Two Georgia grand juries investigating Trump

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Trump investigations

The Manhattan D.A.’s office interviewed the ex-daughter-in-law of Trump Organization CEO Allen Weissleberg and met with Michael Cohen for the eighth time last week. Jennifer Weisselberg told NBC News that she has turned over documents and spoken with investigators “multiple times.” Vance’s office has also recently sent new subpoenas to local governments involved in Trump’s Seven Springs property development, which is the subject of a tax and insurance fraud probe.

“Jennifer Weisselberg is committed to speaking the truth…” her attorney, Duncan Levin, told Insider in a statement… “Jennifer refuses to be silenced any longer by those who are conspiring to prevent her from sharing what she has learned over the past 25 years,” Levin added.

Vance’s team is reportedly “combing through millions of pages of newly acquired records” to identify witnesses to testify before a jury in a potential criminal case against Trump. “Prosecutors are looking to gather information and testimony from bankers, bookkeepers, real-estate consultants and others close to the Trump Organization who could provide insights on its dealings,” according to Reuters.

Two grand juries are now looking into Trump and associate’s attempts to interfere in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election. Fulton County D.A. Fani Wilson told the Daily Beast that jurors in these secret proceedings will soon be asked to issue subpoenas for documents and recordings related to the Trump investigation. Her team is also reportedly looking at the possibility of applying “false statement” charges to Rudy Giuliani for presenting false evidence to Georgia state legislators on two occasions.

The NAACP lawsuit against Donald Trump for his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election is on hold after an unknown person signed the legal notification when Trump was served. The lawsuit, brought by the NAACP and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), alleges that Trump and Rudy Giuliani violated the Ku Klux Klan Act by conspiring to prevent Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s victory. When the plaintiffs attempted to serve Trump in February, someone identified as “Ricky” signed for the certified mail parcel. Trump now claims no one knows who Ricky is and, therefore, the service was not “legally effective.”

  • Note: There is also a second lawsuit against Trump and Giuliani for allegedly violating the KKK Act, brought by Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). It goes farther than the first, though, in also declaring that the Jan. 6 rally-speakers violated a D.C. anti-terrorism act by incited the riot.

The House Oversight Committee is asking the White House and over a dozen agencies to turn over all Trump administration documents and communications relating to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The request covers the period from December 2020 to Inauguration Day and includes the Office of the Vice President, National Archives and Records Administration, FBI, DHS, DNI, House Sergeant at Arms, Senate Sergeant at Arms, and Capitol Police, among others.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee requested detailed financial records on Trump’s D.C. hotel – located in a federally owned building – hoping the Biden administration will provide what Trump’s would not. During Trump’s time in office, international businessmen, foreign diplomats, Republican operatives, and wealthy donors patronized his high-priced hotel located just blocks from the White House.

Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nev.), the chair of a subcommittee that oversees the hotel, signed the letter along with DeFazio. She said that, even with Trump out of office, the House is still determined to find out how the hotel was run and whether Trump was given any undue benefits while he was effectively his own landlord.

“I’m not going to let go of it,” Titus said. She said the hotel is a federally owned asset, and she wants to see whether it’s being well cared for. “It’s still taxpayer dollars that are at risk,” Titus said. If the hotel’s business goes south, she said, “We don’t want taxpayers to get left holding the bag.”

Employees at Trump’s Chicago tower improperly received early access to COVID-19 vaccines, at a hospital whose chief operating officer owns a $2.7 million condo in Trump’s building. Loretto Hospital, located in a majority-Black neighborhood nine miles from Trump’s downtown tower, issued a statement saying executives had been “mistaken” about when hotel employees were eligible to be vaccinated. However, Lotetto’s COO, Anosh Ahmed, not only owns a condo in the tower – he also reportedly told friends that he had vaccinated Eric Trump at a time when vaccines were limited to people over 65 years old and other vulnerable populations.

In a memo to staff, Loretto Hospital President George Miller said he authorized his team earlier this month “to vaccinate 72 predominantly Black and brown restaurant, housekeeping and other hotel support personnel at Trump International Chicago.” …Restaurant workers and hotel staff are not yet eligible for vaccine doses in Chicago. A public health department spokesman earlier acknowledged that the city is investigating the report.

