Trump targeted: A look at the investigations involving the former president; from Russia to Mar-a-Lago

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-targeted-look-investigations-
involving-former-president-from-russia-mar-a-lago

Former President Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in a deposition
as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into his
family’s business practices—just days after the FBI raided his Mar-a-Lago
home in connection with an investigation into classified records he
allegedly took with him when he left the White House—but investigations
are nothing new for Donald Trump.

Trump's presidency was clouded by investigations—several into whether he
colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election, some focused on his
finances and others that led to impeachment, making him the first
president in United States history to have been impeached twice.

Trump’s post-presidential life is reminiscent of his days in the Oval
Office, marred by probes, which the former president and his allies say
are all just part of an effort by his political opponents to prevent him
from running for re-election in 2024.

This week alone, Trump, again, found himself in the line of fire.

FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago
Early Monday morning, the FBI, in an unprecedented move, raided Trump’s
private residence at Mar-a-Lago in connection with an investigation into
classified records the former president allegedly took with him from the
White House.

Sources told Fox News that FBI agents would not allow Trump’s attorneys to
watch as they raided the former president's private residence. One source
said FBI agents took boxes and documents without reviewing them on the
property—only to investigate them later.

The raid was related to the National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA), which said earlier this year that Trump took 15 boxes of
presidential records to his personal residence in Florida. Those boxes
allegedly contained "classified national security information," and
official correspondence between Trump and foreign heads of state.

The NARA notified Congress in February that the agency recovered the 15
boxes from Mar-a-Lago and "identified items marked as classified national
security information within the boxes." The matter was referred to the
Justice Department by NARA.

FBI WOULD NOT LET TRUMP ATTORNEYS IN ROOMS AS AGENTS RAIDED MAR-A-LAGO,
WARRANT FOCUSED ON NARA: SOURCE

Trump, earlier this year, said the National Archives did not "find" the
documents, but that they were "given, upon request." Sources close to the
former president said he had been cooperating and there was "no need" for
the raid.

Classified material that was reportedly confiscated by the FBI during the
raid Monday included a letter to Trump from former President Obama, a
letter from Kim Jong Un, a birthday dinner menu and a cocktail napkin.

Trump's tax returns probe
Then, on Tuesday, a federal appeals court paved the way for the House Ways
and Means Committee to finally obtain Trump’s tax returns from the
Internal Revenue Service—something the panel has been trying to obtain
since 2019, under a law that permits the disclosure of an individual's tax
returns to the congressional committee.

Trump may seek emergency intervention measures from the Supreme Court in
an attempt to temporarily block any release of these tax records.

Civil investigation into Trump Organization
On Wednesday, Trump appeared in downtown New York City for his deposition
before New York Attorney General Letitia James. James’ office has been
conducting a civil investigation into the Trump Organization to find out
whether Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of assets on
financial statements in order to obtain loans and tax benefits.

"I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the
Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media,
have found nothing," Trump said in a statement Wednesday morning.

"The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose, and I will
utilize it to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious
attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all
other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country."

TRUMP RAID LINKED TO DOJ, NATIONAL ARCHIVES PROBE INTO CLASSIFIED DOCS
ALLEGEDLY TAKEN TO MAR-A-LAGO

"I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth
Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question," he continued. "When
your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become
the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by
lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice."

"If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on
Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any
uncertainty," Trump said. "I have absolutely no choice because the current
Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral
and ethical bounds of decency."

Trump added: "Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of
the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and
privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States
Constitution."

A spokesperson for the New York State Attorney General’s Office confirmed
that the office conducted Trump’s deposition.

"Attorney General Letitia James took part in the deposition during which
Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,"
the spokesperson said. "Attorney General James will pursue the facts and
the law wherever they may lead."

The spokesperson added: "Our investigation continues."

TRUMP TO BE DEPOSED IN JAMES' INVESTIGATION WEDNESDAY

However, Trump’s Republican allies are seeing a pattern, and encouraging
him to continue to fight back.

"Before he's in the White House, they go after him. While he's in the
White House, they go after him, and they're continuing to do so now that
he's left," the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee Rep. Jim
Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News. "It actually started before he was even
president."

FBI's Crossfire Hurricane probe
When Trump took office in January 2017, the FBI was in the middle of
conducting a counterintelligence investigation into whether candidate
Donald Trump and members of his campaign were colluding or coordinating
with Russia to influence the 2016 election. That investigation was
referred to inside the bureau as "Crossfire Hurricane," and began on July
31, 2016.

