Prosecutors link Egyptian bank to US campaign
Publish date: 19 October 2020
Issue Number: 895
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Forensic
For more than three years, federal prosecutors investigated whether money flowing through an Egyptian state-owned bank could have backed millions of dollars Donald Trump donated to his own campaign days before he won the 2016 election, multiple sources have told CNN. The investigation, which both predated and outlasted special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, examined whether there was an illegal foreign campaign contribution. It represents one of the most prolonged efforts by federal investigators to understand Trump’s foreign financial ties, and became a significant but hidden part of the special counsel's pursuits. The report notes that investigators locked down an entire floor of a federal courthouse in Washington DC to enable Mueller's team to fight for the Egyptian bank's records in closed-door court proceedings following a grand jury subpoena. Prosecutors suspected there could be a link between the Egyptian bank and Trump's campaign contribution.