×
Entertainment

Lawyer up! That's the warning to Trump as Democrats prepare to take on what they call 'the most corrupt family ever to occupy the White House'

Lawyer up! That's the warning to Trump as Democrats prepare to take on what they call 'the most corrupt family ever to occupy the White House'

The millions of Americans struggling to cope with the cost of living in recent months, watching as the price of everything from groceries and petrol to healthcare soars, have been painfully aware that not all their compatriots are suffering.

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, the powerful investigative arm of the House of Representatives, have kept a running tracker notching up every cent of the billions of dollars with which they claim Donald Trump and his family have enriched themselves through 'digital grift schemes… collecting profits through digital wallets and granting pardons to the highest bidders'.

As of Wednesday, these alleged ill-gotten gains were calculated to stand at nearly $4.5 billion (£3.3billion). 

And as the Democrats sensationally recaptured both the House and Senate, the committee's incoming chairman, Robert Garcia, had a blunt warning for the humiliated President.

'LAWYER UP,' he advised.

In the run-up to Tuesday's seismic midterm elections, corruption came near the top of voters' concerns in several polls.

Trump's alleged self-enrichment – along with that of his family and his cronies – is something the Democrats have made clear they want to investigate forensically. 

Only last week, Garcia vowed: 'On DAY ONE we are going to take on the most corrupt family ever to occupy the White House.'

Trump's alleged self-enrichment – along with that of his family and his cronies – is something the Democrats have made clear they want to investigate forensically, writes Tom Leonard

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, poised to be the Speaker of the House, promised to 'hold the crooks accountable'

As the Democrats sensationally recaptured both the House and Senate, the committee's incoming chairman, Robert Garcia (pictured last year), had a blunt warning for the President: 'LAWYER UP'

Criminal charges are potentially on the table, with Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House Speaker-elect, promising to 'hold the crooks accountable'.

Those investigations may well lead to the impeachment (the process whereby public officials are removed from office for 'high crimes and misdemeanours') of Trump's staffers and possibly the President himself.

The President, of course, faced two impeachment attempts during his first administration, but these went nowhere because the Republicans held the Senate, where a two-thirds majority is needed to secure a conviction. 

Now, however, the Democrats will run the show – and Trump himself reportedly predicted he'd be impeached in a pre-election meeting with House Republicans, although he says he would consider presumptive pardons for himself and aides.

So what exactly are the Democrats going to investigate? 

The Trump family's vast profits from the cryptocurrency industry; his administration's continued refusal to reveal everything the federal government has on the late paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein; its pardoning of wealthy criminals and Maga loyalists; alleged corrupt business dealings of Middle East envoys Jared Kushner (Trump's son-in-law) and Steve Witkoff; and even Trump's lavish Washington building projects – all these and more have been identified by Democrats as areas to pursue.

They also want to investigate myriad aspects of Trump's regime which they hate but which don't necessarily touch on corruption, including immigration enforcement, the conduct of the Iran war and trade tariffs.

The Trump family recently acknowledged that a weekend 'wedding party' for the President's son, Donald Jr (pictured), was partly funded by a Russian oligarch with reportedly close ties to the Kremlin

Trump's opponents have been pressing for months for answers on these and other concerns – but, until now, the targets of their enquiries have ignored them as the Republicans controlled Congress. 

Now, however, the Democrats can not only draw on greater manpower to investigate alleged offences but they can subpoena documents and force people to testify.

New questions emerge by the day. The Trump family recently acknowledged, for instance, that a weekend 'wedding party' for the President's son, Donald Jr, was partly funded by a Russian oligarch, reportedly with close ties to the Kremlin.

'What's shocking to me is not only that this administration, cabinet officials and even the President and his family have been corrupt and self-dealing, but they've been so brazen and open about it,' Suhas Subramanyam, a member of the House Oversight Committee, said on Wednesday. 

Many clearly agree although the White House has repeatedly denied any allegations of wrongdoing. 

During his first term, Trump was criticised when it emerged that foreign governments, US officials and others involved with his administration were spending millions of dollars, including American-taxpayer money, on meals and rooms in hotels owned by the Trump Organization.

