It's not just an investigation...
It's an...
Investi-ganza!
Publisher admits hush payments
NEW YORK • The National Enquirer's parent company has acknowledged paying hush money to a woman who alleged an affair with Mr Donald Trump, in order to "suppress the woman's story" and "prevent it from influencing the (presidential) election".
The admission came as federal prosecutors announced on Wednesday that they would not prosecute the company, American Media Inc, or AMI, for its role in a scheme to tilt the presidential race in favour of Mr Trump. In the agreement, AMI said it would cooperate with prosecutors and admitted it paid US$150,000 (S$206,000) to Ms Karen McDougal before the 2016 election to silence her allegations of an affair with Mr Trump.
The deal signalled the unravelling of the deep relationship Mr Trump and AMI chief executive David Pecker had forged over decades.
AMI agreed to cooperate with the Southern District of New York in September, and the deal became public on Wednesday as Michael Cohen, Mr Trump's longtime fixer, was sentenced over campaign finance violations for his role in arranging payments to Ms McDougal and Ms Stormy Daniels, the pornographic-film actress who also allegedly had an affair with Mr Trump.
The moves put additional pressure on the President as he faces multiple investigations and finds himself losing the protection of some of his long-standing allies.
In 2011, AMI helped manage a website, shouldtrumprun.com, which Cohen decided to launch with several partners. "Pecker has a deep industrial knowledge of how Trump and Cohen operated," said a former Enquirer employee.
https://www.straitstimes.com/world/unit ... h-payments
Donald Trump's Inauguration Committee Under Federal Investigation for Trading Donations for Policies: Report
Federal prosecutors are investigating the 2017 inauguration committee for President Donald Trump, looking into whether it misspent donations or if donors traded money for access or policies, reported the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The paper reported the probe from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office was still in its "early stages." It also claimed part of the reason the investigation arose was because of materials seized by the FBI from Donald Trump's former personal attorney Michael Cohen. The Journal reported authorities found a recording of a conversation between Cohen and Stephanie Winston Wolkoff—a former adviser to now-first lady Melania Trump—in which she expressed concerns about how inauguration funds were being spent.
Trump's inaugural committee raised a record-breaking $107 million. The Journal reported that prosecutors spoke with Richard Gates—a Trump campaign staffer and deputy chair of the inaugural committee—about the committee's spending and donors. Gates pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to the FBI earlier this year, agreeing to provide information to the ongoing investigation from special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Journal, citing a lawyer close to the matter, said the inaugural committee hadn't been asked for documents or approached by prosecutors.
The investigation is yet another threat to Trump's presidency, amid continuing investigations from Muller and the State's Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York (SDNY).
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-i ... ns-1258038
New York’s New Attorney General Has Big Plans to Investigate Trump’s Business Dealings
Incoming New York Attorney General Letitia James said she plans to thoroughly investigate the business dealings of President Donald Trump and his family when she takes office next month.
“We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law,” James told NBC News.
James, the city’s public advocate since 2014, was elected to the NY AG post this past November to succeed Barbara Underwood. Underwood has already taken some action against Trump’s network: in June she filed suit against Trump, his eldest three children, and the Trump Foundation for mishandling of charitable funds.
James told NBC she plans to continue investigations into the Trump Foundation, along with a number of other points of contention including Trump’s New York real estate holdings, the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting with a Russian official, government subsidies Trump may have received, and whether or not his New York businesses violate the emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution.
Since both the Trump Foundation and Trump’s presidential campaigns are centered in New York, James will have ample jurisdiction to take on potential law violations. She’s included former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch as part of her transition team in order to bring in the proper experts, NBC reports.
“I have concerns with respect to the possibility that this administration might pardon some individuals who might face some criminal charges, but I do not want them to be immune from state charges,” said James.
Since both the Trump Foundation and Trump’s presidential campaigns are centered in New York, James will have ample jurisdiction to take on potential law violations. She’s included former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch as part of her transition team in order to bring in the proper experts, NBC reports.
“I have concerns with respect to the possibility that this administration might pardon some individuals who might face some criminal charges, but I do not want them to be immune from state charges,” said James.
http://fortune.com/2018/12/12/letitia-j ... tigations/
And this is all of course on top of the multiple investigations being conducted by the Special Counsel...
Trump must be
delighted by all of this because it's creating so many
more opportunities for him to be "totally cleared" ...
Yessir, he's going to be the most totally cleared President in history...