Trump Corruption

Politico reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is asking that every agency inspector general investigate retaliation against whistleblowers who report presidential misconduct, after the firing of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council. Schumer’s letters to 74 inspectors general, which will be sent Monday, comes after Vindman, a star witness in the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald …

The New York Daily News reports: Donald Trump Jr. seems to think his dad is innocent — just like O.J. Simpson. The presidential son posted a photo of Johnnie Cochran, the late O.J. Simpson lawyer, along with a riff on the attorney’s famed claim to jurors in the football star’s murder trial that “if (the glove) doesn’t fit, you must …

The New York Times reports: U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday defended the ouster of impeachment witness Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman from the White House National Security Council, calling him “insubordinate” and saying he had incorrectly reported the contents of his “perfect” telephone calls. Vindman was one of two witnesses who provided the most damaging testimony during Trump’s impeachment investigation, …

The New York Times reports: President Trump and his aides wasted little time opening a campaign of retribution against those he blames for his impeachment, firing on Friday two of the most prominent witnesses in the inquiry against him barely 48 hours after the Senate acquitted the president. Emboldened by his victory and determined to strike back, Mr. Trump fired …

ABC News reports: Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council who testified during the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, was escorted from the White House Friday afternoon, his lawyer said. “LTC Vindman was asked to leave for telling the truth,” his attorney David Pressman said in a statement. “The truth has cost …

The Hill reports: A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are calling for Twitter and Facebook to pull down an edited video of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) that was posted by President Trump on Thursday, reigniting a battle over how much responsibility social media platforms should assume over viral footage that could mislead viewers. The five-minute video, which was pinned …

Reuters reports: Ivanka Trump, the president’s jobs czar, is being credited with boosting the creation of permanent and well-paying positions by the nation’s leading manufacturing group. On a day when the administration recorded another good jobs report, the National Association of Manufacturers said that President Trump’s daughter has led the way in expanding unemployment “like no one in government has …

CNN reports: Stored in devices seized from Lev Parnas by law enforcement, there’s a 34-second cell phone video of Rudy Giuliani relishing a bullfight. There are also photos of Donald Trump’s personal attorney posing with two matadors, a flamenco dancer twirling her skirt and an image of the father of Venezuela’s opposition leader beside a tray of hors d’oeuvres on …

The Portland Press-Herald reports: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, appearing in Maine for the first time since her vote not to impeach President Trump, said Friday that she disapproves of retribution against anyone who came forward with evidence during the process. Trump is expected to fire Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council aide who testified against him during the …

CNN reports: A federal appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit by congressional Democrats alleging President Donald Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by refusing to allow lawmakers to review and approve his financial interests. The ruling is a major triumph for the President, who’s intensely sought to keep his business affairs in private, just days after the …

The Chicago Sun-Times reports: Mired in delays for seven years, President Donald Trump’s appeal for a refund of at least $1 million on his Chicago skyscraper is now the subject of two state of Illinois investigations that center on whether a Republican state official pressured his staff to cut the president a break. Trump’s appeal of the 2012 property taxes …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night, according to federal records and people who have seen receipts. Those charges, compiled here for the first time, show that Trump has an unprecedented — …

Bloomberg News reports: The White House is weighing a plan to dismiss Alexander Vindman from the National Security Council after he testified in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry, preparing to position the move as part of a broader effort to shrink the foreign policy bureaucracy, two people familiar with the matter said. The White House intends to portray any house-cleaning …

Mediaite reports: White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham, who has not held a public press briefing during her entire eight-month tenure, slammed the press in a memo sent to network TV anchors for leaking details of their off-the-record, pre-State-of-the-Union luncheon with President Donald Trump—and then strongly encouraged the press to leak said memo. Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple released …

NPR reports: Attorney General William Barr has issued new restrictions on opening investigations into politically sensitive individuals or entities, including a requirement that he approve any inquiry into a presidential candidate or campaign. Barr outlined the new policies in a three-page memo obtained by NPR as the Democratic primaries are underway and the country gears up for November’s presidential vote. …

Politico reports: House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Thursday took a shot at Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah — the lone Republican to vote to convict President Donald Trump. “I don’t think Romney is effective in any shape or form,” McCarthy told a group of reporters outside the House chamber. But McCarthy dodged questions about whether Romney should be …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump abused his power and shouldn’t be in office, Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a fellow Republican, said Thursday in a rare dissent from within party ranks. The U.S. Senate should have been allowed to hear from more witnesses who could have provided evidence about the charges against the president, Scott, a frequent Trump critic, …

The Daily Beast reports: Fox News’ own research team has warned colleagues not to trust some of the network’s top commentators’ claims about Ukraine. An internal Fox News research briefing book obtained by The Daily Beast openly questions Fox News contributor John Solomon’s credibility, accusing him of playing an “indispensable role” in a Ukrainian “disinformation campaign.” The document also accuses …

Fox News reports: Fresh off the Senate impeachment trial that resulted in President Trump’s acquittal, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., is calling for an amendment to the Constitution that would make it more difficult for presidents to be impeached. Scott’s amendment would require a super-majority of three-fifths of the House of Representatives in order to approve articles of impeachment, instead of …

Yahoo News reports: The Treasury Department has complied with Republican senators’ requests for highly sensitive and closely held financial records about Hunter Biden and his associates and has turned over “‘evidence’ of questionable origin” to them, according to a leading Democrat on one of the committees conducting the investigation. For months, while the impeachment controversy raged, powerful committee chairmen in …