Trump Corruption

NBC News reports: When federal police officers violently cleared protesters from the city’s Lafayette Park in June 2020, they did it so a contractor could install fencing — not to let President Donald Trump hold a photo opportunity at a nearby church, an investigation by the Interior Department’s inspector general has found. That finding, published Wednesday, is likely to surprise …

Via press release: Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President. More COUNTRIES should ban Twitter and Facebook for not allowing free and open speech—all voices should be heard. In the meantime, competitors will emerge and take hold. Who are they to dictate good and evil if they themselves are evil? Perhaps I …

CNN reports: Never-before-heard audio, obtained exclusively by CNN, shows how former President Donald Trump’s longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies about then-candidate Joe Biden. The audio is of a July 2019 phone call between Giuliani, US diplomat Kurt Volker, and Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr …

“I would tell them everything I know. I would tell them I was approached, I would tell them I have evidence that the money came from an account set up at the direction of Donald Trump. “I would tell them that money was traced back to Russian funds. I would give them copies of the bank wires and all of …

“Now when I made the best speech I’ve ever made, they said it was at West Point. And it was pouring and I had a ramp that was an ice skating rink. “So I walked gingerly down — that was on every newscast in the world and I never went down. I never went down, either, I never went on …

The New York Times reports: In Donald J. Trump’s final weeks in office, Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, repeatedly pushed the Justice Department to investigate unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election, according to newly uncovered emails provided to Congress, portions of which were reviewed by The New York Times. In five emails sent during the last week …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump has appeared to drop his strongest hint yet at another presidential run in 2024, responding to news of his two-year ban from Facebook on Friday by saying he would not invite Mark Zuckerberg to dinner “next time I’m in the White House”. It has also been widely reported this week that Trump believes he will …

ABC News reports: One of the most senior officials in the Trump Organization has testified before a special grand jury empaneled by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office to hear evidence against former President Donald Trump and his company, sources with direct knowledge of the matter told ABC News. Jeff McConney is among a number of witnesses that have already appeared …

Charles Cooke writes for the National Review: Two days ago, the New York Times’s Maggie Haberman reported that Donald Trump “has been telling a number of people he’s in contact with that he expects he will get reinstated by August.” In response, many figures on the right inserted their fingers into their ears and started screaming about fake news. Instead, …

“I think you should take a look at who those networks are and who is pushing that story out. As far as I know, there are no plans for Donald Trump to be in the White House in August. Maybe there’s something I don’t know. But no, I think that that is a lot of folks getting a little worked …

Via press release from New York AG Letitia James: New York Attorney General Letitia James, today, announced a new action taken in her investigation of insider trading by the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Eastman Kodak Company (Kodak). Attorney General James filed a petition with the New York County State Supreme Court to have Kodak CEO Jim Continenza publicly …

The Washington Post reports: Advisers say he voraciously watches any television coverage he can find of the Arizona recount and reads “everything he can get his hands on” about the audits, according to one person who speaks to Trump frequently. And he has made supporting his claims of a stolen election — or at least remaining silent about them — …

The New York Times reports: The Trump Justice Department secretly seized the phone records of four New York Times reporters spanning nearly four months in 2017 as part of a leak investigation, the Biden administration disclosed on Wednesday. It was the latest in a series of revelations about the Trump administration secretly obtaining reporters’ communications records in an effort to …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump Jr is selling $500 video messages to fans on Cameo after complaining about “millions” in legal bills from the probe into the Trump Organization being carried out by the New York attorney general. Cameo is a platform that allows celebrities to sell short, personalized video messages to fans and supporters. In his profile on Cameo, …

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump’s blog, celebrated by advisers as a “beacon of freedom” that would keep him relevant in an online world he once dominated, is dead. It was 29 days old. Upset by reports from The Washington Post and other outlets highlighting its measly readership and concerns that it could detract from a social media …

CNBC reports: Former President Donald Trump’s blog — a webpage where he shared statements after larger social media companies banned him from their platforms — has been permanently shut down, his spokesman said Wednesday. The page, “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” has been scrubbed from Trump’s website after going live less than a month earlier. It “will not …

The Daily Beast reports: As the feds expand their probe into Rudy Giuliani, investigators have homed in on Giuliani Security & Safety, a consulting firm that has done business with various governments and organizations around the world, according to two people briefed on the matter and another source familiar with the situation. In recent months, the investigators have asked questions …

Politico reports: The firm that owns the National Enquirer has agreed to pay $187,500 to the Federal Election Commission to settle complaints that it unlawfully aided Donald Trump’s presidential campaign in 2016 by suppressing the story of an actress who said she had a sexual relationship with Trump. The FEC concluded that American Media Inc., now known as A360 Media …

The Washington Post reports: Former president Donald Trump’s company has again hired a broker to sell the lease to its D.C. hotel, according to two people familiar with the discussions, a second attempt to unload the property after the pandemic thwarted a previous effort. The Trump Organization previously listed the Pennsylvania Avenue hotel, in the federal owned Old Post Office …

Mediaite reports: Former President Donald Trump is reportedly telling people that he expects to get reinstated by August, according to New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman. Haberman shared this rather stunning detail in a quote tweet of a CNN segment featured in a tweet from Donie O’Sullivan. The video features a number of QAnon followers lauding a Myanmar-style coup of …