The Secret Trump Investigation Nobody is Talking About

Summary

The script details an investigation into a $10 million cash withdrawal from an Egyptian bank linked to the country's intelligence services, just days before Donald Trump's inauguration. It raises questions about whether this money was illegally channeled into Trump's campaign, potentially influencing his policies favoring Egypt. Despite career investigators' push for further inquiry, the case was closed under the Trump-appointed Attorney General Bill Barr, sparking debates on political interference in justice.

Takeaways

• 🇪🇬 On January 15, 2017, a $9,998,000 withdrawal was made from an account associated with Egypt's intelligence services at a bank in Cairo.
• 💼 The Research and Studies Center, an entity believed to be a front for Egypt's international spy agency, was the account holder from which the money was withdrawn.
• 🚛 Four men collected the cash, and the account was closed shortly after, leaving a trail that went cold.
• 🤔 The FBI and federal lawyers have been investigating the suspicious transaction, suspecting it might have been used to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
• 💵 The amount withdrawn is nearly identical to the $10 million loan Donald Trump made to his campaign in the final weeks before the election.
• 🔍 The CIA had intelligence suggesting that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi approved the transfer of $10 million to Trump's campaign.
• 🤝 Trump and El-Sisi had a meeting in September 2016, where Trump expressed his support for Egypt and its leader.
• ✅ After taking office, Trump's administration resumed military aid to Egypt, which had been suspended by the Obama administration due to human rights concerns.
• 🚨 The investigation into the potential Egyptian influence on the election was impeded by political appointees within the Department of Justice, including Attorney General Bill Barr.
• 🚫 The investigation was eventually closed without any charges, and the statute of limitations has since expired, making prosecution unlikely.

Q & A

What was the unusual event that occurred at a bank in Cairo, Egypt on January 15th, 2017?

On January 15th, 2017, a bank manager in Cairo, Egypt received a handwritten note requesting the withdrawal of $9,998,000 US dollars from an account associated with The Research and Studies Center, which is believed to be a front for Egypt's international spy agency.

Who were the four men that collected the $10 million from the bank in Cairo?

The script does not provide specific identities of the four men who collected the money. It only mentions that they verified their association with the account and took the money in a truck.

What was the significance of the timing of the $10 million withdrawal in relation to Donald Trump's inauguration?

The $10 million was withdrawn just five days before Donald Trump was to be sworn in as president, raising questions about a potential link between the money and his campaign or presidency.

What was the role of The Research and Studies Center in the context of this story?

The Research and Studies Center is described as an Egyptian entity that US Intelligence believes is a front for the general intelligence services of Egypt, effectively the Egyptian CIA.

Why did the FBI suspect that the $10 million might have been connected to the Trump campaign?

The FBI suspected that the $10 million might have been connected to the Trump campaign because of the timing of the withdrawal and the fact that the account was closed shortly after, suggesting an attempt to obscure the trail of the funds.

What actions did President Trump take after his inauguration that could be seen as benefiting Egypt?

After his inauguration, President Trump invited President El-Sisi as one of the first guests to the White House, referred to him as 'my favorite dictator', and unfroze $1.4 billion of military aid that had been cut off by the Obama administration due to human rights abuses.

Why did the investigation into the potential connection between the $10 million and the Trump campaign stall?

The investigation stalled due to resistance from political appointees within the Department of Justice, including Attorney General Bill Barr, who questioned the evidence and the need for further investigation.

What was the final outcome of the investigation according to the script?

The investigation was closed with no conviction or indictment after being shut down by political appointees within the Department of Justice.

Why was it too late for the new administration to reopen the investigation in 2021?

By the time the new administration took office in 2021, more than five years had passed since the $10 million was withdrawn in Cairo, meaning the statute of limitations had expired, preventing any further prosecution.

What was the response of the Trump campaign to the allegations made by the Washington Post investigation?

The Trump campaign dismissed the allegations, stating that the Washington Post is 'consistently played for suckers by deep state Trump-haters and bad faith actors peddling hoaxes and shams.'

