Wide-ranging investigation begins against Trump on obstruction of justice, corruption and power abuse

Democratic lawmakers launched an in-depth investigation against President Donald Trump, which threatens to overshadow the president throughout the 2020 election season with potentially damaging inquiries into the White House, his campaign and his family businesses.

House Legal Affairs Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said his panel was initiating an investigation into possible obstruction of justice, corruption and a power abuse, and he has already begun sending requests for documents to 81 people linked to the president and his associates, the AP reports.

The extensive investigation could lay the groundwork for an attempt at impeachment, although Democratic leaders have pledged to investigate all channels and review Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller’s report before taking drastic action. Nadler said requests for documents, most of which are due by March 18, are a way to “start building the public record.

“For the past several years, President Donald Trump has shirked responsibility for his almost daily attacks on our basic legal, ethical and constitutional rules and standards,” Nadler said. “Investigating these threats to the rule of law is an obligation of Congress and one of the main functions of the House Legal Affairs Committee.

Trump downplayed Nadler’s investigation, describing it as futile efforts “in pursuit of a crime.

“Ridiculous,” he exclaimed on Twitter.

There are already other congressional inquiries revolving around the president, including an inquiry that three other Democratic committee chairs in the lower house announced Monday to obtain information about private conversations between him and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In a letter to the White House and the State Department, the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs and Oversight and Government Reform committees sent extensive requests for details of private meetings between Trump and Putin, both in person and over the phone.

In addition to requesting documents, the commissions are asking to interview interpreters who were at those meetings, including a face-to-face session held midway through last year in Helsinki.

(Taken from RHC in Spanish)

Written by Radio Grito de Baire