Trump Administration

NBC News reports: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney first learned about the U.S. military raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the operation was already underway, according to five current and former senior administration officials. Mulvaney was at home in South Carolina when President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday night that “Something very big has …

The New York Times reports: Lt. Col. Alexander S. Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, told House impeachment investigators on Tuesday that the White House transcript of a July call between President Trump and Ukraine’s president omitted crucial words and phrases, and that his attempts to include them failed, according to three people familiar with the …

Raw Story reports: Convicted former Donald Trump advisor George Papadopoulos has filed paperwork to run for Congress in California as a Republican. Papadopoulos is running for the state’s 25th congressional district, which will be an open seat following the announcement by Rep. Katie Hill (D-CA) that she will not run for re-election after being targeted with revenge porn. Los Angeles …

Just in via White House Press release: The resolution put forward by Speaker Pelosi confirms that House Democrats’ impeachment has been an illegitimate sham from the start as it lacked any proper authorization by a House vote. It continues this scam by allowing Chairman Schiff, who repeatedly lies to the American people, to hold a new round of hearings, still …

Politico reports: Some Democrats have begun to raise the specter that Gordon Sondland, a Republican donor who is Trump’s representative to the European Union, perjured himself during his closed-door testimony to impeachment investigators earlier this month. Sondland was careful to say in his opening statement that he did not “recall” certain incidents, rather than stating categorically that they never happened. …

The Washington Post reports: Billing himself as one of President Trump’s top fundraisers, Michael Hodges told fellow payday lenders recently that industry contributions to the president’s reelection campaign could be leveraged to gain access to the Trump administration. “Every dollar amount, no matter how small or large it is” is important, Hodges, founder of Advance Financial, one of the country’s …

Courthouse News reports: The Justice Department took early appeal steps Monday after a federal judge upheld the legality of the impeachment inquiry led by Congress into President Donald Trump. Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell had issued the decision Friday in an order that gave the Department of Justice until Oct. 30 to turn over redacted secret grand jury material …

The Daily Beast reports: U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland returned to Capitol Hill Monday to review the transcript of his testimony to the House impeachment investigators earlier this month, according to two sources familiar with his schedule. Sondland told lawmakers that President Donald Trump assigned his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani to carry out Ukraine policy for the …

The Associated Press reports: The Trump administration is considering backing away from a pledge to ban popular mint and menthol vaping products — part of an effort to stem use among kids and curb a growing health crisis — as e-cigarette advocates press to preserve some flavors for adults. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said last month that …

CBS News reports: Charles Kupperman, the deputy to former national security adviser John Bolton, was scheduled to appear before the joint committees carrying out the impeachment inquiry, but according to his attorney, he will not be testifying Monday. Kupperman, who was subpoenaed by committees, has also been told by the White House that he could not appear before the committees. …

The Washington Post reports: A company in which President Trump’s brother has a financial stake received a $33 million contract from the U.S. Marshals Service earlier this year, an award that has drawn protests from two other bidders, one of which has filed a complaint alleging possible favoritism in the bidding process. The lucrative government contract, to provide security for …

The Washington Post reports: John Kelly, former chief of staff to President Trump, said Saturday he warned the president before he left the White House not to replace him with a “yes man” because it would lead to Trump’s impeachment. The White House on Saturday released a statement from Trump denying that Kelly ever delivered that warning, in his first …

The Washington Post reports: Kellyanne Conway doesn’t want reporters to say that she threatened the Washington Examiner reporter whom she threatened. “So, listen, if you’re going to cover my personal life, if you’re going to cover my personal life, then we’re welcome to do the same around here,” said Conway in a phone call recorded by the Washington Examiner’s Caitlin …

CBS News reports: Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan says he will not testify in front of Congress next week even after the House Homeland Security Committee issued a subpoena for his appearance. The outgoing Trump administration official wrote in a letter to Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chair of the panel, saying he was “disappointed” and “extremely surprised” to …

South Carolina’s The State reports: In the buildup to his arrival, tensions surrounding the president’s visit to Benedict College in Columbia were becoming more pronounced. According to the White House, there were approximately 300 tickets total to the invitation-only event, dubbed the 2019 Second Step Presidential Justice Forum by the White House. Half of these tickets were reserved for guests …

ABC News reports: A judge has ordered the Justice Department to give House Democrats secret grand jury testimony from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell made the directive in a brief order on Friday. Democrats had requested that the department provide the material, which was redacted from Mueller’s report, as part of their ongoing …

From the editorial board of the Kansas City Star: If Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is running to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, Republican of Kansas, then he should quit his rather important day job and do that. Or if, as he told The Star and The Wichita Eagle in a testy, credulity-straining interview on Thursday, he isn’t even …

Newsweek reports: A poll that President Donald Trump has frequently praised for its “accuracy” announced Wednesday that public approval of his administration appears to be diminishing in the wake of the impeachment inquiry and his decision to pull American troops out of Syria. The October 24 edition of Rasmussen Reports’ Daily Presidential Tracking Poll showed a majority (54 percent) of …

The Washington Post reports: A federal judge on Thursday held Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in contempt for violating an order to stop collecting loan payments from former Corinthian Colleges students. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco slapped the Education Department with a $100,000 fine for violating a preliminary injunction. Money from the fine will …

The New York Times reports: For more than two years, President Trump has repeatedly attacked the Russia investigation, portraying it as a hoax and illegal even months after the special counsel closed it. Now, Mr. Trump’s own Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into how it all began. Justice Department officials have shifted an administrative review of the Russia …