Trump Administration

The Washington Post reports: President Trump has made his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the de facto project manager for constructing his border wall, frustrated with a lack of progress over one of his top priorities as he heads into a tough reelection campaign, according to current and former administration officials. The president’s son-in-law and senior adviser is pressing U.S. Customs and …

The Washington Post reports: Former White House counsel Donald McGahn must comply with a House subpoena, a federal court ruled in a case that could affect the impeachment inquiry. The finding came in a case testing whether top presidential advisers have absolute immunity from congressional demands for information. The ruling in a lawsuit brought by the House Judiciary Committee has …

The Washington Post reports: As influenza spread through migrant detention facilities last winter, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that U.S. Customs and Border Protection vaccinate detained migrants against the virus, a push that CBP rejected, according to a newly released letter to Congress. The CDC recommendation was revealed in a letter from the agency to Rep. Rosa …

Axios reports: A federal judge on Monday issued a preliminary injunction ordering the Department of Defense and the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request for records relating to the Trump administration’s freeze on security aid to Ukraine. Allegations that Trump froze nearly $400 million congressionally-approved military aid in order …

“This is an idea that I don’t know if the Trump administration is going to embrace, but it’s something, I think, for middle class people would be one of the best ways for every American to own stock in America. So, instead — the idea would be, you know, rather than having to send your 10% of your paycheck into …

Fox News reports: Defense Secretary Mark Esper fired Navy Secretary Richard Spencer Sunday over his handling of the case of a Navy SEAL who posed for a photo next to an Islamic State terrorist’s corpse in Iraq, and the SEAL will be able to keep his Trident pin, a Pentagon spokesman said Sunday. “Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper has …

Politico reports: The Oval Office is the traditional epicenter of power for American presidents, but a new one is emerging that’s more exclusive, more secluded and more convenient. President Donald Trump is increasingly morphing the White House residence into a second Oval. It’s become the place where Trump feels most productive, where he avoids meddling by his staff and where …

Reuters reports: Vice President Mike Pence visited Iraq on Saturday to reassure Iraqi Kurds of U.S. support after President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from northern Syria drew criticism that Washington had betrayed its Kurdish allies there. Pence’s trip, which included a visit with Nechirvan Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan region in Iraq, and a phone call with …

Mediaite reports: Yes, this John Bolton-White House spat over his Twitter account is still going, this time with a rejoinder from White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on Lou Dobbs’ show. Dobbs was baffled by Bolton raising this “nonsense” and said, “It was never in the possession of the White House, was it?” “It was his personal account that he …

Courthouse News reports: President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani had multiple phone calls with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo weeks before the ouster of U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, according to State Department records released under court order Friday evening. The documents were released to the watchdog group American Oversight in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. Among the …

The Guardian reports: John Bolton, Donald Trump’s hardline former national security adviser, has accused the White House of blocking access to his personal Twitter account after he left the administration in September. In a series of cryptic tweets on Friday, Bolton teased his 770,000 followers, telling them to “stay tuned” for a “backstory” following his two-month absence. Bolton, who is …

The New York Times reports: A highly anticipated report by the Justice Department’s inspector general is expected to sharply criticize lower-level F.B.I. officials as well as bureau leaders involved in the early stages of the Trump-Russia investigation, but to absolve the top ranks of abusing their powers out of bias against President Trump, according to people briefed on a draft. …

From the opening of an exhaustive list by ProPublica: When he campaigned for president, Donald Trump posed with the rainbow flag and became the first GOP nominee to mention LGBTQ citizens in his convention speech. In his first month as president, he signed an executive order stating he was “determined to protect the rights of all Americans, including the LGBTQ …

USA Today reports: President Donald Trump said Friday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo might leave the State Department to run for a Senate seat in Kansas. In an interview on “Fox & Friends,” Trump said Pompeo – a former House member – might resume his political career if he feels a Republican cannot win a Kansas Senate seat that …

The Associated Press reports: Attorney General William Barr said he initially had his own suspicions about financier Jeffrey Epstein’s death while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America but came to conclude that his suicide was the result of “a perfect storm of screw-ups.” Barr said his concerns were prompted by the numerous irregularities at the …

The Washington Post reports: A group of Republican senators and senior White House officials met privately Thursday to map out a strategy for a potential impeachment trial of President Trump, including proceedings in the Senate that could be limited to about two weeks, according to multiple officials familiar with the talks. Republican Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Ron Johnson (Wis.), John …

Politico reports: David Holmes, a State Department official detailed as a political counselor at the U.S. embassy in Kyiv, testified that former national security adviser John Bolton said during a meeting in August that the hold on military aid to Ukraine wouldn’t be lifted unless Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was able to “favorably impress” President Trump. The revelation suggests that …

ABC News reports: More than 100 Democratic lawmakers on Thursday signed on to a letter calling for President Trump to fire senior adviser Stephen Miller as a civil rights group details hundreds of controversial emails he sent prior to his time in the administration. “Given Mr. Miller’s role in shaping immigration policy for your administration, his documented dedication to extremist, …

The House is obviously running behind schedule. PBS NewsHour reports: Laura Cooper is the Defense Department’s deputy assistant secretary for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia and thus the top Pentagon official working on Ukraine. In closed-door testimony last month, she told investigators that the White House had directed the freeze on aid to Ukraine and that Kyiv was concerned by the …

Fox News reports: During day four of House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, European Union ambassador Gordon Sondland “took out the bus” and “ran over” President Trump and other top officials, host of “Fox News Sunday” Chris Wallace said Wednesday. Appearing on “America’s Newsroom” with host Bill Hemmer and Sandra Smith, Wallace said he thinks what Gordon Sondland was “trying to do” …