Despite a lull on the Russia front, other Trump-linked probes go on
Robert Mueller is seen in 2013. Credit: AP/Charles Dharapak
The full-blown frenzy over special counsel Robert Mueller has subsided for the moment. Republicans say his Russia probe should end soon without threatening President Donald Trump's tenure. Barring surprises, Democrats seem to accept that Mueller's actions by themselves will not magically nullify the 2016 election.
Mueller's main mission, as stated, deals with Russia's role in the campaign. Any transgressions prior to taking the top job usually fall short of derailing a president. Bill Clinton was impeached over events tied to the Oval Office, not scuttlebutt from his Arkansas days. Richard Nixon was called "Tricky Dick" long before his White House abuses alone led to his undoing.
But Trump, his kin and his business remain in the legal woods. The Manhattan U.S. attorney has subpoenaed records from the committee that set up the president's lush 2017 inaugural. By most public accounts, the prosecutors are interested in possible financial wrongdoing involving more than $100 million the committee raised.
Lest cries of "partisan witch hunt" resume, remember that Trump nominated the head of the Southern District of New York's office, Geoffrey Berman, who was confirmed by a GOP-controlled Senate. This office also prosecuted longtime Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen, whom Mueller interviewed.
According to CNN, those federal prosecutors have requested interviews in recent weeks with executives at the Trump Organization.
A more partisan-driven posture against Trump may be likely to come from the office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James and members of the Democratic majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. They are looking at the legality of Trump's private business and charity entities.
On the federal front lingers the question of whether Trump's actions as president with regard to the Mueller investigation constituted obstruction of justice. Once the special counsel issues a report, perhaps the facts will be considered to have come in.
The controversial history of Trump's first campaign has yet to be fully compiled, as recent reports show. It turns out Deutsche Bank rejected loaning Trump money in 2016 for reasons that may have been related to the campaign, according to The New York Times. There are still questions arising from the guilty plea to a conspiracy charge of alleged Russian agent Maria Butina and her involvement with the National Rifle Association.
Still other threads of the story are unspooling, too. Trump adviser Roger Stone, facing criminal charges of trying to impede a congressional investigation into Russian interference, currently gets a public platform for strange claims. On Tuesday, he made unsupported allegations about some kind of culpability on the part of the Federal Reserve Bank.
Mueller's report may soon go to the Justice Department. Even once that happens, the deep Trump intrigue will continue for months or maybe years.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