Outlines

00:00

💵 Mystery of the $10 Million Withdrawal

The paragraph discusses an unusual event on January 15th, 2017, where a bank manager in Cairo, Egypt, received a handwritten note requesting the withdrawal of $9,998,000. The money, which was a significant portion of US dollars in Egypt at the time, was handed over to four men associated with a shadowy organization called The Research and Studies Center, believed to be a front for Egypt's international spy agency. The paragraph raises questions about the need for such a large sum in cash by the Egyptian intelligence and its potential connection to then-President-elect Donald Trump.

05:02

🔍 Investigating the Trump Campaign's Finances

This section delves into the suspicions of the FBI and federal lawyers that the $10 million withdrawn from the Egyptian bank may have been funneled into the Trump campaign, potentially as a bribe to influence the election and secure loyalty from the incoming president. It discusses the commitment to factual reporting and the methodology used to understand and present the story, including the use of Ground News to analyze media bias and the importance of critical thinking in evaluating news.

10:03

🤝 Trump and El-Sisi's Budding Relationship

The paragraph explores the relationship between Donald Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, highlighting their first meeting during the 2016 campaign and Trump's subsequent warm stance towards El-Sisi, in contrast with the Obama administration's cooler relations due to human rights abuses in Egypt. It also discusses how Trump's election could benefit El-Sisi, providing context for why Egypt might want to support Trump financially.

15:04

🏦 The Timing of Trump's $10 Million Campaign Contribution

This section examines the timing and nature of Trump's $10 million contribution to his campaign, which he had initially refused to provide. It draws parallels between Trump's change of heart and the withdrawal of $9,998,000 from the Egyptian bank, suggesting a possible connection. The paragraph also discusses the investigation into whether this money was a loan or a contribution and the implications of such a transaction.

20:06

🚨 The Investigation's Halt by Political Appointees

The paragraph details the investigation into the potential transfer of funds from Egypt to Trump's campaign and the subsequent actions taken by Attorney General Bill Barr, who was appointed by Trump. It outlines how Barr's intervention led to the investigation's premature closure, despite career investigators' belief that there was sufficient cause to continue. The section also discusses the potential political motivations behind Barr's actions and the impact on the investigation.

25:06

📜 The Consequences of a Stalled Investigation

This final paragraph reflects on the implications of the investigation's termination, noting that with the passage of time, the statute of limitations has expired, making prosecution impossible. It emphasizes the frustration of career prosecutors who believed the investigation was closed due to political bias rather than lack of evidence. The paragraph concludes with a call to action for viewers to read the full Washington Post investigation and consider the impact of political interference in justice.

Keywords

💡Presidential Campaign

A presidential campaign refers to the process by which a candidate seeks to become the president of a country, typically involving fundraising, political advertising, and public appearances. In the video, the theme of a presidential campaign is central, as it discusses the financial aspects and potential foreign interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign, specifically focusing on the Trump campaign's funding issues and the alleged $10 million transaction.

💡Foreign Interference

Foreign interference denotes the act of a foreign government or entity influencing the political process of another country, often covertly. The video script discusses concerns about foreign interference in the U.S. election, particularly from Egypt, and the potential implications of such actions on the democratic process.

💡Department of Justice

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is a governmental agency responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the United States. In the context of the video, the DOJ is highlighted for its role in investigating potential illegal activities, such as the alleged transfer of $10 million from Egypt to the Trump campaign, and the subsequent handling of the investigation by political appointees within the department.

💡Investigation

An investigation is a systematic and formal inquiry into a matter of concern, often involving the collection of evidence and the questioning of witnesses. The video details an investigation by the FBI and federal lawyers into the suspicious $10 million transaction, which is suggested to potentially influence the Trump campaign and, by extension, the election outcome.

💡Bank Records

Bank records are documents that detail the financial transactions of an individual or entity. In the video, bank records are crucial as investigators seek to trace the alleged $10 million from Egypt to determine if it was used to fund the Trump campaign, indicating a potential breach of campaign finance laws.

💡Politically Sensitive

Politically sensitive refers to matters that have significant implications for political actors or could potentially influence public opinion on political issues. The video script describes the investigation as politically sensitive due to its potential to implicate a sitting president and affect U.S.-Egypt relations.

