U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff announced that his committee would be beginning an investigation into President Donald Trump’s financial interests. It’s an expansion upon the Russia investigations in that it does not entirely focus on direct foreign influence on the campaign but instead questions how the Trump Organization’s financial interests around the world might shape policy.
This comes a day after the State of the Union address in which Trump said that any investigations against him were a threat to the strength of the economy. Democrats took this as an intimidation tactic, which they are rejecting by moving forward with the various investigations they have planned.
It was pretty well expected once the Democrats won over the House of Representatives in the mid-term elections that they would be initiating committee investigations into various aspects of the president’s campaign and administration, even the organization responsible for his inaugural festivities (there have been accusations of widespread corruption surrounding the inauguration). So Trump’s attempt to spin it on economic terms was a pretty quixotic one.
Though this particular investigation is not specifically about Trump’s relationship with Russia, it will probably have something to say on the issue, as it is believed by some that the president’s financial interests have shaped his foreign policy toward Russia. The most cited example is the reported negotiation of a proposed Trump Tower in Moscow, but there have been plenty of other examples reported in recent months.
Whether the president likes it or not, the Democratic House of Representatives is not likely to let things go anytime soon.
