As my RedState colleague Jeff Charles reported on Tuesday, the Justice Department is in the midst of an investigation into an alleged bribery scheme in which a presidential pardon was sought — before President Trump presumably leaves office on January 20.
According to court documents that were unsealed on Tuesday, the plot involves pardons in exchange for bribes.
“The court records, which were unsealed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, say the DOJ investigation involves two people, whose names are redacted, who were improperly acting as lobbyists to secure the pardon for a person whose name is also redacted. The plot involved the person offering ‘a substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence.’”
Now, as reported by the Daily Wire, new details emerged on Thursday night — and those two redacted people have been named. The New York Times reported that the investigation involves a top fundraiser for Trump and an attorney connected to the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Neither Trump nor Kushner are mentioned as having participated in the alleged scheme, not whether either or both of them had knowledge of it if it occurred. Additionally, no bribe was ever paid.
Via Daily Wire:
Sources said “it concerned efforts by the lawyer for Mr. Kushner, Abbe Lowell, and the fund-raiser, Elliott Broidy, who pleaded guilty in October to a charge related to a different scheme to lobby the Trump administration,” the Times reported.
“A billionaire San Francisco real estate developer, Sanford Diller, enlisted their help in securing clemency for a Berkeley psychologist, Hugh L. Baras, who had received a 30-month prison sentence on a conviction of tax evasion and improperly claiming Social Security benefits, according to the filing and the people familiar with the case.”
“Under the suspected scheme, Mr. Diller would make ‘a substantial political contribution’ to an unspecified recipient in exchange for the pardon,” the report added. “He died in February 2018, and there is no evidence that the effort continued after his death.”
No bribe was ever paid. No one has been charged in the DOJ’s inquiry into the matter. No government officials are currently the subject of a target of the inquiry.
Separately, as reported by CNN on Tuesday, some Trump associates are allegedly pushing Trump to pardon his personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani…
Continue Reading