The Secret Trump Investigation Nobody is Talking About

12 Sep 2024 (2 months ago)

Intro (0s)

On January 15, 2017, five days before Donald Trump's inauguration, a bank manager in Cairo, Egypt received a handwritten note requesting a withdrawal of $9,998,000. (21s)
The bank account belonged to The Research and Studies Center, an organization believed to be a front for the Egyptian intelligence agency. (1m16s)
The FBI and federal lawyers suspect the $10 million was transferred to the Trump campaign as a bribe in exchange for loyalty, potentially violating federal law. (2m22s)

The CIA discovered that Egyptian leaders, including President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, planned to send $10 million to Donald Trump's presidential campaign shortly before the 2016 election. (7m46s)
This information, obtained through a reliable informant and other intelligence operations, was classified and part of a secret investigation into potential foreign interference. (8m15s)
The Obama administration had previously cut off billions of dollars in military aid to Egypt in response to human rights abuses under El-Sisi's rule, who came to power in a coup in 2014. (9m17s)

In September 2016, during his presidential campaign, Trump met with Egyptian President El-Sisi at the UN headquarters in New York. (9m40s)
During the meeting, Trump expressed warmth towards El-Sisi, deviating from the US's stance of keeping Egypt at arm's length due to human rights concerns. (9m51s)
Trump pledged to invite El-Sisi to the White House and stated that the US would be a "loyal friend to Egypt." (10m6s)

The Trump campaign was running low on funds needed for advertising and travel in the final weeks of the 2016 election. (11m18s)
Despite pleas from his campaign to contribute financially, Trump initially refused to provide additional personal funds. (11m43s)
On October 28th, 2016, Trump reversed his decision and announced a $10 million contribution to his campaign, structured as a loan to be repaid. (12m6s)

Trump and El-Sisi are friends, and a Trump presidency would greatly benefit El-Sisi and his regime. (12m41s)
Trump, who had refused to give money to his campaign in the final weeks leading up to the election, suddenly changed his mind and wrote a check for $10 million to his campaign, which was a loan to be paid back. (12m54s)
Five days before Trump was inaugurated, $9,998,000 was taken out of a bank account associated with El-Sisi's intelligence agency. (13m23s)

The Department of Justice launched an investigation into whether Egypt helped buy the 2016 election after receiving intel that El-Sisi signed off on giving Trump $10 million. (14m57s)
The FBI requested Trump's personal bank records from May to November 2016 to look for large transactions but found no suspicious deposits from foreign entities of $10 million. (17m9s)
After a court battle, the FBI obtained records from the Egyptian bank and learned about a $10 million cash transfer that occurred on January 15th, five days before the inauguration. (19m28s)

Bill Barr, a Trump ally and the head of the Department of Justice, questioned the validity of an investigation into Trump's financial ties to Egypt and attempted to limit its scope. (21m49s)
Career investigators felt strongly that the investigation, which involved a $10 million cash transfer, should continue, but were met with resistance from Barr and other Trump appointees. (23m6s)
The investigation was ultimately shut down, preventing investigators from determining if Trump had received the $10 million and if his actions as president, which benefited Egypt, were influenced by it. (24m37s)