Opponents now claim that was nothing compared with the profiteering that has gone on since his re-election in 2024. Although the Trump Organization promised to pause foreign deals during his first term, this time round it lined up a string of multi-million-dollar projects across the world.

This mixing of public office with private benefits is meant to be curtailed by the US Constitution's 'emoluments' clause, which states that Congress must approve any gift from a 'king, prince or foreign state' to an elected US official, including the President.

Trump has been causing particular alarm over his encouragement of the cryptocurrency industry. Wealthy crypto investors poured money into his election campaign and a grateful Trump pledged to slash regulations and make the US the 'crypto capital of the world'.

Within days of his inauguration, he controversially pardoned Ross Ulbricht, a jailed cyber-crime pioneer who set up a marketplace on the 'dark web' (inaccessible from typical browsers).

The President also launched his own cryptocurrency, the $TRUMP 'meme coin', which earned him several billion dollars on paper. The coin has since collapsed in value, ruining several investors, as has the First Lady's '$MELANIA' coin.

Trump and his sons – Donald Jr, Eric and Barron – were also heavily involved in a crypto business, World Liberty Financial, launched four months before he took office.

The Democrats want to review a reported deal – allegedly agreed just four days before the inauguration – in which a member of the ruling royal family of Abu Dhabi in the UAE secretly bought a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial for around $500million – of which nearly half allegedly went to the families of Trump and Steve Witkoff.

Months later, the Trump administration approved $1.4billion (£1billion) in arms sales and the sale of 35,000 advanced AI chips to the UAE, despite national security concerns, say Democrats.

The White House and World Liberty denied any link between the investment and the chip sale. Witkoff has denied any wrongdoing.

In June, Trump's official financial disclosures revealed he had more than $2.2billion (£1.6billion) income last year, including $1.4billion from the crypto business. He insisted there was 'nothing illegal' about this income but Democrats wanted to investigate it

Trump's opponents further want to discuss the circumstances in which another wealthy Middle Eastern petrostate, Qatar, came to donate a $400million (£295million) Boeing 747-8 to his administration to serve as Air Force One.

As for Jared Kushner, married to Trump's daughter Ivanka, Democrats have been demanding since 2023 to know quite how he manages to avoid a conflict of interest between his dual roles as an informal foreign policy adviser to Trump and being the head of a private equity firm that conducts business with foreign governments. They are also keen to explore how and why Kushner's firm took $2billion (£1.5billion) investment from Saudia Arabia's sovereign wealth fund soon after Trump left the White House in 2021.

Democrats are also demanding to know how a clutch of defence and tech firms backed by Donald Jr and Eric Trump have won billions of dollars in federal government deals.

Finally, before taking office, Trump had promised to release, uncensored, all the millions of government files that were connected to his longtime paedophile friend Jeffrey Epstein. 

In the event, millions of pages and emails were withheld or heavily redacted. Both Republicans and Democrats have been trying to subpoena witnesses from the administration to explain why so much remains missing.

So many questions – and two more years as a lame-duck President to answer them. Trump may have to put off his cherished tarting-up of the White House – and get his lawyers on the phone. 

§

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are to visit Brussels next week as they resume public appearances in the wake of child sexual abuse image allegations facing Meghan's father.

Prince Harry and Meghan will deliver a joint keynote address at the opening of the Lost Screen Memorial in the European Parliament on Tuesday.

It is expected to be the first time the pair will have been seen in public since Thomas Markle Sr was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI over a haul of suspected child abuse images.

The brief trip abroad will see Harry and Meghan listen to addresses by European Parliament president Roberta Metsola and MEP Antonio Lopez-Isturiz, the first vice-chairman of the Child Rights Intergroup, before delivering their own speech.

The Sussexes will have between 15 and 20 minutes for their rare dual-address, which they will use to speak about the importance of children's digital safety.

Harry and Meghan will also be shown the memorial exhibition, which remembers children who have lost their lives as a result of the harm they suffered on social media.

