Trump Corruption

NBC News reports: A year ago today, Donald Trump’s newly sworn–in national security adviser, Michael Flynn, met privately in his West Wing office with FBI investigators interested in his communications with Russia’s ambassador, without a lawyer or the knowledge of the president and other top White House officials, according to people familiar with the matter. Flynn’s FBI interview on Jan. …

The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is seeking to question President Trump in the coming weeks about his decisions to oust national security adviser Michael Flynn and FBI Director James B. Comey, according to two people familiar with his plans. Mueller’s interest in the events that led Trump to push out Flynn and Comey indicates that …

Talking Points Memo reports: Over five days have passed since a report revealed that the FBI is investigating whether a Russian banker funneled money to the NRA to boost Donald Trump’s campaign. And the gun group still isn’t talking. The NRA did not respond to McClatchy’s requests for comments for its story on the FBI probe, published Thursday morning. And …

Raw Story reports: According to the Wall Street Journal’s reporting, longtime Trump attorney Michael Cohen set up a separate LLC called Essential Consultants in October 2016 that he used as a vehicle to pay off Daniels in exchange for remaining silence about her past affair with the president, which occurred shortly after his wife Melania had given birth to their …

The New York Times reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions was questioned for several hours last week by the special counsel’s office as part of the investigation into Russia’s meddling in the election and whether the president obstructed justice since taking office, according to a Justice Department spokeswoman. The meeting marked the first time that investigators for the special counsel, Robert …

Law & Crime reports: Two complaints filed today accuse President Donald Trump and his 2016 campaign of violating federal campaign finance laws by not reporting $130,000 in hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. The complaints in question were filed by non-profit and nonpartisan watchdog group Common Cause, which was founded in 1970 by Republican John W. Gardner. …

The Associated Press reports: A tabloid magazine held back from publishing an adult film star’s 2011 account of an alleged affair with Donald Trump after the future president’s personal lawyer threatened to sue, four former employees of the tabloid’s publisher told The Associated Press. In Touch magazine published its 5,000-word interview with the pornographic actor Stormy Daniels on Friday — …

The Stormy Daniels story gets even stormier: President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen reportedly used a private company and a pseudonym to get money to an adult film star who allegedly had an affair with the president in 2006. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Cohen used Essential Consultants LLC, to send a lawyer representing the actress who calls …

Foreign Policy reports:  President Donald Trump personally made the decision to curtail the testimony of former chief White House political strategist Steve Bannon before the House Intelligence Committee, according to two people with firsthand knowledge of the matter. Trump acted to limit Bannon’s testimony based on legal advice provided by Uttam Dhillon, a deputy White House counsel, who concluded that …

Mediaite reports: CBS has released a preview of their extensive interview with Ty Cobb, a lawyer for President Donald Trump. And in it, the president’s counsel went on record as saying his client is quite willing to give an interview to special counsel Robert Mueller. Speaking with CBS White House correspondent Major Garrett on The Takeout‘s upcoming podcast, Cobb said …

McClatchy reports: The FBI is investigating whether a top Russian banker with ties to the Kremlin illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to help Donald Trump win the presidency, two sources familiar with the matter have told McClatchy. FBI counterintelligence investigators have focused on the activities of Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of Russia’s central bank who is …

Newsweek reports: Almost one year after President Donald Trump took the oath of office, millions of dollars from his leftover inauguration funds have still not been donated to the charities they were promised to. Trump’s inauguration committee raised a record-breaking $107 million as his administration prepared to assume the White House last year, but very little has been disclosed about …

Axios reports: Steve Bannon made one conspicuous slip up in his closed-door hearing on Tuesday with the House Intelligence Committee, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the confidential proceedings. Bannon admitted that he’d had conversations with Reince Priebus, Sean Spicer and legal spokesman Mark Corallo about Don Junior’s infamous meeting with the Russians in Trump Tower in June …

CNN reports: Steve Bannon has struck a deal with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team and will be interviewed by prosecutors instead of testifying before the grand jury, two people familiar with the process told CNN. He is expected to cooperate with the special counsel, the sources said. The sources did not say when the interview will take place or if …

Starting earlier than usual at 1PM: What kind of questions can we expect Sanders to field? She’ll no doubt receive a few about Sen. Jeff Flake’s incendiary speech on the Senate floor today, which called out President Donald Trump for demonizing the media. There’s also any lingering questions surrounding Dr. Ronny Jackson and the president’s stellar health report, in which …

Axios reports: Steve Bannon, who was inside the White House when FBI Director James Comey was fired and has strong opinions about what happened, “intends to fully cooperate with Mueller,” according to a source familiar with Bannon’s thinking. The Daily Beast’s Betsy Woodruff scooped Bannon’s legal strategy last night. The source said that the White House has placed zero restrictions …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s former adviser Steve Bannon refused to answer questions Tuesday from the House Intelligence Committee about his time in the White House, prompting panel members to subpoena him on the spot, according to a person familiar with the interview. Bannon appeared before the committee as part of its investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential …

The Associated Press reports: The White House will hold a press briefing Tuesday afternoon with press secretary Sarah Sanders. Dr. Ronny Jackson, the White House physician who last week declared President Donald Trump in “excellent health,” will provide more details of the President’s medical exam during a briefing on Tuesday. The White House said last week that Jackson would join …

The New York Times reports: Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, was subpoenaed last week by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, to testify before a grand jury as part of the investigation into possible links between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. The move marked the first …

This morning Hair Furor is using his famed “executive time” from his cheeseburger-strewn bedroom to launch a tweetstorm of bullshit, including retweets of his own rants from over the holiday weekend. He’s apparently especially angry that former sycophant Steve Bannon is testifying on Russian collusion in a closed-door meeting of the House Intelligence Committee. Bannon’s comments in Michael Wolff’s Fire …