Trump Corruption

The Associated Press reports: Lawyers for Donald Trump on Monday blasted the impeachment case against him as an act of “political theater” by Democrats, whom they accused of exploiting for their own party’s gain the chaos and trauma of last month’s riot at the U.S. Capitol. In a brief filed on the eve of the Senate impeachment trial, lawyers for …

The Associated Press reports: Scheduled to begin Tuesday, just over a month since the deadly riot, the proceedings are expected to diverge from the lengthy, complicated trial that resulted in Trump’s acquittal a year ago on charges that he privately pressured Ukraine to dig up dirt on a Democratic rival, Joe Biden, now the president. This time, Trump’s Jan. 6 …

The UK’s Sunday Times reports: On inauguration day, Donald Trump left Washington on the presidential plane, Air Force One, to the sound of Frank Sinatra’s My Way. The song begins: “And now the end is near” — but is it? Trump fully expects to survive and thrive politically after his impeachment trial for inciting the violent storming of the US …

The Washington Post reports: When the House impeachment managers prosecute former President Donald J. Trump this week for inciting the Capitol attack, they plan to mount a fast-paced and cinematic case aimed at rekindling the outrage lawmakers experienced themselves on Jan. 6, in arguments delivered from the scene of the invasion. Armed with lessons from the first impeachment trial of …

ABC News reports: With his impeachment trial set to begin this week, a narrow majority of Americans say they support the Senate convicting former President Donald Trump and barring him from holding federal office again, according to a new ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday. Compared to public attitudes in the early days of his first impeachment trial, support for the …

The Washington Examiner reports: Peter Navarro, who served as former President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, said he disagrees with the Trump team’s plans to argue the unconstitutionality of the president’s second impeachment trial instead of focusing on election integrity. Navarro also urged the president to fire his legal team to hire Rep. Matt Gaetz, who has already signaled a willingness …

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump’s onslaught of falsehoods about the November election misled millions of Americans, undermined faith in the electoral system, sparked a deadly riot — and has now left taxpayers with a large, and growing, bill. The total so far: $519 million. The costs have mounted daily as government agencies at all levels have been forced …

Politico reports: Brad Parscale is calling on former President Donald Trump to run again, saying multiple impeachments can work in his onetime boss’ favor. “If they only impeached you twice, you need to run again. Because to change the system you have to kick it in the a#$,” Trump’s former campaign manager wrote in a tweet Saturday addressed to the …

From the far-right Washington Times: Former President Donald Trump‘s defense at his Senate impeachment trial next week will include videos of Democrats encouraging violence, one of his lawyers said Friday. The clips would counter videos that Democrats likely will show of the riot at Capitol and Mr. Trump‘s fiery speech at a rally shortly before the attack on Jan. 6, …

The Washington Post reports: President Biden, in an interview with the “CBS Evening News With Norah O’Donnell,” said former president Donald Trump should not receive intelligence briefings, citing his “erratic behavior unrelated to the insurrection.” “I just think that there is no need for him to have the intelligence briefings. What value is giving him an intelligence briefing? What impact …

Buzzfeed News reports: The Trump Organization negotiated on behalf of then-president Donald Trump to make Parler his primary social network, but it had a condition: an ownership stake in return for joining, according to documents and four people familiar with the conversations. The deal was never finalized, but legal experts said the discussions alone, which occurred while Trump was still …

Forbes reports:  Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, which never received a cent from the former president, moved an estimated $2.8 million of donor money into the Trump Organization—including at least $81,000 since Trump lost the election. In addition, one of the campaign’s joint-fundraising committees, which collects money in partnership with the Republican Party, shifted about $4.3 million of donor money into …

The Associated Press reports: A majority of Americans say former President Donald Trump bears at least some blame for the Capitol insurrection, and about half say the Senate should vote to convict him at the end of his impeachment trial. That’s according to a survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research that also finds many Republicans continue …

Axios reports: Ivanka Trump used her status to help obtain over 140 pardons and commutations for victims of injustice as well as her father’s cronies, and she’s now plotting her political reemergence by highlighting the virtues of some of the clemency grants. While President Trump’s eldest daughter dismisses talk she is weighing a campaign against Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), criminal …

The Insider reports: A Donald Trump comeback tour is in the works once he’s beyond a second Senate impeachment trial, Insider has learned. That’s the strategy emerging out of Mar-a-Lago, the Trump-owned private club in South Florida where the former president now lives. Trump and his small post-White House team are holed up there planning out potential trips to campaign …

The Daily Beast reports: Former President Donald Trump’s lawyers and aides have turned down an invite from House impeachment managers for Trump to testify in his upcoming Senate trial. “The President will not testify in an unconstitutional proceeding,” adviser Jason Miller told The Daily Beast. “The use of our Constitution to bring a purported impeachment proceeding us much too serious …

Fox News reports: President Trump is resigning from The Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists after they threatened to expel his membership from the union after the Capitol riot — to which he said, “Who cares!” The former president’s letter of resignation Wednesday comes after the SAG-AFTRA board voted “overwhelmingly” that Trump violated the union’s …

Impeachment manager Rep. Jamie Raskin writes to Trump: In light of your disputing these factual allegations, I write to invite you to provide testimony under oath, either before or during the Senate impeachment trial, concerning your conduct on January 6, 2021. We would propose that you provide your testimony (of course including cross-examination) as early as Monday, February 8, 2021, …

The BBC reports: Members of the Scottish Parliament have voted to reject calls for Donald Trump’s business interests in Scotland to be investigated. The Scottish Greens had wanted the Trump Organisation’s golf courses probed via an unexplained wealth order. It requires individuals to explain the source of wealth used to acquire property and other assets in the UK. Justice Secretary …

Salon reports: A year-end federal filing from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows shows legal expenses that experts say indicate it is “highly likely” the North Carolina Republican is under scrutiny for campaign finance violations. Those payments covered gourmet cupcakes, grocery store purchases, a cell phone bill, posh meals and lodging at Donald Trump’s Washington hotel, according to …