses
after investigations: the attorneys general for Maryland and the District
of Columbia sued Trump in 2017 for allegedly violating the emoluments
clause of the Constitution.

Other State Court Probes
Trouble could also still be brewing in state courts for some Trump
associates who have already been convicted as part of the Mueller probe.
The Manhattan district attorney indicted Manafort, Trump’s former campaign
chairman, on 16 charges, including mortgage fraud. A key difference between
these charges and the ones Manafort was convicted of in federal court is
that Trump would not be able to pardon Manafort for these crimes, should he
be convicted.

Congress
While Mueller’s investigation may be over, congressional Democrats have
made it clear that they intend to conduct a thorough investigation of their
own. On March 14, the House of Representatives voted unanimously on a
resolution demanding that Attorney General William Barr release the Mueller
investigation’s full findings. The resolution was sent to the Senate, where
the Republican Lindsey Graham said he would only vote for it if it created
a second special counsel that would investigate Hillary Clinton’s emails,
effectively blocking the resolution’s passage.

Read: The Democrat who could lead Trump’s impeachment isn’t sure if it’s
warranted

Congress is launching the next wave of investigations into the Trump
presidency. Here’s a rundown of all the committees in play:

The House Intelligence Committee
In the spring of 2018, the Republican-controlled House Intelligence
Committee’s probe concluded that, while Russia attempted to interfere in
the 2016 presidential election, it did not do so to aid President Trump,
contrary to the universal findings of the U.S. intelligence community. It
also concluded that there was no collusion between Russia and the Trump
campaign. The investigation was led by Republican Representative Devin
Nunes, a member of the Trump transition team who has long denied contact
between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives. Nunes’s involvement
contributed to the probe’s heightened politicization, especially after
reporting revealed that Nunes had been sharing material with the White
House behind the committee’s back.


The U.S. attorney general (top left) and chairs of congressional
committees pursuing investigations into Trump and his associates. Some
chairs have launched joint investigations. (Reuters)
Now controlled by Democrats and chaired by Representative Adam Schiff, the
Intelligence Committee has reopened its investigation into Russian
interference and expanded the scope of the probe, hiring numerous
investigators such as Daniel Goldman, a former federal prosecutor who
specializes in Russian organized crime. The committee is pursuing five
lines of inquiry: the scope and scale of Russian interference in the U.S.
political process; the extent to which the Russian government connected
with the Trump campaign; whether any foreign actor has leverage over Trump;
whether members of Trumpworld have been at risk of having a foreign actor
hold leverage over them; and whether any actor, including the president,
attempted to obstruct justice.


A key point of investigation is the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower
between Manafort, Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Russian officials,
which was allegedly convened with the understanding that Trump associates
could receive damning details about Clinton from the Russians. If this is
true, it would constitute illegal campaign contribution to a political
campaign. In early March, Cohen testified before the committee in a closed
hearing, and Schiff pledged to release the transcript. However, on March
12, he said the committee was holding the transcript for now because
investigators needed to follow up on multiple leads. Politico reported that
Cohen also gave the committee numerous documents to support his claim that
Jay Sekulow, one of the president’s attorneys, edited Cohen’s false
testimony before Congress about the Trump Tower Moscow deal. Sekulow said
it was “completely false” that Trump’s attorneys had “edited or changed his
statement to Congress to alter the duration of the Trump Tower Moscow
negotiations.”

Schiff also told reporters that he was interested in investigating Cohen’s
claim that the president knew about Stone’s communications with WikiLeaks.
Felix Sater, a Trump-allied real-estate developer who worked on the Trump
Tower Moscow deal, will testify before the committee on March 27.

The House Financial Services Committee
The Intelligence Committee is also planning a joint investigation with the
House Financial Services Committee that will look into Deutsche Bank’s
lending practices. Chaired by the Democrat Maxine Waters, the Financial
Services Committee plans to look into why Deutsche Bank was willing to lend
money to the Trump Organization when other financial entities would not.
According to Waters, Trump’s family, including Ivanka Trump and Kushner,
bank with Deutsche bank.

Deutsche Bank has been fined in the past for money laundering for Russian
clients, and is under scrutiny for its involvement with Danske Bank of
Denmark, which is also under scrutiny for money laundering. The committee
is looking to see whether illicit money, from Russia or otherwise, ended up
in any of the Trump Organization’s accounts, and whether there is any
evidence of money laundering, Russian or otherwise. Deutsche Bank has said
it plans to assist the lawmakers “in their official oversight functions.”

The House Oversight Committee
Led by Chairman Elijah Cummings, the Oversight Committee is pursuing
multiple investigations into Trump and his administration. When the
Republicans controlled the committee, they blocked at least 64 subpoena
requests filed by Democrats. Now that Democrats are in power, they can
reissue those subpoenas.