💡Bribery

Bribery is the act of giving or receiving something of value in exchange for some kind of favor, often illegal or unethical. The video suggests a bribery scenario where Egypt allegedly provided financial support to the Trump campaign, potentially influencing the president's actions favoring Egypt after his election.

💡Attorney General

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice and the chief law enforcement officer of the United States. The video discusses how the Attorney General, Bill Barr, who was appointed by Trump, played a role in the handling of the investigation into the Trump campaign's finances, raising questions about political interference.

💡Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations is a法律规定的期限, within which legal proceedings must be initiated. The video mentions that the statute of limitations had expired by the time a new administration could have revisited the investigation, thus preventing any potential prosecution related to the case.

💡Echo Chamber

An echo chamber is a situation in which information, ideas, or beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system. The video references the use of Ground News to help viewers break out of their echo chambers by presenting news from various sources with different biases, allowing for a more balanced understanding of events like the Trump-Egypt story.

Highlights

A bank manager in Cairo, Egypt, receives an unusual request to withdraw $9,998,000 in US dollars.

The money is withdrawn from an account linked to The Research and Studies Center, suspected to be a front for Egypt's intelligence services.

Four men collect the money and the account is subsequently closed, leaving the trail cold.

FBI and federal lawyers have been secretly investigating the possible connection between the $10 million and the Trump campaign.

The investigation suggests that Egypt may have tried to influence the US election by financially supporting Trump's campaign.

The CIA had informants within the Egyptian government that indicated President El-Sisi's approval of sending $10 million to Trump.

Trump and El-Sisi had a warm meeting during the campaign, with Trump expressing his support for Egypt.

Trump's campaign was in financial difficulty, and he personally wrote a check for $10 million shortly after his meeting with El-Sisi.

The Department of Justice, under Bill Barr, faced internal conflict regarding the investigation into the Trump campaign's finances.

Bill Barr was seen as a Trump ally and his involvement in the investigation raised questions about political bias.

The investigation was halted due to political appointees' resistance, despite career investigators' belief that it should continue.

The Washington Post investigation reveals the internal struggle within the Department of Justice over the handling of the case.

The statute of limitations expired before the new administration could reevaluate the case, making prosecution impossible.

The Trump campaign dismissed the allegations, accusing the Washington Post of being influenced by 'deep state Trump-haters'.

The video concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding and discussing such investigations to prevent political interference in justice.

Transcripts

- We are going to make our country great again.

(crowd cheering)

- It's January 15th, 2017.

In five days, Donald Trump will be sworn in

as president of the United States.

Thousands of miles away in Cairo, Egypt,

at this bank 11 kilometers from the international airport,

a bank manager receives a handwritten note

from someone who holds an account at the bank.

The note asks him to, quote,

"Kindly withdraw a sum of 9,998,000 US dollars."

This was unusual.

But according to bank records,

bank employees did what they were told,

heading to a vault full of US dollars

and assembling stacks of $100 bills into two large bags.

It all weighed about 200 pounds

and comprised a large part of all of the US dollars

that were in Egypt at the time

now sitting in bags in the manager's office.

Until later that day when four men showed up.

They verified that they were associated with the account

and they took the money,

put it into a truck, and left.

The bank account where that $10 million was taken out of

belonged to a shadowy organization called

The Research and Studies Center.

It was an Egyptian entity,

but it's an entity that US Intelligence believes is a front

for the general intelligence services of Egypt.

Basically Egypt's international spy agency,

the Egyptian CIA, let's say.

So the Egyptian CIA takes out $10 million.

And from here, the trail goes cold.

Because shortly after this transfer of $10 million,

the account is closed.

And that entity, The Research and Studies Center

who owned the account, apparently doesn't exist anymore.

Why did the Egyptian CIA need $10 million in cash?

Who were these men who collected it?

What were they doing, and what, if anything,

does this $10 million have to do

with former President Donald Trump?

This is a really important set of questions,

one that the FBI and federal lawyers

have been secretly investigating to try to answer for years

because they strongly suspected that this $10 million

made its way into the hands of the Trump campaign,

a foreign country trying to buy the election.

And in exchange, buying loyalty from the new president.

And they suspected that Trump may have known about this

and accepted this bribe.

And if he did, that would be a violation of federal law.

