Former US president faces unprecedented judicial and legislative scrutiny
The historic action of the FBI on Monday searching the residence of a former president of USA is part of one of the investigations that they have in their center to donald trump. She is far from the only one. The Republican is facing unprecedented legal and legislative scrutiny, with a panoply of open causes. These are the main ones:
Criminal investigation of January 6
The Department of Justice has established a federal grand jury in Washington investigating efforts by Trump and his inner circle to try to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, including by attempting to appoint false voters and with pressure on electoral authorities states, the Department of Justice itself and then Vice President Mike Pence.
Inquiry in Congress on January 6
The assault on the Capitol and the alleged conspiracy of Trump to try to stay in power is also the subject of the investigations of the special committee established in the Congress. Although that panel does not have the authority to impeach the former president, it can refer his findings to the Department of Justice, such as the one presented in June in which they accused Trump and the Republicans of having used the “big lie” to raise funds that were diverted .
Both in this case and in the criminal investigation, the US attorney general, Merrick Garlandhas been questioned by many critics of Trump for what they consider to be excessive caution, but numerous legal experts understand that the person in charge of Justice goes with leaded feet. If he files charges, he must be able to prove that Trump acted with corrupt intent. And it’s in uncharted territory: No former president has been formally charged with a crime in US history.
The Fulton County District Attorney, in Georgia, assembled a grand jury in May to assist in the investigation of the former president’s actions in pressuring state authorities to reverse the results there. In the spotlight is, for example, the call that Trump made to the secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, urging him to “find” the 11,780 votes that would make him the winner against Biden, but other pressures on local authorities are also being investigated.
Both the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York State Attorney General have put Trump and his organization’s business practices in the spotlight of their investigations. In the first case it is a criminal investigation, to which the state prosecutor’s office has joined, which also has a civil one open.
At the heart of both cases are suspicions that Trump inflated the value of their properties to receive loans while undervaluing them to achieve tax benefits. In July of last year, a grand jury already gave the Manhattan District Attorney the first criminal charges against the Trump Organization and its financial adviser, Allen Weisselberg.
Trump’s accounts are also in the crosshairs of a congressional committee, which this Tuesday managed to get an appeals court to ratify the judicial decision of another court and force the former president to deliver the tax returns and audits that until now, and despite these court rulings, he has refused to facilitate.
The handling of information and documents
Monday’s search apparently is part of a Justice Department investigation not linked to January 6 and the electoral plot but to the handling of classified information. A House committee is also studying possible irregularities committed by Trump destroy either take with you when leaving the White House documents and other records that the Presidential Records Act required him to preserve and deliver to the National Archives.