WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd December, 2020) The US Justice Department is investigating allegations of a bribery-for-pardon scheme in the White House, unsealed redacted court documents revealed.
The scheme allegedly involves a "substantial political contribution in exchange for a presidential pardon or reprieve of sentence," according to documents unsealed by US District Judge Beryl Howell on Tuesday. The Names of those targeted in the investigation were redacted.
The judge granted Federal prosecutors a court order earlier this year to access digital media devices to review communications related to the alleged "Bribery-for-pardon" scheme, the court document said.
The court document alleges that there is evidence of a "secret lobbying scheme" in which two individuals acted as lobbyists to senior White House officials without complying with the registration requirement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act.
So far during the course of the probe, the Justice Department has seized over 50 digital media devices, including iphones, ipads, laptops, thumb drives along with emails indicating "additional criminal activity," according to the filing.
US presidents have traditionally handed out may pardons near the end of their term. Every major US media outlet projected Joe Biden the winner of the presidential election more than three weeks ago, although Trump has yet to concede, claiming widespread irregularities. However, the president has agreed to allow the transition process to begin while results have been officially certified in nearly every state legally contested by the Trump campaign.