I wanna tell you this story of this investigation

and how it was suddenly shut down

by Department of Justice officials

who were appointed by Donald Trump.

This recently released Washington Post investigation

reveals that there was much, much more going on

that we didn't know about until just now.

So I'm gonna try to visualize this story,

show it to you in the clearest way possible.

Now listen, I know that this is a very

politically sensitive topic.

There's an election coming up.

We all are taking our sides.

I commit to you that I'm going to stick

to rock solid facts here.

I'm gonna lay them out the best I can

and show you the evidence

that clearly demonstrates how we know these facts.

Whenever I'm making circumstantial connections

or my own analysis, I will try to make that very clear.

Ultimately, I wanna lay this all out

and let you make a decision

as to whether you think there was wrongdoing here,

whether you think something needs to be changed

or someone needs to be held accountable.

As always, every assertion in this video is fact checked

and linked in my sources by time code.

You can always check that out, scrutinize it,

leave comments if you have issues with it.

And with that, let's dive in.

- Today I wrote another check for $10 million.

I'm spending money like crazy.

President El-Sisi has been somebody

that's been very close to me from the first time I met him.

I met during the campaign.

Where I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue

and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, okay?

- Hey, before we go on,

I wanna explain something about our methodology

of reporting on stories like this.

Going deep on stories takes weeks,

like, sometimes six or eight or 10 weeks

to like really understand these stories.

And a tool we've been using more and more is Ground News,

who is the sponsor of today's video.

Ground News is a website and an app

that gathers news from around the world

and condenses it into one single article.

They'll show you this story

and then they'll show you who's covering it,

how factual the different sources are,

who those sources are owned by,

and what political leaning or bent

is present in the coverage.

All of this happening in one seamless experience

both on mobile and desktop.

Let me give you an example from this very story.

If you type in the Trump Egypt story into Ground News,

you can see that more than a dozen news outlets

have picked up the story

and almost all of the coverage is from the left.

Only 13% of the coverage

comes from right-leaning publications.

And you can see that one left-leaning source claims

that democracy will die

if the case against Trump is dropped.

While a right-leaning source downplays the event

as a, quote, "brief probe."

I mean, there's a ton of bias present

in both of these headlines,

and Ground News lets you easily see that.

There's also this feature called My News Bias,

where you can look at your reading habits,

the top sources that you're drawn to,

how reliable the articles are that you read,

and it will help flag blind spots in your information,

the stuff that you're either avoiding

consciously or unconsciously.

In other words, it helps get you out of your echo chamber,

which, in this day and age,

is becoming more and more important.

So if you value critical thinking and unbiased news,

this is probably a good tool for you.

And Ground News is offering a 40% discount

to people who use my link.

It is GroundNews.com/JohnnyHarris.

You can also use this lovely QR code that's on screen.

You'll get 40% off the Vantage plan,

which has all these features that I talked about.

Make sure to scan the QR code

or use the link if you do sign up

'cause that helps out the channel.

So, thank you Ground News for sponsoring today's video,

supporting our journalism.

And with that, let's dive back into this story

about Donald Trump and Egypt.

(pensive music)

All right, hold on a sec.

I have been using

this elementary school penmanship practice paper

for about 10 years as my note taking platform.

And I don't know why, but I love it.

Okay.

To keep things totally rock solid, crystal clear,

I'm gonna make a list.

I'm gonna call this list, What We Know.

And in this box, on this list,

I am going to put the things that we truly know

that are rock solid facts to keep us crystal clear.

Number one, we know that Egypt wanted to give money

to Donald Trump's campaign.

They planned on it, they approved it.

How do we know that?

The CIA.

"Ah, Johnny Harris talking about the CIA again.

Here we go."

The CIA spies on everyone.

We know that.

We know they spy on foreign countries and foreign leaders.

And during the 2016 presidential campaign,

we know that they had a confidential informant

within the Egyptian government.

This was a reliable informant

who had given the CIA reliable information in the past.

They trusted this person.

Between this informant and, quote, "other operations,"

the CIA learned that, quote, "Egyptian leaders,

including Abdel Fattah El-Sisi,

had signed off on sending $10 million

to Mr. Trump's cash-trapped campaign."

They say this happened just before the 2016 election.

