As everybody knows by now, Chair of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jerry Nadler, issued requests for documents from 81 entities and individuals. The requests were accompanied by a threat — or promise — of subpoenas if the documents were not forthcoming.
Talking Points Memo has done us all a service, and broke down the requests by the subject of the investigation. For those who subscribe, here’s the link: TPM's Comprehensive Guide.
I highly recommend subscribing for those who can afford to. The guide is behind a pay wall, so keeping in mind fair use rules, I’ll try to summarize just the subjects that they want to investigate, without — as I originally planned — listing everyone. I’m also using some shorthand: I assume that everyone reading this knows the names of the entities involved, i.e. “the usual suspects”. ;-)
TPM’s introductory paragraphs succinctly summarize things:
“When taken together, the separate areas of inquiry portray a range of wrongdoing that’s breathtaking in its scope. …
From Michael Flynn’s time as national security adviser at the beginning of the Trump administration to varied allegations of pay-for-play between foreign officials and the White House, House investigators are homing in on allegations of self-dealing, obstruction of justice, and abuse of power at the highest levels of American government. Other, less-scrutinized episodes appear to be squarely within their crosshairs.”…
The subjects:
* To determine whether Flynn’s appointment in the WH was part of the conspiracy with Russia, or the beginning of attempts to obstruct investigation therein.
* Attempts to influence Comey’s investigation of Flynn, and Comey’s firing. They’re also specifically asking about surreptitious recordings and discussions about invoking the 25th Amendment — including from Kushner, although notably, Rosenstein is not on the list.
* Attempts to fire Sessions and communications about his recusal.
* Potential pardons of Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, Michael Flynn, and Rick Gates, which speaks to obstruction of justice. The four are asked to provide communications about potential pardons, and a number of others are asked to provide documents as well.
* Why Whittaker — a hot tub salesman — was appointed as Acting AG, and attempts to get Berman, who had recused himself, put in charge of the Cohen investigation in the Southern District of NY.
* Michael Cohen’s admittedly false testimony to the House Intelligence Committee — whether Trump directed Cohen to lie, i.e. supporting or shooting down Buzzfeed’s report
* Contacts between the campaign and Russian Officials
* Russian financing for the campaign, the Trump Org. the Trump family, including Kushner and his family business. They’re looking at apartment purchases as means of money-laundering.
* Attempts to build the Moscow Trump Tower during the campaign.
* The meeting in June, 2016, in Trump Tower NY, enthusiastically arranged with Don Jr.; the statement(s) made afterward, ostensibly by Jr.
* Contact between Wikileaks and the Campaign.
* Sharing or receiving data with/from foreign countries during the campaign. (Manafort and Cambridge Analytica).
* Manafort’s and Gates’ contact with Ukrainian oligarchs, and perhaps a Russian spy, during the campaign.
* What negotiations were going on with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, and Russia, during the campaign and the transition. That includes info. about the meeting in the Seychelles between Erik Prince, a Russian rep. and the UAE crown prince.
* Hush money payments and catch-and-kill.
* Michael Cohen’s million dollar deal with Columbus Nova, owned by Andrew Intrater and his cousin, Russian oligarch Viktor Vekselberg.
* Where did the inaugural committee get the over $100 million, i.e. were foreigners amongst the contributors?
* Emoluments.
* The change in the Republican Party’s platform regarding Ukraine, at the behest of the Trump campaign.
* The contents of Trump’s off-camera and off-record meetings with Putin.
* Possible deal to lift sanctions imposed on Russia.
Whew! As I say, Josh Marshall and his staff at TPM are amazing, and have done us all a real service. Please try to support him if you can. I have no personal connection to him or anyone there, I just appreciate really hard work and excellent analyses.