  • Update: COO Anosh Ahmed resigned on Wednesday.

Trump money

The organizer of the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the insurrection is hosting a “Save America Summit” at Trump’s Doral golf course next month. Amy Kremer’s Women for America First group spent the weeks before the insurrection touring America, spreading election lies and inciting violence. Kremer filed the permit for the rally that led thousands to stage a coup attempt at the Capitol, funded in part by Alex Jones and Publix supermarket heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli. Now, Kremer is bringing money to struggling Trump property Doral, charging $5,000 for a ticket to meet VIPs like Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

A Florida-based dog rescue charity with links to Lara Trump has spent $2 million at Trump properties over the past seven years – including $225,000 at Mar-a-Lago last weekend. Big Dog Ranch Rescue has come under fire for continuing to put money into Trump’s pocket after he supported the Jan. 6 insurrection. Since the story was published, Big Dog Rescue has seen some donors withdraw their pledges.

“[Trump properties] give us amazing discounted rates, they provide a beautiful venue for us and have gone out of their way to help us raise money,” [Big Dog Ranch Rescue President Lauree] Simmons said. “To cancel our event there, that would be political.”

Eric Trump is pushing Republicans in the Florida state legislature to change a law to allow the family’s Doral golf resort to operate as a casino, potentially saving the struggling property. Since the pandemic, revenue at the club has plummeted by 44 percent. While a bill has not formally been submitted yet, one under discussion would “allow developers to transfer gambling licenses to properties in areas where casinos have long been prohibited and bar local municipal governments from intervening”. Florida currently limits gambling to tribal casinos and racetracks.

Further reading:

“Trump’s Mar-a-Lago partially closed due to COVID outbreak,” AP. “Mar-a-Lago Hosted Wild Parties Just Before Its COVID Outbreak. And It’s Not Stopping.” Daily Beast.

“Trump hotels have been dropped by a major luxury travel agency network,” Washington Post

“Scam PACs Reportedly Duping Trump Supporters Again: Some robocalls are soliciting donations to get Donald Trump back on Twitter,” HuffPost.

Future of Trumpism

Trump ally Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) announced his entry into the Alabama race to replace retiring Sen. Richard Shelby at an event at a gun range last week alongside former White House advisor Stephen Miller. Brooks spoke at the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6, telling attendees that “today is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.” He was one of the first lawmakers to say they’d object to the electoral count in an attempt to reverse Biden’s win.

“This time I have an established reputation that people can discern that, ‘Yep, Mo Brooks has been beside Donald Trump’s side through thick and thin over the last four years trying to advance the Make America Great Again agenda,’ ” Brooks said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Trump issued his first post-presidency endorsement last week, for Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), who is challenging Trump’s frequent foil in Georgia: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Republicans in the state seem to agree that Raffensperger’s re-election chances are doomed after refusing to give in to Trump’s requests to overturn the election. Since then, Trump has declared all out war against the Secretary:

“Unlike the current Georgia Secretary of State, Jody leads out front with integrity,” Trump said in a statement through his new campaign organization, Save America PAC.

Hice was one of the 147 Republican members of Congress to object to the electoral count on January 6 and one of the 126 who unsuccessfully urged the Supreme Court to stop several key states from certifying Biden’s victory.

Pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood announced he intends to run for Chair of the South Carolina Republican Party, challenging current officeholder Scott McKissick. Unlike in Raffensperger’s race, incumbent McKissick already secured Trump’s endorsement in February and has strong allies in the state party, including Sen. Lindsey Graham. Wood is best known for his conspiracy-laden efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. In one particularly unhinged rant on Twitter, Wood claimed that Chief Justice John Roberts had committed child rape and child murder; he was later permanently suspended from the platform for tweets related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Further reading:

Trump’s secret sit-down with Ohio candidates turns into ‘Hunger Games’: The former president summoned four candidates for the state’s open Senate seat in a session that resembled the boardroom scenes on “The Apprentice.”

Lara Trump Joins Fox News, First Official Merger of Fox and Trump Family