Okay, let's go back to our list here

and make this more specific.

The CIA is actually saying

that they know that the president of Egypt, El-Sisi,

actually signed off on giving Donald Trump $10 million,

specifically $10 million.

We were never supposed to learn

about this intel, by the way.

This was totally classified, part of a secret investigation.

And in my mind this intel is quite reliable.

It comes from multiple sources,

it comes from a reliable informant.

And the CIA used it as a way

to pass along to the Department of Justice their concern

that there may have been

some foreign interference from Egypt.

And with that, let's get back to this guy,

Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president of Egypt.

He's a military man who rose to power in 2014

after kicking out

Egypt's first democratically-elected president,

who by the way was horribly unpopular

and the people also kind of wanted to kick him out.

But, yeah, he rose the power in a coup

and then just held on to power.

And predictably, once he consolidated power,

he started silencing the press,

squashing political dissent

or political opponents, locking people up,

arresting journalists and activists, et cetera, et cetera.

Same old story.

But his record was so bad

that during the Obama administration,

the US cut Egypt off of billions of dollars of military aid

that we usually send them.

We cut it off to basically punish El-Sisi

for all of these horrible human rights abuses.

So Egypt gets cut off from all this vital military aid.

But not for long.

(pensive music)

Okay, here's the second thing we know.

Trump and El-Sisi met up in New York during the campaign,

like when he was still a candidate.

It was September, 2016, a few weeks before the election.

They're at the UN headquarters.

(crowd cheering)

And they have this closed door meeting.

And according to the Trump campaign,

Trump was very warm to El-Sisi.

Now remember, the US was keeping Egypt at arms length

because of all these human rights abuses.

So, like, that was the MO for diplomats.

Trump totally breaks from all of that

in true Trump fashion.

Says that he loves El-Sisi,

he's gonna invite him to the White House.

The campaign says that the US

will be, quote, "a loyal friend to Egypt."

Here he is on Fox News right after the meeting.

- [Donald] He's a fantastic guy.

He took control of Egypt

and I thought it was a great meeting.

We met for a long time, actually.

We had a long meeting.

- So that's the other thing we know.

That's why it's on this list.

Trump loves El-Sisi,

they have a good chemistry.

Trump wants to help Egypt.

So it's actually not surprising

that Egypt wants to help Trump win.

Like, this would be very good for El-Sisi,

which explains point number one here.

El-Sisi signed off on this plan to give $10 million to Trump

according to good CIA intelligence

because he wanted him to win.

It would benefit him and his regime if Trump won.

(pensive music)

Now, a little context here,

presidential campaigns are really messy

and hard in the last few weeks.

Campaigns kind of have to spend

millions and millions of dollars in like the last two weeks

leading up to the election

to blitz on advertising, on travel,

on like get out the vote campaigns.

But the Trump campaign found itself in a tricky situation

in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election.

They didn't have the money to do this.

They were running out.

So what did the campaign do?

They asked Trump himself for money.

This post investigation reveals that they pleaded with Trump

to write a check to his campaign

for a final blitz of television ads.

And the response was, no.

"Trump repeatedly declined."

He didn't wanna give any more of his own money

to this campaign.

That is until October 28th, 2016.

It's five weeks after Trump and El-Sisi met in New York,

and Trump suddenly changes his mind

and announces that he's going to write a check

to his campaign for this final blitz.

And how much is he going to give?

$10 million.

- [Donald] Today I wrote another check for $10 million.

I'm spending money like crazy. (crowd cheering)

- Now, one small thing here, Trump advisors told the FBI

that while this $10 million looked like a contribution,

like a donation from Trump to his campaign,

they actually structured it as a loan.

$10 million that could be paid back to Trump.

Okay, so we know that President El-Sisi signed off

on giving Trump's campaign $10 million.

Why?

Because Trump and El-Sisi are friends

and a Trump presidency would benefit

El-Sisi and his regime greatly.

We also know that Trump

who refused to give money to his campaign

in the final weeks leading up to the election

suddenly changed his mind

and wrote a check for $10 million to his campaign,

which was a loan to be paid back.

Okay, I'm gonna add that to the list.

Does this all feel solid to everyone?

Like, we're...

