Trump Corruption

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company’s US affiliate made to President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter. Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of asset manager Renova Group, is an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and …

The Washington Times reports: The attorney for Stormy Daniels publicly accused President Trump’s personal lawyer Tuesday of taking money from a Russian oligarch, possibly as reimbursement for the hush money he had paid. Michael Avenatti made the accusation on Twitter against Michael Cohen, who has acknowledged paying $130,000 to the adult-film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Mr. Avenatti …

Jennifer Rubin writes for the Washington Post: If Sanders was really trying to do her job honestly, she would come forward the moment she learned that she had been given false information. Instead, she plays 20 questions with the press, waiting to reveal new information only when a series of questions manages to corner her. Even worse, instead of responding …

Back in 2016, CNN banned Roger Stone for a series of tweets which included calling Ana Navarro “borderline retarded.” Stone was later banned from Twitter after a tweetstorm against CNN that included calling Don Lemon an “ignorant cocksucker.” But today he was back on CNN. Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone on Monday said that he has not been contacted …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday criticized the suggestion that he has obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, saying he is simply “fighting back.” Trump’s tweet comes after a federal judge last week pushed back against prosecutors handling the case of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Trump has repeatedly referring to the probe into Russian election meddling and …

Golf News reports: Trump arrived at the DC-area golf club at 10:30 a.m., per CBS reporter Mark Knoller. The round of golf was his first of the weekend, coming after Trump made controversial remarks on Saturday night in a speech in Cleveland. Expect Trump to spend more weekends when in D.C. at this 36-hole facility which hosted the 2017 Senior …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said while he has no knowledge of President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, paying any women in addition to Stormy Daniels, he believes Cohen would have done so if he deemed it “necessary.” “I have no knowledge of that. But I would think if it was necessary, yes.” Giuliani, who recently joined Trump’s …

The Guardian reports: Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to “get dirt” on Ben Rhodes, who had …

The New York Times reports: President Trump knew about a six-figure payment that Michael D. Cohen, his personal lawyer, made to a pornographic film actress several months before he denied any knowledge of it to reporters aboard Air Force One in April, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. How much Mr. Trump knew about the payment to Stephanie …

“In Washington, a brand new series of words presented for our consumption. Maybe Team Trump’s just shifting strategies. Maybe they’re trying to confuse everybody. Certainly, the undeniable chaos is definitely not chaos at all, they are clear on that point. But what Team Trump said last month, then changed last week, then reimagined again on Tuesday, was revised and extended …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani jabbed the attorney for adult film actress Stormy Daniels on Thursday, saying that lawyer Michael Avenatti should turn in his license to practice law. Giuliani, a member of President Trump’s legal team, called the publicity-savvy Avenatti an “ambulance chaser” and “complete jerk” over his recent comments that the president will be forced to resign over …

Giuliani is spin spin spinning to save his neck: First: There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not. Second: My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump said Friday his new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is “a great guy” and “he’ll get his facts straight.” “He’s learning the subject matter. He’s going to be issuing a statement, too,” Trump said of the former New York City mayor, on the White House South Lawn. “He started yesterday. He’ll get his facts straight.” Once he …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s new attorney, Emmet Flood, a veteran of the Clinton impeachment battles, is the leading candidate to replace the White House’s top lawyer, several people familiar with the matter said Thursday. The move would be an effort to prepare for the possibility that Democrats could regain control of the House after the November election …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump only recently found out that he reimbursed his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for a $130,000 nondisclosure agreement with adult performer Stormy Daniels just days before the 2016 election, his lawyer Rudy Giuliani claimed today. In a telephone interview with NBC News, Giuliani insisted he only shared details of the payment with Trump about a …

Courthouse News reports: Special Counsel Robert Mueller on Thursday filed a request for 70 blank subpoenas in the Virginia court presiding over one of two criminal proceedings involving former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. The two-page filing doesn’t offer much in the way of details, but each subpoena orders the recipient to appear at the federal courthouse in Alexandria on …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani called for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to intervene in the Michael Cohen case and put the people behind the probe “under investigation” in a phone call with The Hill on Thursday. “I am waiting for the Attorney General to step in, in his role as defender of justice, and put these people under investigation,” Giuliani …

Gird your loins! NPR reports: President Donald Trump acknowledged Thursday he repaid his personal lawyer for hush money given to porn actress Stormy Daniels after claiming previously he didn’t know about the payments. The issue is one that is expected to come up at Thursday’s White House press briefing. The money, paid just before the 2016 election to stifle Daniels’ …

The Hill reports: Former prosecutor Solomon Wisenberg compared former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s legal strategy to a murder-suicide on Thursday after Giuliani said in an interview that President Trump reimbursed his attorney, Michael Cohen, for the $130,000 he paid to adult-film star Stormy Daniels. “I liken it to a murder-suicide,” Wisenberg told CNN’s Dana Bash. “He metaphorically murdered …

IMPORTANT: The report below has since been retracted. NBC News reports: Federal investigators have wiretapped the phone lines of Michael Cohen, the longtime personal lawyer for President Donald Trump who is under investigation for a payment he made to an adult film star who alleged she had an affair with Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the legal …