That investigation was opened, despite then-CIA Director John Brennan
briefing then-President Obama on July 28, 2016 about a purported proposal
from one of Hillary Clinton's campaign foreign policy advisers "to vilify
Donald Trump by stirring up a scandal claiming interference by the Russian
security service."

In September 2016, the CIA properly forwarded that information through a
Counterintelligence Operational Lead (CIOL) to then-FBI Director James
Comey and then-Deputy Assistant Director of Counterintelligence Peter
Strzok, with the subject line: "Crossfire Hurricane."

Fox News first obtained and reported on the CIOL, which stated: "The
following information is provided for the exclusive use of your bureau for
background investigative action or lead purposes as appropriate."

DESPITE ACQUITTAL, DURHAM TRIAL OF SUSSMANN ADDED TO EVIDENCE CLINTON
CAMPAIGN PLOTTED TO TIE TRUMP TO RUSSIA

"An exchange [REDACTED] discussing US presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton’s approval of a plan concerning US presidential candidate Donald
Trump and Russian hackers hampering US elections as a means of distracting
the public from her use of a private email server," the referral states.

It is unclear how the FBI handled that memo.

Special Counsel John Durham is currently investigating the origins of the
FBI's Trump-Russia probe.

After Trump’s victory and during the presidential transition period, Comey
briefed Trump on the now-infamous anti-Trump dossier, containing salacious
allegations of purported coordination between Trump and the Russian
government. It was authored by Christopher Steele, an ex-British
intelligence officer.

The DOJ inspector general later revealed that the unverified dossier
helped serve as the basis for controversial Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) warrants obtained against former Trump campaign
aide Carter Page.

It is now widely known that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and
the Democratic National Committee funded the dossier through the law firm
Perkins Coie.

HILLARY CLINTON APPROVED DISSEMINATION OF TRUMP-RUSSIAN BANK ALLEGATIONS
TO MEDIA, CAMPAIGN MANAGER TESTIFIES

During the early months of Trump’s administration, Jeff Sessions, who
served as attorney general at the time, recused himself from oversight of
the FBI’s Russia investigation, due to his involvement with the Trump
campaign, per Justice Department regulations. Then-Deputy Attorney General
Rod Rosenstein was then tasked with oversight of the investigation.

Trump, in May 2017, fired then-FBI Director James Comey. Comey, during his
June 2017 testimony to Congress, said he deliberately leaked a memo from a
key meeting with Trump to a friend after he was fired in order to prompt
the appointment of a special counsel.

"I asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a
reporter—I thought that might prompt the appointment of a special
counsel," Comey testified.

Mueller's investigation and report
Days after Comey was fired, Rosenstein appointed Special Counsel Robert
Mueller to take over the FBI’s Trump-Russia probe.

The Mueller investigation clouded the Trump administration for nearly two
years.

DECLASSIFIED TRUMP-RUSSIA PROBE DOCS TO DATE: WHAT TO KNOW

Simultaneously, investigations into Trump-Russia allegations were launched
on Capitol Hill—in both chambers of Congress.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate
Intelligence Committee opened investigations into whether Trump and
members of his campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016
presidential race.

Neither the House nor Senate investigation found evidence of collusion
between Trump and Russia.

After nearly two years, Mueller’s investigation, which concluded in March
2019, yielded no evidence of criminal conspiracy or coordination between
the Trump campaign and Russian officials during the 2016 presidential
election.

Mueller, though, did not draw a conclusion on whether the president
obstructed justice. At the time, then-Attorney General Bill Barr and
Rosenstein concluded the evidence from the Mueller case was "not
sufficient to establish that the President committed an obstruction-of-
justice offense."

Once Mueller’s findings were made public, congressional Democrats seized
on the issue of obstruction of justice, and began ramping up
investigations on matters that spanned from Trump’s personal finances to
security clearances for Trump administration officials, all whilst the
drumbeat of impeachment built within the House Democratic caucus.

In March 2019, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.,
announced a wide-ranging probe into almost every aspect of Trump’s
administration, business ventures, and family dealings, subpoenaing more
than 81 individuals and entities to investigate "alleged obstruction of
justice, public corruption, and other abuses of power by President Trump."

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT DRUMBEAT BUILDS ON LEFT, AS HOUSE SHIFTS PROBES
INTO HIGH GEAR

But Nadler wasn’t alone— a number of other House panels also stepped up
inquiries.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee, which was chaired, at the time, by
Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., dissolved the panel’s subcommittee on terrorism
and re-directed those resources to a subcommittee dedicated, instead, to
investigations related to Trump—specifically his relationships and
communications with foreign officials, such as Russian President Vladimir
Putin.

