Trump Corruption

The Desk reports: The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Saturday said it will stop e-mailing news organizations and reporters with updates about two plane crashes that occurred earlier this week. Moving forward, the federal agency tasked with investigating transportation-related accidents and disasters said news organizations and reporters will have to follow the agency’s official account on X. The Desk …

The New York Times reports: Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent gave representatives of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency full access to the federal payment system late on Friday. Mr. Bessent granted access to the payments system to a handful of staff members affiliated with DOGE, including Tom Krause, the chief executive of a Silicon Valley company, Cloud Software Group. Access …

The Daily Beast reports: A photo from the FBI’s training academy in Quantico, Virginia, has gone viral as a grave symbol of the Trump administration’s push to strip diversity, equity, and inclusion values from all facets of the federal government. The image, which has racked up millions of views on social media, shows a man painting solid gray over a …

From the Wall Street Journal editorial board: Mr. Trump’s justification for this economic assault on the neighbors makes no sense. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says they’ve “enabled illegal drugs to pour into America.” But drugs have flowed into the U.S. for decades, and will continue to do so as long as Americans keep using them. Neither country can …

The Hill reports: The Trump administration forced out a number of FBI officials Friday, removing agents who worked on the criminal cases into President Trump as well as the heads of various field offices. A source familiar said agents who had worked on the Mar-a-Lago and Jan. 6 investigations were escorted out of the Washington Field Office. The same source …

The New York Times reports: The director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Rohit Chopra, was fired on Saturday, prematurely ending a five-year term that was scheduled to run through late 2026. “With so much power concentrated in the hands of a few, agencies like the C.F.P.B. have never been more critical,” Mr. Chopra wrote in a letter he posted …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s social media startup gifted more than $800,000 worth of stock each to Kash Patel, his nominee to run the FBI, and Linda McMahon, his pick to lead the Education Department, according to regulatory filings. Patel and McMahon — who both sit on the company’s board — were each awarded 25,946 shares in Trump Media & …

Axios reports: A new White House video features mothers whose children’s deaths were linked to undocumented immigrants rebuking actress Selena Gomez for her Instagram post in which she cried over President Trump’s plans for mass deportations. The video is the latest sign that Trump’s new administration will use campaign-like tactics — and the power of social media — to talk …

Politico reports: The Justice Department abruptly fired dozens of prosecutors who worked on criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to correspondence reviewed by POLITICO and an interview with one of the people who was terminated. Interim U.S. Attorney Ed Martin emailed the employees just before 5 p.m. Friday, appending a memo from acting …

The Washington Post reports: The highest-ranking career official at the Treasury Department is departing after a clash with allies of billionaire Elon Musk over access to sensitive payment systems, according to three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private talks. David A. Lebryk, who served in nonpolitical roles at Treasury for …

The Daily Beast reports: Air traffic controllers were emailed by the Trump administration urging them to quit their jobs and take mass “buyouts” just 24 hours after the D.C. plane crash. They were among hundreds of thousands of federal workers sent the email at 8.30 p.m. Thursday. The email dropped almost exactly 24 hours after an Army helicopter crashed into …

“Am I going to impose tariffs on the European Union? Do you want the truthful answer, or should I give you the political answer? Absolutely. Absolutely. The European Union has treated us so terribly. Let me just tell you, I got elected for a lot of reasons. Number one was the border, number two was inflation, because I had almost …

NBC News reports: The CDC on Friday is scrubbing a swath of HIV-related content from the agency’s website as a part of President Donald Trump’s broader effort to wipe out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the federal government. CDC employees were told in a Jan 29. email from Charles Ezell, the acting director of the U.S. office of personnel …

ABC News reports: A federal judge in Rhode Island has formally blocked the Trump Administration’s spending freeze, saying in an order this afternoon that the funding freeze is likely a violation of the Constitution. “During the pendency of the Temporary Restraining Order, Defendants shall not pause, freeze, impede, block, cancel, or terminate Defendants’ compliance with awards and obligations to provide …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration plans to scrutinize scores of F.B.I. agents involved in Trump-related investigations, setting the stage for a possible purge targeting not only the bureau’s leaders but also rank-and-file agents, according to people familiar with the matter. On Friday, interim leaders at the Justice Department instructed the F.B.I. to notify around a half-dozen high-ranking …

Reuters reports: Aides to Elon Musk charged with running the U.S. government human resources agency have locked career civil servants out of computer systems that contain the personal data of millions of federal employees, according to two agency officials. The systems include a vast database called Enterprise Human Resources Integration, which contains dates of birth, Social Security numbers, appraisals, home …

NewsNation reports: The White House on Friday called for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) to apologize for remarks pledging to push back against the Trump administration’s agenda. “We are gonna fight it legislatively. We are gonna fight it in the courts. And we’re gonna fight it in the streets,” Jeffries said. A release from the White House communications office …

Axios reports: The White House said it will still roll out 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, alongside 10% tariffs on China, on Feb. 1 — pushing back against a report that suggested tariffs wouldn’t be implemented until March 1. Reuters reported earlier on Friday that the White House would push off tariff implementation until March 1 — …

Business Insider reports: Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, the parents of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), are reportedly pursuing a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, according to Bloomberg. SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024 after being convicted of multiple fraud charges. Despite their son’s massive fall from grace, his parents have met with individuals …

Mother Jones reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has admitted to the US Senate that he has reached at least one settlement agreement in which he was accused of misconduct or inappropriate behavior. During Kennedy’s second confirmation hearing Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) raised the issue of personal misconduct. She referred to the allegation that Kennedy had once groped a babysitter. Kennedy …