Like, these are rock solid facts in my mind.

And now let's just add the point

that we talked about at the very beginning,

that five days before Trump was inaugurated,

$10 million of cash...

Or sorry, $9,998,000,

two grand away from $10 million,

was loaded up in two bags in cash and carted away,

taken out of a bank account

that is associated with El-Sisi's intelligence agency.

I'm gonna add this to the list.

So looking at these four items,

doesn't it kind of feel obvious?

Doesn't your brain want to connect the dots

and paint a picture that it feels very clear in my brain?

President, El-Sisi, who we know wants to give $10 million

to his new friend Donald Trump

orders $10 million to be taken out of a bank

and secretly transferred to Trump's campaign.

And Trump knowing this suddenly feels comfortable

loaning his campaign exactly $10 million,

knowing that he'd be repaid from this money from Egypt.

Doesn't it all lined up?

Like, case closed.

We can just like convict somebody.

No, that's not how it works.

That's not how the burden of proof works.

It's not how our justice system works.

This list, while full of robust facts,

still doesn't paint a picture of any wrongdoing.

It is in the realm of circumstantial evidence.

$10 million over here, $10 million over here,

they must connect.

But investigators never found the connection.

They never found the $10 million

flowing in to Trump's bank account.

And therefore, this is circumstantial evidence

and not rock solid provable anything.

But luckily, when we have this,

that's what investigations are for.

(gentle percussive music)

Soon after Trump takes office,

the Department of Justice launches an investigation.

Because remember, this is when the CIA told them that quote,

"El-Sisi signed off on giving Trump $10 million."

This was concerning intel and it was happening at a time,

if you remember, that there was a lot of concern

about foreign interference in American democracy.

A lot of that focused on Russia.

That was public, that was a big thing.

We all talked about Russia foreign interference.

But at the same time,

there was this investigation happening

into whether Egypt helped buy the 2016 election.

It was all happening quietly in the background

because it was pretty sensitive.

We're talking about potential bribery

of a sitting president.

So the FBI and investigators are looking into this,

trying to find evidence of potential wrongdoing.

Meanwhile, president Trump takes office and starts to do

exactly what he kind of promised he would do

when it came to Egypt.

He invites El-Sisi as one of the first guests

to the White House.

He calls him, and this is a direct quote

from someone who was in the room at the G7 Summit in France.

Quote, "My favorite dictator."

God, Trump.

Boy.

"My favorite dictator."

And then remember how Egypt had been cut off

by the Obama administration

of like $1.4 billion of military aid?

Trump unfreezes that money

and it starts to flow to El-Sisi,

not for anything in return,

just give El-Sisi the money.

And this was against the advice

of his first secretary of state.

He said like, "This is not a good idea."

And Trump's like, "Yes, it is."

$1.4 billion to Egypt.

Now listen, if, big word, "if."

Put if on the screen.

If El-Sisi had bribed Trump with $10 million

to help get him elected, then his investment is paying off.

He is benefiting a ton from a Trump presidency.

Now, we don't know if he did.

We don't have any direct evidence that he did.

But if he did, pretty good investment.

So while this is all happening,

the FBI and federal investigators

continue to try to find a link.

$10 million leaving Egypt.

Did it ever enter Donald Trump's bank account somehow?

To find this out, they took the investigatory step

of requesting Donald Trump's personal bank records.

They were gonna look at them to find large transactions

to see if $10 million showed up

sometime before the election.

So let's get a calendar out here.

The FBI requested records spanning May to November, 2016,

the months leading up to the election.

But guess what?

They didn't find anything.

They found no suspicious deposits

from foreign entities of $10 million.

So then they decided to go look at the Egyptian bank

and get their records

and they fought in this massive battle that is wild,

and it's detailed in The Post investigation

because the Egyptian bank

didn't want to give over their records.

They're like, "No, no, no, no, no.

We're not gonna give over our records

because that would," quote,

"wreak havoc on American foreign policy,

possibly alienating US allies,

undermining diplomatic efforts,

and inviting reciprocal treatment."

Geez, what's in these records, Egyptian bank?

Like, what is in these records

that's gonna topple American foreign policy?

So this epic court battle goes down,

there's like a secret investigation

and court thing happening in DC.

