Scandal-plagued and thoroughly disgraced ex-President Donald Trump is in more trouble now than he’s ever been in his entire lifetime combined — after he was formally and historically convicted of a staggering 34 felony charges of falsifying business records in the infamous Stormy Daniels Hush Money trial — yet he seems to continuously find it impossible to stop doing things that are only going to lead to more trouble for himself.
In the middle of his bombshell felony conviction, ProPublica — a “nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power,” according to their website — has published an absolutely explosive investigation that found that multiple witnesses across various remaining criminal cases against Donald Trump have “received significant financial benefits” ranging from exceptionally large raises and severance packages to cushy new jobs to shares and even cold, hard cash from the scandal-ridden, multi-indicted ex-president’s businesses and his 2024 presidential campaign.
According to the publication’s new analysis of public disclosures, court records, and securities filings, committees among the ex-president’s personal businesses and his presidential campaign have been far from bereft of exceedingly significant financial benefits coming down the pike from Donald J. Trump — breeding an undeniable sense of loyalty toward the ex-president who is the subject of multiple criminal investigations and several of these individuals are slated as key witnesses in these case.
ProPublica reports that one Trump campaign aide saw his salary quite literally double, from $26,000 to $53,500, while another employee was provided with a $2 million severance package that conveniently bars him from voluntarily cooperating with law enforcement officials. Yet another top Trump campaign official suddenly found her own daughter hired onto the campaign staff where she now serves as the fourth-highest-paid employee on the team.
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Conveniently enough, it seems that all of these sudden pay increases and various other substantial financial benefits have come to fruition at delicate or pivotal moments in the various legal proceedings against former President Trump. One example being an aide who was suddenly given a highly desirable position on the board of Trump’s social media company, directly after he was subpoenaed in one of Donald’s criminal cases, but before he had officially testified.
What is happening inside Trumpworld — with regard to the conveniently timed pay raises, job promotions, firings and severance packages, and paramount promotions and bonuses — can most certainly amount to criminal witness tampering, in they take place outside of what is determined to be the normal course of business. To charge the former president with witness tampering, prosecutors would have to prove that Trump dolled out perks and/or punishments with the intent to influence the individuals’ testimonies.
However, experts say that even if the perks and punishments weren’t technically intended to influence witnesses, they could still prove to be a big problem for Trump in his impending criminal trials, as it could open the door for prosecutors to discredit the testimonies of any witnesses who received benefits from Donald Trump.
Former U.S. attorney Barbara McQuade told ProPublica, “It feels very shady, especially as you detect a pattern. … I would worry about it having a corrupt influence.”
In response to the investigation, a Trump campaign official claimed that any raises or additional financial benefits were a result of the increased workload on staffers amid the former president’s legal cases. The same campaign official also claimed that the former president has no personal knowledge of or control over compensation and that all financial decisions are delegated to the campaign’s top leaders, claiming, “I would argue Trump doesn’t know what we’re paid.”
You can read PropPublica’s full investigative report here.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