Then–ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Elijah Cummings speaks
while aides hold up posters of Trump associates who pleaded guilty in the
Russia probe. The number has since increased. (Joshua Roberts / Reuters)
The committee heard testimony from Cohen on March 7, 2019. Cohen suggested
that President Trump knew about Roger Stone’s connections to WikiLeaks, and
testified that Trump’s lawyers edited his initial testimony to Congress
about Trump Tower Moscow. He also suggested that Trump has inflated his
assets, and was also aware of Cohen’s hush money payments to the adult-film
star Stormy Daniels. According to CNN, the committee has also requested
interviews with two attorneys—former White House Deputy Counsel Stefan
Passantino and Trump’s personal attorney Sheri Dillon—after evidence
emerged suggesting they might have lied to federal ethics officials about
payments made to Daniels.


The committee is also investigating the process for obtaining security
clearance in the White House, following a report from The New York Times
that Trump intervened to give his son-in-law, Kushner, security clearance.
The committee has asked the White House for documents and launched a
broader investigation into the clearance process overall.

Additionally, the committee is investigating Trump’s activities in regards
to the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., and whether Trump’s business
interests as a landlord have been aided by his position as president.

The House Judiciary Committee
In February 2019, the committee, chaired by Democratic Representative Jerry
Nadler, hired Special Oversight Counsels Barry Berke and Norm Eisen to help
consult on oversight of the Department of Justice, including matters of the
Mueller investigation. In early March, the committee launched a wide-scale
investigation into three questions: whether Trump’s alleged interference
with criminal investigations amounts to obstruction of justice; whether
Trump or his associates broke campaign-finance laws; and whether Trump has
committed abuses of power through his frequent attacks on the press, the
courts, and certain law-enforcement agencies. It requested documents from
more than 80 people and organizations in the Trump orbit or connected to
alleged foreign interference in U.S. elections, including Donald Trump Jr.,
and threatened to issue subpoenas for the documents if they were not
provided to the committee.

In 2019, the committee has heard both public and private testimony from
former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker, which covered conversations
Whitaker had with the White House regarding the Mueller probe.

If Congress were to move to impeach the president, it would begin in this
committee.

The House Ways and Means Committee
Ways and Means is one of Congress’s most powerful committees, and
Democratic Chairman Richard Neal has said he plans to build a case for
subpoenaing a copy of Trump’s personal and professional tax returns. The
president has been under pressure to release his returns since the 2016
campaign, but has consistently refused, leading some to believe that they
contain evidence of financial malfeasance. On February 7, the committee
held a hearing on “legislative proposals and tax law related to
presidential and vice-presidential tax returns,” which looked into ways the
committee could legally obtain the returns.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee
Democratic Chairman Eliot Engel has said he plans to investigate whether
Trump’s business ties abroad are affecting his foreign-policy decisions.
Specifically, Engel said he wanted to look into whether Trump violated the
Constitution’s emoluments clause. On February 27, 2019, the committee held
a full hearing on the Trump administration’s foreign policy.



On March 4, Engel, in conjunction with the Intelligence Committee and the
Oversight Committee, also issued a letter demanding documents and
interviews about Trump’s communications with Putin.

Senate Intelligence Committee
The Senate Intelligence Committee has been investigating Russian
interference since 2017, and the committee’s Republican chairman, Richard
Burr, said the investigation will continue into 2019. It has interviewed
more than 200 witnesses and obtained hundreds of thousands of pages of
documents. The investigation has examined links between the Russian
government and the Trump campaign, as well as the larger interference in
the 2016 election by Russian operatives. The committee has seen some of the
congressional highlights of the Russia probe; former FBI Director James
Comey testified to the president’s possible obstruction of justice, and
Attorney General Jeff Sessions testified about his deals with then–Russian
Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, which led him to recuse himself from the Russia
investigation. Kushner, Manafort, and Donald Trump Jr. have all testified
for the Senate Intelligence Committee in closed-door hearings, as did
Cohen, who was later revealed to have lied. On July 3, 2018, the committee
issued a report concluding that Russia interfered in the 2016 election with
the intention to help Trump. It has also issued a report detailing Russia’s
extensive disinformation campaign.




Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (right) and Committee
Vice Chairman Mark Warner talk during an Intelligence Committee hearing on
Russian interference in U.S. elections. Warner and Burr recently disagreed
on the committee’s findings. (Andrew Harnik / AP)
On February 7, Burr told CBS that the committee has yet to find evidence of
collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democratic Vice Chairman
Mark Warner disagreed with Burr’s comments. Critics have pointed out that
Burr has not held public hearings with key campaign officials and did not
expand the committee’s investigative staff when the investigation began.
While the bipartisan committee has been largely scandal-free, our colleague
Natasha Bertrand reported in February that the committee has “recently
begun to disagree more publicly on what the facts they’ve collected add up
to: Conspiracy? A series of coincidences and bad decisions? Or something in
between?” On March 2, 2019, Bertrand also reported that the committee is
now looking into at least three trips Trump took to Russia and the U.S.S.R.
over the past 30 years.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/03/after-mueller-ongoing-
investigations-trump/585376/