It goes all the way to the Supreme Court.

And finally, the Egyptian bank

has to surrender the records.

And this is how we learn

about the big transfer in US dollars

that happened from the Egyptian bank in cash.

They didn't know about this before.

But the investigators notice something weird

about all of these records

that they got from the Egyptian bank,

which is that other than that tiny handwritten note

that said, "Put $10 million in two bags

and four guys are gonna come pick it up,"

they felt like something was missing.

And I'm gonna quote directly from The Post here,

just so clear.

They found that the bank, quote,

"had not turned over a single email

of that enormous same day transaction,"

the $10 million of cash,

and "that the lack of any internal communication

on such a huge sum of money,

same day transaction, was unthinkable."

The US prosecutor who was heading this case

continues with, "Its strains credulity

that the bank kept such a stockpile of US dollars on hand,

let alone that it was able to be gathered up

in less than 24 hours."

Translation, the bank probably didn't give over

all their records.

Like, really, there was no other like emails being like,

"Hey, there's gonna be a $10 million transaction

from this bank branch near the airport."

So they're probably missing some records,

but they did get that handwritten note

that talked about the $10 million transfer in cash

five days before the inauguration.

January 15th, let's get back to the calendar.

Now, remember, the FBI had access to Trump's bank records

from May to November, 2016.

So if the $10 million was going to the Trump campaign,

the FBI wouldn't see it

because they only had Trump's records up to November, 2016.

"Okay, well, that's easy," says the FBI.

"Now that we have new information

about this $10 million transfer from Egypt,

let's just get a wider set of records

from Trump's bank,

something after January 15th

so that we can see if some $10 million deposit

shows up there."

This is like standard investigatory procedure.

One FBI agent told The Post

that if this were any other investigation,

they would have a justification

to get these records, quote, "in a heartbeat."

But because this wasn't any other investigation,

this was investigating the finances of a sitting president,

they would have to ask their boss for permission.

And who is their boss?

This guy, Bill Barr.

And here's where the investigation

starts to deteriorate, unfortunately.

(pensive music)

Bill Barr was appointed by Donald Trump

to be the Attorney General.

That's the head of the Department of Justice,

the top law enforcer of America.

Bill Barr can reasonably be considered a Trump ally.

You may disagree with me on this.

And if you do, please say so in the comments.

I'd love to hear your rebuttal to what I'm about to say.

His job is to keep the president legal and honest.

And yet, what he showed during his tenure

is that he would often side with Trump.

He would undermine investigations against him

and he even stoked fears of voter fraud in 2020

without real evidence.

Though he did eventually come out

and affirm that the 2020 election was not stolen

because there's no evidence that it was.

But, yeah, the guy is a Trump ally.

And the big question is,

why does the president get to appoint the person

who is supposed to keep him legal and honest?

The American system is not perfect

and there's also other special sort of controls

on how we keep the president honest,

even if this guy's biased and politically motivated.

Anyway, I'm not gonna go into that.

That's a story for another day.

The point is, Bill Barr, we can say is a Trump ally

and he is the boss of all these people

who are investigating the Trump-Egypt connection.

So he hears about this investigation,

he hears that the agents want to expand

the amount of bank records that they can get on Trump

so that they can see if there was a $10 million deposit

after the cash left Egypt.

And he doesn't like it.

He doesn't like it one bit.

He goes to the FBI director and he says,

"Hey, you need to," quote,

"impose adult supervision on these agents who are," quote,

"hell bent on getting a wider range

of Trump's records."

Adult supervision.

Yikes.

That doesn't sound good.

Barr starts voicing doubt about the actual agents

who are working on this investigation

and starts to question

whether or not there's even enough evidence

to continue the investigation.

Now, a note about the agents.

If Bill Barr is politically appointed

and potentially marred by political bias,

the investigators in this case often are not.

They're career employees of the department.

They are there because they are good at their job.

They have shown that they're committed

to the values of justice in America.

They've not risen because they have garnered favor

with some political person,

at least not as much as political appointees.

Politics is in everything.

It's impossible to escape it.

But these career investigators have different incentives.

And these career investigators felt strongly

that this investigation needed to continue.

