EXCLUSIVE — House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) is being pressured to open an investigation after recent reporting revealed Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to contribute to former President Donald Trump’s campaign during the 2016 cycle.
In a letter sent to Comer on Monday, the Democratic-aligned Congressional Integrity Project pressed the chairman to look into a possible $10 million donation from the Egyptian leader and any subsequent cover-ups by the Trump administration to investigate the matter. The request comes in response to a story by the Washington Post that reported a cash withdrawal from a bank account linked to the Egyptian intelligence service just days before Trump was inaugurated in 2017.
“Throughout your impeachment investigation into President Biden and his family, you have repeatedly expressed concern about influence peddling, particularly in regards to foreign governments,” Kyle Herrig, executive director of CIP, wrote in the letter. “This development requires you turn your concerns into action, put the country over your party, and do some meaningful oversight.”
The Washington Post investigation also found that federal investigators learned of the cash withdrawal in 2019, intensifying a “secret criminal investigation” that had begun two years earlier due to classified intelligence that El-Sisi wanted to boost Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. That investigation sought to uncover whether that cash withdrawal went to Trump, which would violate federal law banning candidates from receiving foreign funds.
Investigators also sought to learn whether that cash withdrawal prompted Trump to inject $10 million of his own money in the final days of his campaign.
However, those questions would never be answered after top Justice Department officials blocked prosecutors and FBI agents from gaining access to bank records they believed held critical evidence, according to the outlet. The investigation was then halted in the fall of 2019 by then-Attorney General William Barr, who questioned whether there was sufficient evidence to continue the inquiry.
That decision, as well as the cash withdrawal itself, should be investigated by House lawmakers, the Congressional Integrity Project argued.
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“Last May, you stated plainly ‘the American people need to know’ if our nation’s leaders ‘sold out the United States of America’ for profit,” Herrig wrote. “You further stated that government officials seeking to curry favor from foreign governments for personal gain would be especially problematic because it presents a clear ‘national security risk’ to the United States.”
Comer and other House lawmakers are on recess for the next four weeks. The Washington Examiner contacted spokespeople for the committee and for the Trump campaign for comment.