Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s inaugural committee paid nearly $26 million to an event planning firm started by an adviser to the first lady, Melania Trump, while donating $5 million — less than expected — to charity, according to tax filings released on Thursday. The nonprofit group that oversaw Mr. Trump’s inauguration and surrounding events in January 2017, …

The Blast reports: Stormy Daniels has suddenly changed her position and is ready to spill all the tea regarding her alleged affair with Donald Trump, and it all has to do with the president’s personal attorney allegedly breaching a contract he negotiated with the porn star. Sources close to Daniels tell The Blast that her legal team notified President Trump’s …

The Washington Post reports: Veterans Affairs Secretary David J. Shulkin’s chief of staff doctored an email and made false statements to create a pretext for taxpayers to cover expenses for the secretary’s wife on a 10-day trip to Europe last summer, the agency’s inspector general has found. Vivieca Wright Simpson, VA’s third-most senior official, altered language in an email from …

Mediaite reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will meet the press corps in a briefing set for 1:00 p.m. ET. What will she likely be asked about today? There are still many questions as to the timeline of events in the Rob Porter scandal, which has led to the opening of an oversight committee probe by Rep. Trey …

MarketWatch reports: The military parade proposed by President Donald Trump could cost between $10 million and $30 million, depending on the length, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney told the House Budget Committee on Wednesday. Last week, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was “putting together some options” on the parade. Democrats have criticized the idea. Remember …

The New York Times reports: Michael D. Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, said on Tuesday that he had paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to a pornographic-film actress who had once claimed to have had an affair with Mr. Trump. In the most detailed explanation of the 2016 payment made to the actress, Stephanie Clifford, Mr. Cohen, who …

Today should be another Porter-palooza. The Associated Press reports: The White House will hold a press briefing Tuesday afternoon with press secretary Sarah Sanders. The briefing is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. EST. President Donald Trump warned Tuesday that it’s now or never when it comes to extending protections for young immigrants who have stayed in the country illegally. …

Mediaite reports: You can’t make this up. With FBI Director Christopher Wray contradicting the White House’s story on when they knew about the allegations that ex-staffer Rob Porter abused his ex-wives, CNN is now reporting that Porter was under consideration for a promotion when the accusations publicly surfaced last week. “We’re learning not only did he take an important role …

Reuters reports: FBI Director Christopher Wray said on Tuesday the agency in late July completed a background check for security clearance for former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who resigned amid allegations of domestic abuse by two former wives. Wray’s comments conflict with the White House assertion that the Federal Bureau of Investigation and intelligence agencies had not completed …

The New York Times reports: As President Trump’s family business prepares to open a hotel in the Mississippi Delta this fall, its local development partners have asked the State of Mississippi to subsidize the project with up to $6 million in tax breaks, according to documents obtained through an open records request. If approved, the benefits could offset nearly a …

The AP reports: The morning after defending a former aide who is accused of abusing his ex-wives, President Donald Trump lamented that lives are being “shattered” by a “mere allegation.” The president’s Saturday morning tweet came after wished Rob Porter well in his future endeavors without any mention of the two ex-wives who have accused Porter of physical and emotional …

Deadline reports: Is Donald Trump just an epaulet away from being a dictator? According to Bill Maher’s on-going “Dictator’s Checklist,” it appears so. With Trump’s announcement this week that he’d love a military parade, Maher was able to cross off yet another entry on the authoritarian to-do list he unveiled on an episode of last season’s Real Time With Bill …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump on Saturday morning offered an explanation for his decision not to release a Democratic rebuttal of the Republican memo that made the case the F.B.I. abused its powers and was politically motivated in the spying on of Carter Page. Democrats have been angling for the declassification of their memo, which they claim outlines …

The Hill reports: President Trump has reportedly told House Intelligence Committee chair Rep. Devin Nunes that he is unable to approve the release of the Democratic countermemo to Nunes’ surveillance memo, according to Bloomberg. Nunes’ memo was released publicly last week after weeks of public battle between committee Republicans and Democrats. The memo accuses FBI and Justice Department officials of …

Politico reports: Former Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday he believed Robert Mueller legally could prosecute President Donald Trump on obstruction of justice charges — but that the special counsel would need to build a strong case. “Is there a technical case there now?” Holder said in response to questions from POLITICO after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast Wednesday. “I …

Politico reports: Carter Page, the former foreign policy adviser to President Donald Trump’s campaign now at the center of the ongoing Russia investigation, told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday that he has never in his life communicated with the president. “I never spoke with him since. I never spoke with him any time in my life,” Page said when …

The New York Times reports: Lawyers for President Trump have advised him against sitting down for a wide-ranging interview with the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, according to four people briefed on the matter, raising the specter of a monthslong court battle over whether the president must answer questions under oath. His lawyers are concerned that the president, who …

The New York Times reports: The House Intelligence Committee voted on Monday to make public a classified Democratic memorandum rebutting Republican claims that the F.B.I. and the Justice Department had abused their powers to wiretap a former Trump campaign official, setting up a possible clash with President Trump. The vote gives Mr. Trump five days to review the Democratic memo …

Vox reports: Rep. Devin Nunes is the author of a newly declassified document falsely insinuating the FBI misused US surveillance law to go after President Trump under the pretext of investigating Russia. On Monday morning, Nunes went on Fox & Friends, the president’s favorite TV show, to discuss Trump’s alleged persecution — and told a lie so brazen that there’s …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump on Monday praised Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as a “Great American Hero” for his role in releasing a controversial memo that critics have assailed for providing a misleading picture of the FBI’s actions in 2016. Nunes on Friday released a memo that aimed to undercut the FBI’s role in investigating President Donald Trump’s presidential …