Congress requests documents from dozens of people close to Trump
A group of Democratic lawmakers in the House on Monday requested documents from dozens of close associates of President Donald Trump as part of an investigation of the president for alleged corruption, abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
The House Judiciary Committee, which is controlled by the Democrats and chaired by Jerrold Nadler , on Monday sent out a total of 80 letters in which they urge relatives, associates and political advisers of the president to hand over documents from the first two years of the administration, The Washington Post reported.
Among the recipients of those letters are two of the president’s children - Donald Jr. and Eric - along with his son-in-law Jared Kushner ; the mogul’s former personal secretary Rhona Graff; Trump Organization financial director Allen Weisselberg; and three of the president’s former advisers: Hope Hicks, Sean Spicer and Stephen Bannon.
In addition, some of the letters were directed to institutions such as the White House , the Department of Justice, the Trump Organization, the government transition team that paved the way for Trump to take office and his campaign team for the 2016 presidential election.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders confirmed the receipt of the letter directed to the presidential residence and said that the “relevant” officials will review it.
“The Counsel’s Office and relevant White House officials will review it and respond at the appropriate time,” Sanders said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Trump - when asked by reporters during an event at the White House - said that “I cooperate all the time with everybody. You know, the beautiful thing, no collusion. It’s all a hoax.”
The Democratic Party, which regained the majority in the House in last November’s mid-term elections, is taking advantage of its renewed clout in Congress to launch incisive investigations of the president, his associates and their activities over the past two years and more.
The president’s former personal attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, last week appeared three times before congressional committees - on two of those occasions behind closed doors, but in an open hearing last Wednesday - during which he accused Trump of being a liar and a con man, but he added that he did not have any proof pointing to any collusion by Trump or his associates with Moscow.
The investigation initiated by Nadler’s committee is analyzing ethical and legal problems surrounding Trump, including whether he attempted to obstruct the efforts of Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who since May 2017 has been independently investigating the mogul’s contacts with Russia and assorted other matters involving him and his associates.