The Duke will later join a panel discussion called Beyond Promises: Building A Digital Future That Works For Children to discuss how to protect children online.

Prince Harry and Mehgan arrive for a visit to Himmah Hub in Nottingham on October 15

The Philippine National Police (PNP) has said videos of alleged child sexual abuse and exploitation were among files found in four storage boxes that allegedly belonged to Mr Markle Sr, after he was reported by his son Thomas Markle Jr last month.

Major General Wilson Asueta of the PNP said it had yet to be confirmed who owned the devices, which included nine mobile phones, three memory cards, five hard drives and a camera.

The 82-year-old was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI last month by Mr Markle Jr, who handed over a haul of alleged child abuse images he said he found in his father's belongings in Cebu City.

A second hoard was discovered last Friday in a storage unit Thomas Markle Sr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by Mexican police.

Reports have since claimed Mr Markle Sr was moved into a care home for dementia patients in Florida, described as a specialist 'memory care' facility.

It has raised concerns the FBI may never be able to interview Meghan's estranged father because of the legal barriers over interrogating suspects with cognitive issues in care homes.

Meghan was left 'deeply distressed' at the allegations and revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection seven years ago which made 'troubling and disturbing allegations' about her father, but that she was given assurances these were being investigated.

Harry and Meghan are set to be seen in public for the first time since her father Thomas Markle was reported to police over a haul of alleged child sexual abuse images

The Metropolitan Police has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, now investigating the force's conduct.

The Duchess had wanted to 'speak out' immediately after reading the letter but police advised her against this, sources said.

Meghan has been estranged from her father since the run-up to her 2018 wedding when he was caught staging paparazzi photographs and then had a heart attack, meaning the King, then-the Prince of Wales, stepped in to walk Meghan down the aisle.

When former TV lighting director Mr Markle Sr had his leg amputated in the Philippines last year, he made pleas for the duchess to contact him, saying he did not want to die while they were still estranged.

A spokesperson for the duchess confirmed at the time she had 'reached out to her father'.

Last week, it emerged Meghan wrote in this final letter that she knew he was an abuser and that he would never see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

Mr Markle Sr, who returned to the US in May, has admitted to paying for sex in the Philippines but denied ever possessing child abuse imagery.

READ MORE: Harry and Meghan lose another key member of staff as Archewell's head of factual programmes steps down after more than five years

§

Blake Lively looked as if she had some new pep in her step when she was spotted out in New York City on Tuesday night in a stunning little black dress.

The 39-year-old Gossip Girl star was spotted out in Manhattan's Upper East Side for an event celebrating the launch of jeweler Brent Neale's new holiday collection, according to E! News.

Although Lively was reportedly joined by friends, her husband Ryan Reynolds, 50, didn't appear by her side.

The Daily Mail has reached out to Lively's representative for comment but hasn't yet heard back. 

Lively – who recently revealed her over-the-top beauty regimen – channeled classic glamour in her skimpy black dress, which was decorated with glittering sequins.

The off-the-shoulder minidress featured a playful black bow that covered her cleavage for a touch of modesty.

Blake Lively looked as if she had some new pep in her step when she was spotted out in New York City on Tuesday night in a stunning little black dress

The 39-year-old Gossip Girl star was spotted out in Manhattan's Upper West Side for an event celebrating the launch of jeweler Brent Neale's new holiday collection, according to E! News

Lively – who recently revealed her over-the-top beauty regimen – channeled classic glamour in her skimpy black dress, which was decorated with glittering sequins

Lively's short skirt showcased her toned legs, which culminated in clear Louboutins that strapped around her ankles and featured black-tipped toes.

The It Ends with Us star, who is stepping out in the wake of her bruising legal drama with her former costar and director Justin Baldoni, wore her long blond hair in dramatic waves cascading down her shoulders.

She completed her glamorous ensemble with a simple black leather hobo handbag, and she added some extra sparkle with dangling earrings and multiple enormous sparkling rings.

Lively looked as if she was on top of the world as she beamed for photographers outside the shindig.

