While Robert Mueller is investigating Donald Trump’s ties to Russia during the campaign, a report indicates that his probe stretches far beyond Moscow.
According to The New York Times, Mueller is now looking into a campaign-season payment to Trump’s foundation from a Ukrainian billionaire.
The report notes that Trump’s charity received $150,000 – the highest donation made by anyone other than Trump – in exchange for a video appearance from the then-GOP presidential candidate.
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The special counsel is investigating a payment made to President Trump’s foundation by a Ukrainian steel magnate for a talk during the campaign, according to three people briefed on the matter, as part of a broader examination of streams of foreign money to Mr. Trump and his associates in the years leading up to the election.
Investigators subpoenaed the Trump Organization this year for an array of records about business with foreign nationals. In response, the company handed over documents about a $150,000 donation that the Ukrainian billionaire, Victor Pinchuk, made in September 2015 to the Donald J. Trump Foundation in exchange for a 20-minute appearance by Mr. Trump that month through a video link to a conference in Kiev.
Michael D. Cohen, the president’s personal lawyer whose office and hotel room were raided on Monday in an apparently unrelated case, solicited the donation. The contribution from Mr. Pinchuk, who has sought closer ties for Ukraine to the West, was the largest the foundation received in 2015 from anyone besides Mr. Trump himself.
As the report noted, Michael Cohen – Trump’s personal lawyer – is the one who arranged the donation. Cohen, of course, was raided on Monday by the FBI.
There are Trump scandals everywhere
Trump spent his entire business career involved in sketchy business deals. It’s likely why he refused to disclose his tax returns during the campaign, despite the fact that every modern presidential candidate has done so.
Unfortunately for Trump, he may have gotten away with skirting the law as a shyster businessman and game show host, but he’s President of the United States now.
Despite Trump’s belief that his position puts him above the law, it actually exposes him – and his family – to a degree he probably never expected.
The apparent criminal enterprise on which this man built his wealth is finally coming back to haunt him.
Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
