Trump Corruption

Business Insider reports: President Donald Trump’s most powerful advisor, Jared Kushner, approved the creation of a campaign shell company that secretly paid the president’s family members and spent almost half of the campaign’s $1.26 billion war chest, a person familiar with the operation told Insider. The operation acted almost like a campaign within a campaign. It paid some of Trump’s …

The Washington Post reports: Trump has named 17 people to his 1776 Commission, which he created by executive order the day before the election to promote what he describes as “patriotic education” in schools — intended to push back against curriculum that provides an unvarnished account of America’s history of racism. Among those he appointed to the commission, which is …

Axios reports: President Trump plans to issue a wave of pardons today, moving to expedite acts of clemency before Christmas, according to a source with direct knowledge and advocates who have been briefed on the plans. What to watch: Trump has been considering pardons for friends and allies, as Axios reported, interrupting conversations with associates to spontaneously suggest he add …

The Birmingham News reports: President Donald Trump praised incoming Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville after reports surfaced that the freshman lawmaker may back Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks’ Electoral College challenge. In a tweet, Trump called Tuberville “a great champion and man of courage.” “More Republican Senators should follow his lead,” the President tweeted. “We had a landslide victory, and then it …

The Detroit Free Press reports: An audit conducted Thursday of the votes cast in the November presidential election in Antrim County, the heart of a conspiracy theory about Dominion Voting Systems, affirmed the outcome with a net gain of 12 votes for Republican President Donald Trump, out of 15,962 votes cast, officials said. The hand tally of every vote cast …

Yahoo News reports: Over the last six weeks, so many people have been calling and emailing the West Wing seeking pardons that White House staffers have had to create a spreadsheet to keep track of the requests. As of now, Trump is contemplating pardons for more than two dozen people within his circle. One person he is considering for clemency …

Politico reports: As vice president, Pence has the awkward but unavoidable duty of presiding over the session of Congress that will formalize Biden’s Electoral College victory — a development that is likely to expose him and other Republicans to the wrath of GOP voters who believe Trump’s false claim that the election was stolen from him. But Pence could dodge …

Mediaite reports: On Erin Burnett Out Front, the CNN host reported that Trump appears to have flip-flopped on accepting the reality of his defeat. “Sources tell CNN that the president has pulled a 180, no longer privately, quote/unquote, ‘getting the joke,’ not that it was ever funny,” host Erin Burnett explained. “He used to privately accept the reality that he …

Law & Crime reports: Attorneys general from 14 states and the District of Columbia on Wednesday reminded President Donald Trump that, even though he only has a month left in office, he and his administration are still subject to federal laws requiring certain records be maintained and preserved. In a three-page letter, the coalition of Democratic AGs requested that White …

Politico reports: A top Trump appointee repeatedly urged top health officials to adopt a “herd immunity” approach to Covid-19 and allow millions of Americans to be infected by the virus, according to internal emails obtained by the House Oversight Committee and shared with POLITICO. “There is no other way, we need to establish herd, and it only comes about allowing …

Law & Crime reports: Advancing an investigation likely to trail the outgoing Commander-in-Chief long into his post-presidency, a Manhattan judge ordered the Trump Organization and its attorney to turn over documents to New York Attorney General Letitia James about an engineer for a 212-acre Westchester estate. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who previously found those documents to be privileged, …

The Daily Mail reports: Hours after the Electoral College met to make President-elect Joe Biden’s win official, President Donald Trump was reviving claims of election fraud and forwarding a call to jail Georgia officials. Trump also continued to tweet conspiracy theories about voting machines flipping votes from Trump to Biden, even after the Supreme Court Friday refused to take up …

The Las Cruces Sun News reports: On the very day that New Mexico electors met in Santa Fe to formally cast New Mexico’s electoral votes for president, President Donald Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit over New Mexico’s use of drop boxes in the 2020 elections. The federal lawsuit claims that New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver violated the …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump welcomed a supporter’s call for people to “ignore the electors” after Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election was affirmed by those casting Electoral College votes. On Monday, the Electoral College’s 538 members met to cast their ballots for president and vice president, with 306 going to Biden—surpassing the 270 needed to take the presidency. …

CBS News reports: President-elect Joe Biden accused President Trump of an “unprecedented assault on democracy” in a speech Monday night hours after the Electoral College formalized his victory. Mr. Trump has refused to concede the election and has tried repeatedly to use the courts to challenge the results without success. Mr. Biden, speaking in Wilmington, Delaware, ran through some of …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump couldn’t make it any clearer: He needs his supporters to fork over cash for the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections. “We MUST defend Georgia from the Dems!” he wrote in one recent text message. “I need YOU to secure a WIN in Georgia,” he said in another. “Help us WIN both Senate races in Georgia …

Raw Story reports: In a tweet this Sunday, Pennsylvania attorney and Trump loyalist Lin Wood sent out a cryptic message, saying, “It’s better to be safe than sorry.” Wood, along with attorney Sidney Powell, has filed a string of failed lawsuits alleging mass voter fraud in the 2020 election. Highlighting Wood’s tweet, Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson seemingly agreed …

Just in via press release from the Pentagon: Today, the Department of Defense announced that it intends to appoint Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich, Ambassador Thomas Carter, Dr. Edward Luttwak, Mr. Scott O’Grady, Mr. Thomas Stewart, the Honorable Randy Forbes, Senator Robert Smith and Ambassador Charles Glazer to the Defense Policy Board. “Today, I’m proud …

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports: The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld Democrat Joe Biden’s Wisconsin win Monday, handing President Donald Trump a defeat less than an hour before the Electoral College was to meet. The 4-3 ruling was the latest in a string of dozens of losses for the president across the country as Republicans pursue last-gasp efforts to give Trump a …

Forbes reports: In an interview on Fox News Monday, President Trump’s senior adviser Stephen Miller said “as we speak, an alternate slate of electors in the contested states is going to vote,” and those votes will be sent to Congress—the latest effort by the Trump campaign to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election. The 538 members of the …