NEW YORK — A mob-busting former prosecutor from New York will lead the House Intelligence Committee investigation into President Donald Trump’s campaign and its various ties to Russia, the panel announced Tuesday.
Daniel Goldman — who specialized in Russian and Italian organized crime while serving as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York between 2007 and 2017 — will be the committee’s new senior adviser and director of investigations as it re-launches its sweeping Trump inquiry, Chairman Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said in a statement.
Goldman’s hire was announced along with four other intelligence experts who have been tapped to serve on the panel in various national security capacities.
“I look forward to working with them to perform important oversight and investigative work to ensure the security of our country and its institutions,” Schiff said.
While overseeing the Organized Crime Unit for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan, Goldman prosecuted more than 30 people tied to a Russian mob ring on charges of racketeering, gambling and money laundering.
He also secured a conviction against a Genovese crime family boss on racketeering and murder charges. Additionally, Goldman has “significant” experience in prosecuting fraud and other white collar crimes, according to Schiff.
A White House spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Goldman’s hire underscores the aggressive approach Schiff plans to take in his committee’s newly reopened investigation into Trump world.
While under Republican control, the panel shut down its Trump probe last year, concluding there was no collusion between Russians and the president’s campaign ahead of the 2016 election.
Democrats balked at those findings and, with the House under Democratic control, Schiff announced last month he was reopening the investigation.
Schiff said the new probe will have a more expansive scope and look into whether any foreign actors are holding financial or other leverage over the president, his family or businesses. The inquiry will also focus on possible money laundering relating to Trump and continue to look into “links and/or coordination” between Trump associates and Russians ahead of the 2016 election.
Tuesday’s new hire announcement came one day after House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., announced a new investigation into Trump, starting off the sprawling inquiry by demanding information and documents from 81 of the President’s associates, family members and former employees.
Trump has fumed over the investigative pressure, blasting Nadler as “stone cold CRAZY” on Tuesday and ripping Schiff last month as “a political hack who’s trying to build a name for himself.”
