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The Justice Department is investigating an alleged “bribery for clemency” scheme at the White House, according to a court file released Tuesday.
The heavily redacted document does not name Donald Trump or others and leaves many questions unanswered, but it appears amid media reports that the US president is considering sweeping pardons before leaving office on Monday. next month.
It shows that the Justice Department investigation alleges that a person offered “a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or suspension of sentence.”
Two people improperly acted as lobbyists to obtain forgiveness in the “forgiveness bribery schemes,” as the document puts it. All three names are crossed out.
Washington’s Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics watchdog (Crew) tweeted in response: “It’s hard to overstate how important the phrase ‘Forgiveness Bribery Schemes’ is.”
The document was opened by the district court of the District of Columbia, in Washington. Some of its 20 pages are fully redacted, implying that revealing the details now could jeopardize an ongoing investigation.
They discuss a review by Chief Judge Beryl Howell in late August of a request by prosecutors for documents assembled for the bribery investigation. More than 50 digital devices, including iPhones, iPads, laptops, USB sticks and computer drives were seized after investigators raided unidentified offices. It was unclear why Howell decided to publish the presentation now.
Last week, Trump pardoned Michael Flynn, his former national security adviser, who had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The New York Times reported Tuesday that Trump and Rudy Giuliani, his personal attorney, discussed as recently as last week the possibility of a “preventive pardon.” Giuliani tweeted a denial.
The judicial revelation unleashed a whirlwind of speculation in Washington. Democrat Adam Schiff, chairman of the House intelligence committee, told MSNBC: “People shouldn’t presume – and there may be a tendency to jump into – that this may involve some of the personalities who have been very in the news and are concerned about their criminal liability.
“It may be someone we’ve never heard of who wants a pardon and is wealthy and therefore in a position to make a substantial contribution. So it doesn’t have to be either party that we think may want a pardon: the [Paul] Manafort, the Giulianis and others. It could be someone completely different, but at the end of the day, someone in that chain has to be close enough to the White House to be able to comply with the official act of clemency if the bribe is paid.
