What Is Robert Mueller Looking For?

The New York Times reports that the special counsel has demanded records from the Trump Organization.

Thursday afternoon the New York Times broke the news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating whether the Trump campaign assisted Russian operation to swing the 2016 election to the president, had issued a subpoena for the Trump Organization’s records. The subpoena reportedly “ordered the Trump Organization to hand over all records related to Russia and other topics [Mueller] is investigating.”

The president has previously implied that he could fire Mueller if the special counsel began investigating Trump’s businesses. As the Times reports, “the subpoena comes as Mr. Mueller appears to be broadening his investigation to examine the role foreign money may have played in funding Mr. Trump’s political activities,” in particular from the United Arab Emirates.

Mueller may have already learned a great deal about the Trump Organization’s financial practices from outside firms—such as banks—that the company has done business with. But internal Trump Organization documents would show how the company itself treated such transactions. The subpoena could also give investigators a glimpse at things like call records, employee calendars, internal memorandums, and communications, that would be difficult to get elsewhere. If Mueller is indeed investigating whether money from the UAE was illegally funding Trump political efforts, internal documents from the Trump Organization could confirm that one way or the other.

“If they’ve interviewed people about what certain transactions were about, they’d want to know if they had information that contradicts or confirms it,” said Abramowitz. “What they’re probably looking at is where the money’s coming from, to see if it is coming from Russia, or other sources.”

The Trump Organization could seek to fight or narrow the subpoena, a legal battle which would take place out of public view because of the ongoing grand jury investigation. But Bruce Green, a former prosecutor and law professor at Fordham University, said that Mueller would most likely prevail.

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