Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which is a government watchdog group known most recently in part for its involvement in trying to boot former President Donald Trump from the ballot in Colorado, is back.
The organization has filed a criminal complaint with federal authorities accusing the ex-president of possible bribery over reported interactions between him and the oil and gas industry. The complaint entails a series of accusations against the ex-president and push for an investigation. Roughly on par with what were deemed criminal referrals from the House committee that investigated the Capitol riot, federal authorities are not required to take action in response to these materials, but there are serious accusations.
“In a closed door meeting in April, Trump reportedly told a group of oil and gas executives that they should raise $1 billion for his campaign and promised that he would take specific actions” beneficial to their sector in return if back in the presidency, said CREW in a press release.
“It is crucial that we have a quick and thorough investigation to determine whether Donald Trump’s conduct with oil and gas executives violate core corruption laws which are meant to protect the government from undue influence and corruption,” remarked the watchdog organization’s President Noah Bookbinder. “The public deserves to know whether Trump’s request for $1 billion went beyond merely epitomizing our system of excessive corporate influence on politics and in fact crossed the legal line.”
Trump, meanwhile, remains on track for sentencing in his New York City criminal case on felony offenses of falsifying business records next month, just before Republicans are still on track to make him their presidential nominee for the year yet again. Also this week, proceedings were continuing in Florida court around some of the latest challenges from both sides in Trump’s classified documents criminal case, where trial remains not actually scheduled.
