Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: A lawyer advising President Donald J. Trump claimed in an email after Election Day 2020 to have insight into a “heated fight” among the Supreme Court justices over whether to hear arguments about the president’s efforts to overturn his defeat at the polls, two people briefed on the email said. The lawyer, John Eastman, made …

Law & Crime reports: Former president Donald Trump and several of his adult children lost yet another bid to avoid sitting for depositions in a civil fraud investigation brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) after the state’s highest court rejected their latest appeal on Tuesday. The Empire State’s Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — …

CNN reports: Turning Point Action, a conservative pro-Trump organization, paid Kimberly Guilfoyle $60,000 to introduce her fiancé Donald Trump Jr. in a speech lasting less than three minutes at the “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse in Washington on January 6, 2021. The payment to Guilfoyle was disclosed Monday by Rep. Zoe Lofgren. Lofgren spoke after the committee’s hearing …

Axios reports: Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said Thursday’s Jan. 6 hearing will focus on former President Trump’s efforts to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence into overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election. Cheney, the vice-chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said in a newly-released video that the hearing will spotlight Trump’s “relentless efforts” to convince Pence to refuse …

The Independent reports: Rudy Giuliani has once again pushed back on claims that he was drunk on election night 2020, claiming that he had refused all alcohol and chose instead his favourite soda – diet Pepsi.“I am disgusted and outraged at the out right lie by Jason Miller and Bill Steppien. I was upset that they were not prepared for …

CNN reports: The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol has postponed its hearing scheduled for Wednesday. The next hearing is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, a member of the committee, told reporters that the reason for the rescheduling was due to “technical issues” and “not a big deal.” …

Mediaite reports: Ari Melber thinks former President Donald Trump is trying to use the “Costanza defense” when he repeats the big lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The MSNBC host referenced a 1995 episode of Seinfeld, where Jerry is scheduled to take a polygraph test after saying he doesn’t watch Melrose Place. Jerry’s love interest at the …

The Hill reports: Former President Trump on Monday issued a 12-page rebuttal to testimony and evidence presented by a House committee investigating the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021, accusing Democrats of seeking to distract from a series of domestic issues facing the country. One section of Trump’s statement focuses on ballot trafficking claims, for which he cites the Dinesh …

“How about, tell me the number of Antifa members in that riot. Five days after the riot, I submitted to the FBI unequivocal evidence that Antifa organized one of the main break-ins, that Antifa was involved in the killing of Ashli Babbitt, that the cops abandoned the position so that the people could go into the Pelosi office. The cops …

CNN reports: More than $5 million went to Event Strategies Inc., the company that ran President Trump’s Jan. 6 rally on the ellipse that preceded the attack on the Capitol, according to the committee. Also among the groups that received donations from Trump’s newly-created PAC was the Conservative Partnership Institute, a political organization led by former White House chief of …

MSNBC reports: As one former Trump campaign staffer told the bipartisan congressional committee, “I don’t believe there is actually a fund called the ‘Election Defense Fund.'” And where, pray tell, did this quarter of a billion dollars go? Some of the money helped pay for Trump’s pre-riot rally just south of the White House on Jan. 6, but the bulk …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump’s presidential campaign raised $250 million from supporters by telling them the money would be used to fight voter fraud, but the campaign knew those claims of fraud were bogus and instead diverted the money to his own political organisation, the House committee investigating the January 6 attacked claimed on Monday. Mr Trump’s campaign sent millions …

The Daily Beast reports: Assuming that a criminal prosecution against Trump is all but inevitable, state TV host Vladimir Solovyov seemed perturbed during his show The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov last Friday: “Look at what’s going on in America. A criminal prosecution against Trump and his followers is an obvious step towards a dictatorship.” Solovyov failed to mention the kind …

NBC News reports: Barr said Trump told him the report showed “absolute proof the Dominion machines were rigged,” a favorite post-election claim of voter fraud Trump spread. “The report means that I’m going to have a second term,” Barr said Trump told him before handing him a copy of the report. “And as he talked more and more about it, …

NPR reports: Today’s hearing is focused on the “the decision by the former president to ignore the will of the voters, declare victory on election he lost, spread claims of fraud and then decide to ignore the rulings of the courts when the judgment of the courts didn’t go his way,” House select committee aides told reporters. On the first …

The death threats probably got to him: Former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien will no longer appear before the House Jan. 6 panel Monday, removing a key witness as the panel seeks to show how the campaign forwarded baseless claims of election fraud. “Due to a family emergency, Mr. William Stepien is unable to testify before the Select Committee this …

Rolling Stone reports: Donald Trump in recent months has been telling confidants that he may launch his 2024 presidential campaign early — and that he’s considering launching it in Florida to stick it to Gov. Ron DeSantis. Trump has kicked around staging a large, flashy launch rally (with fireworks, of course) that would announce his White House bid before the …

Axios reports: Federal securities regulators have expanded their investigation into the planned merger between a blank check acquisition company and former President Trump’s social media business, known as Truth Social, according to a Monday morning filing with the SEC. Why it matters: Truth Social’s financial prospects are heavily reliant on investment tied to the merger, which may never come to …

Yahoo News reports: The Jan. 6 committee’s series of public hearings will resume Monday morning with a number of in-person witnesses who are expected to shed new light on former President Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the results of the election. One of the witnesses will be Bill Stepien, Trump’s 2020 campaign manager. Committee members are likely to press Stepien, …

The Associated Press reports: Members of the House committee investigating the Capitol riot said Sunday they have uncovered enough evidence for the Justice Department to consider an unprecedented criminal indictment against former President Donald Trump for seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Additional evidence is to be released in hearings this week, Democrats say, that will demonstrate …