Congressional committees, at the time, were also seeking access to State
Department employees and contractors with knowledge of Trump's
communications with Putin, including the "linguists, translators, or
interpreters" who participated in or listened to Trump-Putin meetings.

FLASHBACK: SCHIFF SAYS THERE IS 'DIRECT EVIDENCE' OF COLLUSION BETWEEN
TRUMP CAMPAIGN AND RUSSIA

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who pushed
the Trump-Russia collusion narrative for years, in 2019, continued his
investigation into the matter, claiming he had evidence of collusion,
despite Mueller’s findings.

Declassified transcripts from House Intelligence Committee interviews,
which Fox News first reported on in 2020, revealed, among other things,
that top Obama officials acknowledged they had no "empirical evidence" of
collusion or a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia in the
2016 election.

Also in the spring of 2019, the House Ways and Means Committee sued the
Trump administration, accusing officials of violating federal law by
refusing to comply with the panel’s requests and subpoenas for documents
related to Trump’s tax returns.

TRUMP SUES HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE, NEW YORK STATE OFFICIALS TO
PROTECT HIS TAX RETURNS

The House Oversight Committee, at the time, also subpoenaed Trump’s
accounting firm, Mazars USA LLC for his financial information, including
annual statements, periodic financial reports and independent auditor
reports from Mazars, as well as all communications with Trump.

Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee also subpoenaed
Deutsche Bank and Capital One over Trump’s financial statements.

In the middle of the congressional investigations into his finances,
Trump’s business dealings were also being probed in two separate
investigations in New York— one by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus
Vance and the other by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump’s administration was even being investigated by the House Oversight
Committee over security clearances given to officials, probing the process
that gave clearances to White House staff.

FLASHBACK: DEM-LED HOUSE PANEL LAUNCHES NEW PROBE INTO TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION SECURITY CLEARANCES

Ukraine call and first impeachment
But everything came to a head in July 2019—Trump had a phone call with
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

During that call, Trump pressed Zelenskyy to launch investigations into
the Biden family’s actions and business dealings in Ukraine—specifically
Hunter Biden’s ventures with Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings.
Hunter Biden, at the time, was, and still is, under federal criminal
investigation for his tax affairs, prompted by suspicious foreign
transactions.

The president’s request came after millions in U.S. military aid to
Ukraine had been frozen, which Democrats and some witnesses have cited as
a quid pro quo arrangement. Democrats also claimed Trump was meddling in
the next presidential election by asking a foreign leader to look into a
Democratic political opponent.

Trump’s conversation with Zelenskyy prompted a whistleblower complaint,
which led to the House impeachment inquiry, and ultimately, impeachment
proceedings in the Senate.

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT NUMBER ONE: SENATE ACQUITS TRUMP ON ABUSE OF POWER,
OBSTRUCTION OF CONGRESS CHARGES

The House voted to impeach Trump in December 2019 on two counts— abuse of
power and obstruction of Congress. The Senate voted for acquittal in
February 2020.

"At some point, you got to ask, you know, the motive," Jordan said of the
investigations. "And the motive is this guy came to town and shook up the
place—he changed the clique that exists there in D.C., he took on the
clique and the bureaucracy and everything else, and the folks there said,
no, we just can't have this, and that's why they go after him so hard."

COVID-19 accusations
Weeks after Trump’s first acquittal, in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic
rocked the world, shutting down the U.S. economy and global markets, with
millions of people around the world contracting the novel coronavirus.

Trump was accused, throughout, of not taking the virus seriously.
Democratic senators, including now-Vice President Kamala Harris, called
for an investigation into the Trump administration’s response to the
coronavirus pandemic. Democrats also said they would create a 9/11-style
commission to probe Trump’s response.

The Trump administration, though, launched Operation Warp Speed—a public-
private partnership to create vaccines against the novel coronavirus, as
the pandemic raged in 2020. Under his administration, the Food and Drug
Administration approved emergency use authorizations (EUAs) for the
Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines.

FLASHBACK: WARREN, SENATE DEMOCRATS CALL FOR INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS

Trump in December 2020 signed an executive order that would ensure all
Americans had access to coronavirus vaccines before the U.S. government
could begin aiding nations around the world.

Russian bounties to kill U.S. troops
In another congressional probe, during the pandemic, Trump was hammered by
Democrats over when he was briefed, and his response to Moscow, related to
intelligence that Russia offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to
kill U.S. troops.

