How could a $10M Egyptian cash withdrawal upend Trump's campaign?
A scuttled Justice Department investigation into alleged foreign election interference returns to complicate the 2024 presidential election
"Russia, Russia, Russia." Such has been former President Donald Trump's dismissive assessment of the various, often intersecting scandals that defined a large portion of his first term in office. But while investigations into Moscow's alleged efforts to penetrate the innermost corridors of American political power have produced compelling — albeit not legally conclusive — narratives in support of Trump's Russian susceptibility, claims of an entirely different national influence operation have surfaced in the closing weeks of the 2024 presidential election, adding another layer of international intrigue to Trump's political ascendency.
At the heart of these separate allegations are a series of suspicious transactions at Cairo's state-run National Bank of Egypt. There, just days before Trump took the oath of office in 2017, some $10 million USD was withdrawn from an account associated with Egypt's national security apparatus — an amount which corresponded to a separate donation made by Trump into his own campaign in the waning days of the 2016 race. The move, which corresponded with a CIA inquiry into claims that Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has sought ways to bolster and align himself with Trump's candidacy, accelerated an ongoing Justice Department investigation into this vector of potential foreign influence peddling.
While the broad contours of the Trump-Egypt allegations have been public for several years, the scope and scale of the DOJ's investigation — and then-Attorney General Bill Barr's role in ultimately shuttering the pursuit — had largely remained hidden until a Washington Post exposé reignited interest in the episode this past summer. In early October, Senate Democrats pushed the Justice Department to examine whether the Trump administration "interfered with and, ultimately, blocked" the earlier investigation — all as Trump himself stands on the cusp of possibly returning to the White House in January.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What did the commentators say?
While much of the country spent the bulk of the Trump administration focusing on alleged Russian influence, investigators pursuing these largely underreported allegations claimed the trail of Egyptian money represented the "most concrete lead" they had for foreign meddling, The New York Times said. This is the "most serious allegation of a bribe in White House history," Washington Post reporter Carol Leonning said on X.
🚨Here's why it was the most serious allegation of a bribe in White House history. 1/It was based on "jaw-dropping" CIA intelligence that indicated Egypt's president sought in 2016 to illegally inject $10M to help elect Trump2/the lead came from a reliable CIA informant and… https://t.co/Bj2nGeOL06August 5, 2024
The allegations may be "rock bottom" in America's long history of potentially criminal political bribery, said Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Will Bunch. "Do not let the matter of Trump, Egypt and the $10 million disappear," and push the Democratic-controlled Senate to "open a full-blown investigation, with efforts to subpoena Barr and other Justice Department higher-ups to explain in public why the case was dropped." Meanwhile, the allegations can "still be pursued as a civil case."
"Every American should be concerned about how this case ended," one of the Post's sources said, under condition of anonymity. "The Justice Department is supposed to follow evidence wherever it leads — it does so all the time to determine if a crime occurred or not."
Citing Sen. Robert Menendez's (D-N.J.) recent conviction for "taking bribes of cash and gold bars while acting as a middleman between New Jersey businessmen and foreign governments, including Egypt" Trump's case — if proven true — "shows a much higher level of corruption from the country," The New Republic said. At the same time, can "anything be done about it?" It's unclear given the Supreme Court's recent ruling on presidential immunity.
What next?
Several lawmakers have begun speaking out about the need for further information: The allegations present a "creepy tale" featuring both "strange machinations to round up the $10,000,000" as well as "strange machinations to shut down the investigation," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said on X. "This has a very bad smell." Senate Republicans "need to hold a hearing on this explosive allegation," said Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) while Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) cited the Trump family's "history of corrupt and unconstitutional foreign payments" as reason to "hold them accountable immediately."
While the statute of limitations for federal illegal campaign contribution charges is nearly three years expired, it is "hard to imagine with reporting like this that the story ends there," MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner said.
A spokesperson for the former president denied any wrongdoing on behalf of Trump, and said to The Washington Post that their story is merely "textbook Fake News."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidays
The Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
The Week contest: Werewolf bill
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
The political latitude of Elon's cost-cutting task force
Talking Points A $2 trillion goal. And big obstacles in the way.
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
John Prescott: was he Labour's last link to the working class?
Today's Big Quesiton 'A total one-off': tributes have poured in for the former deputy PM and trade unionist
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rahmbo, back from Japan, will be looking for a job? Really?'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
'It may not be surprising that creative work is used without permission'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
What message is Trump sending with his Cabinet picks?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION By nominating high-profile loyalists like Matt Gaetz and RFK Jr., is Trump serious about creating a functioning Cabinet, or does he have a different plan in mind?
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Gaetz ethics report in limbo as sex allegations emerge
Speed Read A lawyer representing two women alleges that Matt Gaetz paid them for sex, and one witnessed him having sex with minor
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published