Trump Corruption

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 …

Newsweek reports: The husband of a top White House counselor to President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday a Federal Election Commission law pertaining to gifts and loans to candidates. The tweet came following the revelation that Trump had repaid his personal lawyer the money given to an adult film actress for her silence about a brief affair. George Conway, spouse to …

Via Mediaite: Rudy Giuliani appeared on Fox & Friends Thursday morning in the wake of his bombshell interview with Sean Hannity — and called on the Attorney General to step in and shut down the Russia probe. “Everybody forgets, the basis of the case is dead,” Giuliani said. “Sessions should step in and close it. And say enough’s enough.” Host …

The Washington Examiner reports: The lawyer for porn star Stormy Daniels said the American people have been “lied to” after Rudy Giuliani claimed President Trump repaid his personal lawyer Michael Cohen the $130,000 he gave to Daniels as part of an agreement for her silence about her alleged affair with Trump more than a decade ago. “I have to tell …

The Hill reports: Fox News host Laura Ingraham said President Trump’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani contradicted Trump’s claims that he didn’t know about his personal attorney Michael Cohen’s payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, calling the conflicting statements “a problem.” “Did Trump pay it after April 6th?” Ingraham asked, the day Trump denied knowing about the payment. “The left …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump tried to clean up the mess from Rudy Giuliani’s self-immolation on Fox News in a series of Thursday morning tweets. Giuliani, who joined Trump’s legal team last month, admitted to Fox News host Sean Hannity that the president had repaid $130,000 to longtime attorney Michael Cohen for a hush money payout to porn actress …

The New York Post reports: President Donald Trump’s new lawyer Rudy Giuliani says the president repaid attorney Michael Cohen for a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. Trump had told reporters that he was not aware of the payment and that he didn’t know where Cohen had gotten the money. Giuliani made the revelation during an appearance on Fox …

ABC News reports: The Trump Organization Wednesday disputed an account by the president’s former personal doctor that his office was “raided” in 2017 to collect President Donald Trump’s medical records while confirming its chief legal officer was involved in the seizure. The president’s former personal doctor, Harold Bornstein, said in an interview Tuesday with NBC News he felt “raped, frightened …

The Washington Post reports: In an interview with The Post, former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani — who is now serving as Trump’s lead personal attorney dealing with the special counsel — said the president did not force Ty Cobb to leave. “It was just time for him to go, but he’s still going to be available to us,” …