According to new reporting by The Washington Post, the Egyptian government attempted to funnel $10 million in cash to Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, leading to a previously undisclosed Department of Justice investigation into the transaction. The investigation went nowhere, with Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr ordering it closed due to “a lack of sufficient evidence.” Meanwhile, Trump approved millions of dollars of military aid to the government of Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has been in power since 2013. Carol Leonnig, the reporter who broke the story at The Washington Post, explains that the money, if it did reach the at-the-time “cash-starved” Trump campaign, will have amounted to bribery. However, notes Leonnig, the window for prosecuting anyone involved in the transaction has largely passed following the aborted investigation.