That they had evidence that the next logical step

was to get a wider range of Trump's records

so they could see if this $10 million shows up

and they are met with more and more resistance

by Barr and other Trump appointed leaders

within the Department of Justice.

This drama, this tension, which was all happening in secret,

is now thoroughly documented

in this Washington Post investigation.

I recommend that you read it

because the The Post interviewed

like dozens of these people who were in the room,

and it paints a picture that is very clear.

The political appointees didn't want this to happen.

It all comes to an end

when Barr kind of suddenly replaces the prosecutor

who was working on this case

with someone who was more aligned with him.

And he almost immediately pumps the brakes

on this investigation.

He halts it.

A few months later, BARR replaces that person

with a new prosecutor who then sends out an email

with the subject line "Egypt Investigation."

The Post looked at this email, verified it,

and it states that, quote,

"Based on review of this investigation, we would be," quote,

"closing the above matter with no conviction or indictment."

So it was over.

That was it.

Whether or not that $10 million from Cairo

ended up in Trump's world

and whether or not Trump knew

that that $10 million was coming,

and therefore he gave $10 million

to his campaign knowing he would get paid back,

whether Trump's actions as president,

actions that greatly benefited Egypt

were the result of this money influencing his decisions,

we will probably never know any of this.

And in the eyes of the career prosecutors working on this,

because the mechanism through which we know things,

investigation was shut down too early

and through politically motivated bias.

Now, that's my read.

I'm gonna make it very clear.

That's my read on this.

You should read the accounts of these prosecutors

who felt like it was shut down too early.

My read, my connection is that it was done by a Trump ally

for politically motivated reasons.

And so all we're left with is this,

a list of some rock solid facts that look pretty fishy,

but nonetheless are not rock solid evidence of wrongdoing.

In 2021, a new administration came into the White House.

They could have reopened this investigation

and seen it through properly.

And yet, the new Attorney General wasn't briefed on this

until a year later.

But by then, it had been more than five years

since those two bags of cash

were filled with $10 million in Cairo,

meaning, this thing called the statute of limitations

had expired.

It was too late.

They couldn't actually prosecute this.

The Post reached out to the Trump campaign.

And in reply, they said, quote,

"The Washington Post is consistently played for suckers

by deep state Trump-haters and bad faith actors

peddling hoaxes and shams."

Okay.

And then just recently, in September, 2023,

New Jersey Democratic Senator, Bob Menendez,

was charged in a case

that alleges that he used his political influence

to benefit Egypt in exchange for cash,

gold bars, and other luxury items.

- [Reporter] He accepted these gifts from businessmen

acting on behalf of the Egyptian government.

- He was bribed by Egypt.

Like, we know Egypt does this.

I mean, we could add this to the circumstantial list.

Egypt likes to bribe people.

Okay, to end this, I just wanna make it crystal clear,

like, crystal, crystal clear that I am not saying

that Donald Trump or anyone in his campaign

should be convicted or found guilty

for a crime in this case.

It is so tempting to connect all the dots here

and just say like,

"Well, yeah, clearly, he did something wrong.

It all adds up."

But we just can't.

That is not how justice works.

Trump must be presumed innocent

until there's sufficient evidence to prove otherwise.

But to me, there's still something condemnable here,

which is that a group of political appointees

were able to shut down an investigation

that career prosecutors said should not be shut down

because there were further investigatory steps to take,

rational reasonable steps

that they would've taken on any other case.

But in this case, they couldn't.

That's the travesty here.

To me, that's not justice, that's politics.

So with that, I wanna leave you with a strong recommendation

to read the full investigation from the Washington Post.

There's more detail in there

that sheds light on how this went down.

And I'm grateful for the reporters

who spent the months and months uncovering this

because it brings it to light.

Maybe if we see this and understand it and talk about it,

it'll be less likely to happen again.

Thanks for watching, folks.

See you the next one.

- [Donald] He's a fantastic guy.

Took control of Egypt and got along.

There was a good chemistry there.

You know when you have good chemistry with people.

You're (indistinct) of that.

And there was a very good chemistry,

good feeling between us.

And I really enjoyed that meeting.

It was the other day.

And he's done a very good job

and we had a very respectful meeting.

(pensive music)