The outing comes after Lively revealed the secrets of the beauty regimen she uses to look as if she's in the 'first trimester of life' last week.

The actress took to her Instagram Story to share a candid clip of the nighttime routine she uses to maintain her 'natural beauty.'

She appeared to be wearing headgear with red-light therapy over her hair, in addition to a sheet mask with extra pieces she had pasted to her bare face. 

The Gossip Girl alumna was also bundled up in a brown fleece hoodie while seemingly winding down for the night with her beauty routine.

The off-the-shoulder minidress featured a playful black bow that covered her cleavage for a touch of modesty

Lively's short skirt showcased her toned legs, which culminated in clear Louboutins that strapped around her ankles and featured black-tipped toes

The It Ends with Us star wore her long blond hair in dramatic waves cascading down her shoulders

She completed her glamorous ensemble with a simple black leather hobo handbag

Lively added some extra sparkle with dangling earrings and multiple enormous sparkling rings

Lively looked as if she was on top of the world as she beamed for photographers outside the shindig

The outing comes after Lively revealed the secrets of her beauty regimen last week

She joked that her go-to products make her look as if she's in the 'first trimester of life'

The actress took to her Instagram Story to share a candid clip of the nighttime routine she uses to maintain her 'natural beauty' 

Lively gave a glimpse into her cozy wind-down routine shortly after the drama involving her film It Ends With Us and her director and costar Justin Baldoni. 

'Natural beauty is effortless,' she quipped at the bottom of her post, which pictured her taking a deep breath while the mask covered her face.

Lively also drew thought bubbles around her face, and in one, she wrote: 'If I don't look like I'm in the first trimester of life after this much effort I quit.' 

She continued: 'I miss the 2000s when we just used that handsoap with fish characters on it on our face & called it a day.' 

The Gossip Girl star also noted the lights in the background of her room in another thought bubble: 'My kids' star projector that I stole is a vibe tho.'

She set her candid post to the tune of Fergie and Ludacris' 2006 smash hit Glamorous.

The mother of four – who shares James, 11; Inez, ten; Betty, seven; and Olin, three, with her husband Ryan Reynolds – often shares snippets of her hair and beauty routines on social media.

In August, she shared a video of herself getting ready in her bathroom before rushing out the door as a busy mother and businesswoman. 

The mother of four – who shares James, 11; Inez, ten; Betty, seven; and Olin, three, with her husband Ryan Reynolds – often shares snippets of her hair and beauty routines on social media; above with Reynolds in April 2025 in NYC

In August, she shared a video of herself getting ready in her bathroom before rushing out the door as a busy mother and businesswoman

Her post comes after she was in a legal battle with Baldoni, and the former costars settled right before their trial was set to begin. Baldoni was ultimately ordered to pay $400,000 of Lively's legal fees earlier this year; pictured together in It Ends With Us

'The look: no time but need to look cute while ALSO raising children,' the movie star, who was seen using products from her Blake Brown haircare brand, wrote over the clip. 

'Moment of truth: bun out after running around the city,' she continued, before almost running out the door with her pants unbuttoned.

Her post comes after she was in a legal battle with Baldoni, and the former costars settled right before their trial was set to begin. 

Baldoni was ultimately ordered to pay $400,000 of Lively's legal fees. 

Lively previously sued Baldoni and his production company Wayfarer in December 2024. 

Right before their trial was set to begin earlier this year, Lively was awarded just over $400,000 of the $8 million she sought in legal fees from their dispute due to his countersuit. 

In her lawsuit, Lively asserted that she was subjected to sexual harassment as well as retaliation, alleging he orchestrated a smear campaign to harm her reputation after she brought up complaints about his behavior on set.  

In response, Baldoni denied harassment and claimed Lively made complaints to seize creative control of the movie. 

In June 2025, the countersuit was thrown out. In May of this year, just two weeks before the scheduled trial date, the former costars reached their settlement.

They also released a joint statement, writing that they 'remain firmly committed to workplaces free of improprieties and unproductive environments.' 

§

Web hosting by Somee.com