Trump dismisses DOJ's probe of bribery-for-pardon allegation: 'Fake News!'
It's not clear if President Trump was connected to the investigation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President Trump on Tuesday dismissed reports that the Justice Department was investigating claims of a bribery scheme involving a possible presidential pardon.
"Pardon investigation is Fake News!" the president wrote in a Twitter message.
Trump's tweet came amid reports that court documents unsealed Tuesday revealed that Justice was investigating an alleged “secret lobbying scheme” in which unidentified individuals purportedly offered political campaign contributions to White House figures in exchange for a pardon.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The documents show that Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell in August reviewed a request from prosecutors to gain access to documents that were acquired through a search warrant.
The documents revealed an investigation in which two unnamed individuals allegedly “acted as lobbyists to senior White House officials, without complying with the registration requirement of the Lobbying Disclosure Act” in order to secure “a pardon or reprieve of sentence.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The names of the individuals under investigation were blacked out as was the identity of the person to be pardoned under the alleged plan. It's not clear if Trump was connected to the investigation.
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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Tuesday that if Trump were connected to the scheme, he could be subject to criminal charges.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He would not be immune to prosecution for it," Schiff told MSNBC.
"Someone in this conspiracy has to have a close enough relationship to the president or people around the president to make it happen," he continued. "You're not gonna pay a bribe to someone who has no relationship to the party that has the power to give the pardon."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last week, Trump pardoned his former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Fox News' Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report