A year later, during the Biden administration, officials admitted that
intelligence was unverified.

2020 presidential election
Throughout 2020, Trump was also criticized for questioning the security of
the upcoming presidential election, and for repeatedly saying it would be
"rigged" due to the pandemic-era process of mail-in ballots.

Biden won the 2020 election, but Trump claimed it was stolen, and his
legal team filed a slew of lawsuits in battleground states across the
nation.

FLASHBACK: IMPEACHMENT NUMBER TWO: TRUMP ACQUITTED IN SECOND IMPEACHMENT
TRIAL ON CHARGE OF INCITING JAN. 6 CAPITOL RIOT

January 6 riot and second impeachment
On Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump rioters breached the U.S. Capitol during a
joint session of Congress to certify the Electoral College results in
favor of President Biden. Trump was permanently banned from Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube after the riot.

The House of Representatives then drafted articles of impeachment against
him again, and ultimately voted to impeach him on a charge of inciting an
insurrection for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot—making him the first and only
president to be impeached, and ultimately acquitted, twice in history.

Trump's legal team denounced the proceedings as an unconstitutional "sham
impeachment" against a private citizen, driven by Democrats' "hatred" for
Trump and desire to silence a political opponent.

The Senate voted to acquit, but had Trump been convicted, the Senate would
have moved to bar the 45th president from holding federal office ever
again, preventing a 2024 White House run.

In Georgia, in early 2021, prosecutors in Fulton County opened a criminal
investigation into Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020
presidential election in the state, including his phone call with Georgia
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Trump suggested the
Republicans "find" enough votes to change the results.

And when Trump left office, the House Select Committee to Investigate the
January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol began its probe into the
Capitol riot.

JAN. 6 COMMITTEE AIMS TO SHOW 'TRUMP WAS AT THE CENTER' OF PLOT TO
OVERTURN ELECTION WITH PRIMETIME HEARING

That committee has spent more than a year investigating, and launched a
series of hearings this summer, some during primetime, in an attempt to
capture Americans’ attention before the November midterm elections—as they
compete with record-high inflation, record-high gas prices, shortages in
baby formula, a looming recession, and more for political attention.

Republican Study Committee Chairman Jim Banks, R-Ind., who met with Trump
at Bedminster Tuesday evening, reflected on the series of investigations,
and said "America has never had a fighter like Donald Trump, and that’s
why the American people love him."

"Now, more than ever, we need Donald Trump back in the White House to
fight for America," Banks said. "He has taken a beating from the left,
from the left-wing media, from the swamp—and each and every time, he gets
back up and keeps fighting back and that’s why he enjoys so much support
from House Republicans."

Potential Trump 2024 presidential run
Jordan told Fox News that Democrats are "afraid he is going to run again,
which I want him to do."

"And he’s going to win," Jordan said. "He’s going to come and continue to
shake up the town and stand up for ‘We the People,’ and not the
bureaucratic swamp."

GOP REP. BANKS SAYS TRUMP 'FIRED UP' AFTER FBI RAID, 'MADE UP HIS MIND' ON
2024: 'GOING TO LIKE HIS DECISION'

And Banks told Fox News that what happened at Mar-a-Lago "unifies
Republicans in our outrage."

"It will only backfire on the left as they see that the American people
stand with President Trump," Banks said. "And all of the investigations
that have added up over the years--this should not happen in America."

Banks told Fox News that should the Republicans take back the majority in
the House of Representatives in November’s midterm elections, Jordan will
be chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

"If there has ever been the right guy, in the right place in American
politics—it is going to be Jim Jordan chairing the House Judiciary
Committee," he said. "Those committee hearings should be on primetime—on
live television—for the American people to tune in."

He added: "Jordan is going to lead the effort to hold the Justice
Department accountable in a way that, right now, they deserve more than
ever."

As for Trump, Banks told Fox News that the former president "has made up
his mind" about whether he will run for re-election in 2024—a decision he
will make public in "a matter of time."



--
"LOCKDOWN", left-wing COVID fearmongering. 95% of COVID infections
recover with no after effects.

No collusion - Special Counsel Robert Swan Mueller III, March 2019.
Officially made Nancy Pelosi a two-time impeachment loser.

Donald J. Trump, cheated out of a second term by fraudulent "mail-in"
ballots. Report voter fraud: sf.n...@mail.house.gov

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

President Trump boosted the economy, reduced illegal invasions, appointed
dozens of judges and three SCOTUS justices.