The Corruption Files: Documenting Trump Administration Crimes

This article is not opinion. It is documentation.

Every claim below is sourced to official government documents: Department of Justice records, Congressional reports, court filings, and Inspector General investigations. The goal is not to persuade but to compile—to create a single reference documenting what the official record shows.

The record shows a pattern of corruption unprecedented in modern American history.

Part I: Foreign Government Payments (Emoluments)

The Constitution's Emoluments Clause (Article I, Section 9) prohibits federal officials from accepting payments from foreign governments without Congressional consent. The Founders included this provision specifically to prevent foreign influence over American leaders.

Donald Trump was the first president in modern history to maintain active business interests while in office. His hotels, golf courses, and other properties continued operating—and continued accepting payments from foreign governments.

What the Record Shows

The House Oversight Committee investigation, concluded in January 2024, documented:

"At least $7.8 million in payments from foreign governments flowed to Trump-owned businesses during his presidency."

— House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, January 4, 2024

The documented payments included:

• Saudi Arabia: Hundreds of thousands in hotel bookings, including a surge of bookings at Trump properties following Trump's 2017 Saudi visit
• China: The Chinese government granted valuable trademarks to Trump businesses while trade negotiations were ongoing
• United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar: Substantial payments to Trump hotels in Washington D.C.
• Various embassies: Foreign diplomats openly stated they stayed at Trump hotels to curry favor

The D.C. Trump International Hotel, located in the Old Post Office building leased from the federal government, became a hub for foreign government spending specifically because diplomats understood it would please the president.

Legal Status

Multiple lawsuits were filed alleging Emoluments Clause violations. The Supreme Court dismissed them as moot after Trump left office, meaning the constitutional question was never resolved on the merits. The payments were documented; whether they were constitutional remains legally unanswered.

Part II: Pardons for War Criminals

The presidential pardon power is nearly unlimited. But its use reveals character. Trump used it to free war criminals—men convicted by American military courts of murdering civilians, including children.

The Blackwater Massacre

On September 16, 2007, contractors from Blackwater USA opened fire in Nisour Square, Baghdad. When the shooting stopped, 14 Iraqi civilians were dead, including two children. Seventeen others were wounded.

This was not combat. It was a massacre. The contractors fired into a crowded traffic circle without provocation. Iraqi witnesses—and some American military personnel present—were horrified.

Four Blackwater employees were eventually prosecuted:

"Nicholas Slatten was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder. Paul Slough, Evan Liberty, and Dustin Heard were each sentenced to 30 years in prison."

— Department of Justice, August 14, 2019

The convictions came after years of legal battles. Military and FBI investigators painstakingly reconstructed the shooting. Witnesses traveled from Iraq to testify. The judicial system worked.

On December 22, 2020, Trump pardoned all four.

The Iraqi government condemned the pardons. The families of the dead—families who had testified in American courts, trusting the American justice system—received no notification before the announcement.

The Eddie Gallagher Case

Chief Petty Officer Edward Gallagher was a Navy SEAL accused of stabbing a wounded, captive teenage ISIS fighter to death, then posing for photos with the corpse. Fellow SEALs—his own teammates—reported him.

"Special Warfare Operator Chief Edward Gallagher was found not guilty of murder but guilty of posing for a photo with a casualty."

— U.S. Navy, July 2, 2019

The acquittal came after a key witness changed his testimony on the stand (he received immunity in exchange for testifying, then claimed he himself delivered the killing blow). Gallagher was convicted only of the photo offense and demoted.

Trump intervened repeatedly: tweeting support during the trial, restoring Gallagher's rank after conviction, blocking the Navy from stripping his SEAL trident. When Navy leadership tried to proceed with administrative review, Trump's intervention forced out the Navy Secretary.

The message was clear: American service members accused of war crimes had presidential protection.

Sanctions on War Crimes Prosecutors

It wasn't enough to pardon American war criminals. The administration also attacked those who might investigate them.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) had opened investigations into potential war crimes in Afghanistan—including by American personnel. Rather than cooperate with accountability, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors.

"The United States has imposed sanctions against ICC officials involved in investigating U.S. personnel."

— Congressional Research Service, R45618, Updated 2020

America sanctioned prosecutors. For the crime of investigating crimes.

The sanctions were eventually lifted by the Biden administration, but the precedent was set: the United States would treat war crimes investigators as enemies.

Part III: Pardons for Political Allies

Beyond war criminals, Trump used the pardon power to free political allies convicted of crimes related to him personally.

The Mueller Investigation Pardons

The Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election produced multiple convictions:

"The Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election in sweeping and systematic fashion."

— Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Report on the Investigation into Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, March 2019

Several Trump associates were convicted:

• Paul Manafort (Trump campaign chairman): Convicted of financial crimes, sentenced to 7.5 years
• Roger Stone: Convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering; sentenced to 40 months
• Michael Flynn (National Security Advisor): Pled guilty to lying to the FBI

Trump pardoned all of them. The DOJ Pardon Office records list:

"Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Steve Bannon among recipients of executive clemency."

— U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney, 2017-2021

Steve Bannon, facing state charges in New York (which cannot be federally pardoned), was later convicted of fraud.

The Turkey-Halkbank Connection

One case illustrates how foreign policy may have been corrupted by personal relationships.

Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank, was caught evading U.S. sanctions on Iran in a massive scheme worth billions. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan built a case:

"Halkbank participated in the design and execution of a multi-year scheme to evade U.S. sanctions on Iran."

— U.S. Attorney's Office Southern District of New York, October 15, 2019

The scheme involved gold-for-oil trades that violated U.S. sanctions and enriched Turkish officials. Turkish President Erdogan personally lobbied Trump to drop the case. According to former National Security Advisor John Bolton's account, Trump expressed willingness to intervene.

The case continues, but the suggestion that a U.S. president might quash a federal prosecution as a favor to a foreign leader represents exactly the corruption the Emoluments Clause was designed to prevent.

Part IV: January 6th and the Attempt to Overturn the Election

The most serious documented misconduct was the attempt to overturn the 2020 election, culminating in the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

The Congressional Investigation

The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack conducted the most extensive Congressional investigation in modern history. Its findings, in their 845-page final report:

"The central cause of January 6th was one man, Donald Trump, who many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him."

— House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack, December 22, 2022

The Committee documented:

The "Big Lie": Trump and allies promoted claims of election fraud they knew to be false. His own Attorney General, campaign officials, and White House lawyers told him he had lost. He continued claiming victory anyway.

Pressure Campaigns: Trump pressured state officials to "find" votes (the Georgia call), pressured the Justice Department to declare the election corrupt, and pressured Vice President Pence to refuse to certify electoral votes.

The Rally and March: Trump organized the January 6th rally, told supporters to "fight like hell," and directed them to march on the Capitol while Congress was counting electoral votes.

The Inaction: As violence unfolded, Trump watched television coverage for hours without ordering intervention. He resisted sending the National Guard. He tweeted attacks on Mike Pence while rioters searched for Pence with a gallows erected outside.

Criminal Referrals

The Committee referred Trump to the Department of Justice on four criminal charges:

1. Obstruction of an official proceeding
2. Conspiracy to defraud the United States
3. Conspiracy to make a false statement
4. Inciting, assisting, or aiding an insurrection

Federal charges were subsequently filed by Special Counsel Jack Smith, though prosecutions have faced delays.

Part V: The Ukraine Extortion

Before January 6th, Trump was impeached (the first time) for withholding military aid from Ukraine to pressure its government into announcing investigations of his political rival.

The call transcript (released by the White House itself) shows:

"I would like you to do us a favor though... The other thing, There's a lot of talk about Biden's son."

— Donald Trump to Ukrainian President Zelensky, July 25, 2019

Military aid—approved by Congress—was frozen. The aid was released only after a whistleblower complaint became public.

Trump was impeached by the House. The Senate acquitted on party-line votes.

What the Pattern Shows

Individual incidents might be explained away. Taken together, they reveal a pattern:

1. Personal profit from public office: Foreign government payments to Trump businesses throughout his presidency
2. Protection for violence: Pardons for war criminals and political allies
3. Attacks on accountability: Sanctions on prosecutors, firing of inspectors general, obstruction of investigations
4. Attempt to seize power: The documented effort to overturn an election, culminating in violence

This is not normal political controversy. Previous administrations had scandals. None had this systematic pattern of corruption documented by official government sources.

The sources are not partisan. They are DOJ Inspector General reports, federal court convictions, Congressional committee findings (with Republican participation in some cases), and official pardon records. The facts are not disputed—only their significance.

Why Documentation Matters

Memory fades. Narratives are rewritten. Documentation persists.

In the years ahead, there will be efforts to minimize, explain away, or simply forget what the official record shows. This article exists to make that harder.

Every claim is sourced. Every source is linked. The record speaks for itself.

Primary Sources

• House Oversight Committee Emoluments Report - January 4, 2024
• Blackwater Nisour Square Verdict - Department of Justice
• Trump Clemency Recipients - DOJ Office of the Pardon Attorney
• Mueller Report on Russian Interference - DOJ Archives
• ICC Sanctions CRS Report - Congressional Research Service
• January 6th Committee Final Report - GovInfo
• Trump-Ukraine Call Transcript - CNN (White House release)
• Halkbank Indictment - DOJ SDNY