Report on Trump, Egypt, and $10 million sparks key questions

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There’s been an avalanche of news related to the presidential race lately, which may have overshadowed a Washington Post report that deserves public attention. The lede is an immediate attention-grabber: Five days before Donald Trump became president in January 2017, a manager at a bank branch in Cairo received an unusual letter from an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service. It asked the bank to “kindly withdraw” nearly $10 million from the organization’s account — all in cash. The Post’s report, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, went on to note that records indicate that four men ultimately arrived at the state-run National Bank of Egypt and carried away bags containing nearly $10 million in bundles of $100 bills. The money represented “what was then a sizable share of Egypt’s reserve of U.S. currency.” A variety of questions obviously came to the fore. Where’d the money go? What did officials linked to the Egyptian intelligence service want with roughly 200 pounds of $100 bills? According to the reporting, some FBI agents were concerned that the money was intended to go to Trump. In fact, those agents reportedly opened an investigation into whether Egypt illegally funneled $10 million in cash to the Republican for his 2016 campaign. And while that might sound like the basis for an incredible story, we’re just getting started. U.S. investigators, relying on U.S. intelligence, reportedly came to believe that Egypt’s then-president wanted to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 candidacy. Around the same time, Trump met with Egypt’s then-president, praising him on Fox News soon after as a “fantastic guy.” We don’t know whether Egypt gave Trump the money. We do know that a few weeks after Trump met with Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi — the one who apparently wanted to give the Republican $10 million — Trump somehow produced $10 million of his own money for his campaign. It was, however, structured as a loan so Trump would get the money back. The then-GOP candidate, of course, ultimately won the election. It was during that presidential transition period, shortly before Inauguration Day 2017, when an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service picked up 200 pounds of $100 bills from Egypt’s state-run national bank. Soon after, Egypt’s president became one of Trump’s first foreign guests at the White House — a generous diplomatic gesture — and the then-American president ultimately released over $1 billion in military aid for Egypt. U.S. investigators never proved that the cash from that Egyptian bank went to Trump. That would’ve required access to more of Trump’s financial records, which they didn’t get. Why not? According to the Post, because then-Attorney General Bill Barr intervened to prevent FBI agents from subpoenaing Trump’s financial records. What’s more, Barr removed the relevant prosecutor — and her replacement — until the controversial A.G. finally arrived at a prosecutor who shut down the investigation altogether. Trump has denied wrongdoing, though as Rachel noted on last night’s show, he has the wherewithal to simply shut down all questions by releasing relevant financial records. To date, that hasn’t happened. A few months ago, Trump falsely accused President Joe Biden of “receiving money, for no apparent reason, from foreign countries.” Given this, it would appear that the former president has opened the door to some provocative questions from the recent past.