Remember a floor of the courthouse being shut down during Muller? They were invest. Trump Egypt ties

[MelissaB]

Feds chased suspected foreign link to Trump's 2016 campaign cash for three years

Washington (CNN)For more than three years, federal prosecutors investigated whether money flowing through an Egyptian state-owned bank could have backed millions of dollars Donald Trump donated to his own campaign days before he won the 2016 election, multiple sources familiar with the investigation told CNN.

The investigation, which both predated and outlasted special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, examined whether there was an illegal foreign campaign contribution. It represents one of the most prolonged efforts by federal investigators to understand the President's foreign financial ties, and became a significant but hidden part of the special counsel's pursuits.

The investigation was kept so secret that at one point investigators locked down an entire floor of a federal courthouse in Washington, DC, so Mueller's team could fight for the Egyptian bank's records in closed-door court proceedings following a grand jury subpoena. The probe, which closed this summer with no charges filed, has never before been described publicly.

... snip

In a court filing last month, the Justice Department confirmed that when the special counsel's office shut down in 2019, Mueller transferred an ongoing foreign campaign contribution investigation to prosecutors in Washington. Some of CNN's sources have confirmed that the case, which Mueller cryptically called a "foreign campaign contribution" probe, was in fact the Egypt investigation.

... snip

The investigation even went as far as the US Supreme Court, the only time during the two-year Mueller investigation a dispute went to the high court. The justices ultimately declined to hear the case.

More: https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/14/politics/trump-campaign-donation-investigation/index.html

Link to tweet

This is the reason behind the mystery Mueller grand jury case. It was so secret that at one point investigators locked down an entire floor of a courthouse so Mueller’s team could fight for the Egyptian bank’s records. It was the only Mueller-related case to reach SCOTUS

Prosecutors suspected there could be a link between the bank and Trump's contribution, but they could never prove a connection. It's not clear that investigators ever had concrete evidence of a relevant transfer, but sources said there was sufficient info to justify the subpoena

Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump 2020 campaign, said in response to CNN's questions, "President Trump has never received a penny from Egypt." A spokesman for the Egyptian President declined to comment.

CNN learned of the Egypt investigation from more than a dozen sources familiar with the effort, as well as through hints in public records, including newly released court documents and Mueller witness interview 302s that CNN and Buzzfeed obtained through lawsuits.

[MelissaB]

1. "In Sept 2007, Trump incorporated two companies in Egypt: Trump Marks Egypt Corp. and Trump Marks

“In Sept 2007, Trump incorporated two companies in Egypt: Trump Marks Egypt Corp. and Trump Marks Egypt LLC. According to Trump’s July 2015 financial disclosure..”

Link to tweet

[MelissaB]

2. $10 million contribution & Sisi

Mueller's team tried to understand both the $10 million contribution Trump gave to his campaign 11 days before the 2016 election and the Trump campaign's ties to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, according to sources and redacted interview records released from the Mueller investigation.

In the closing weeks of the 2016 campaign, Trump and Sisi met in New York during the United Nations General Assembly. The Republican presidential candidate hit it off with the dictator. Sisi said afterward that Trump would "no doubt" be a strong president while Trump called the Egyptian leader "a fantastic guy" with whom he had "good chemistry" -- a notable difference from Obama administration policy, which was reflected in Hillary Clinton's focus on Egypt's human rights record during her own meeting with Sisi at the General Assembly.

Sisi became the first foreign leader to call and congratulate Trump after he won the election.  At a 2019 G7 summit, Trump called out, "Where's my favorite dictator?" as he awaited the Egyptian President,  according to press reports.

... snip

Mueller's office pressed witnesses to explain how the Trump-Sisi meeting in late 2016 came about. Ahmad, whose aims on the investigation were cloaked in secrecy, was repeatedly present in interviews touching on both Trump's $10 million contribution to his campaign and the campaign's ties to Egypt.

[MelissaB]

4. Of course Steve Bannon was involved in setting this up.

[voteearlyvoteoften]

3. Barr does it again

Trump getting his money’s worth once again.

[MelissaB]

6. From the article: For the past year and a half, the matter was kept even quieter under Barr

For the past year and a half, the matter was kept even quieter under Barr and three different US attorneys in Washington than it had been under Mueller.

[MelissaB]

5. I think Rachel Maddow discussed this case many times before we knew what it was.

I remember her talking about the entire floor being locked down.

Now we know...

[MelissaB]

7. Has this been posted already?

[dewsgirl]

8. I remember this well, everyone was thinking it was likely

Deutsche bank, at the time.