Trump Corruption

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday railed against the Obama administration, claiming his predecessor tried to discredit Trump’s 2016 campaign while also failing to act on Russian efforts to influence the election. Trump has previously claimed the Obama administration “did nothing” to stop Russian election interference, particularly after special counsel Robert Mueller filed charges against 13 Russian nationals and …

ThinkProgress reports: Billionaire investor and longtime Trump confidant Carl Icahn dumped $31.3 million of stock in a company heavily dependent on steel last week, just days before Trump announced plans to impose steep tariffs on steel imports. In a little-noticed SEC filing submitted on February 22, 2018, Icahn disclosed that he systematically sold off nearly 1 million shares of Manitowoc …

The New York Daily News reports: U.S. counterintelligence officials are looking into Ivanka Trump’s business deal in Vancouver as her security clearance continues to hang in the balance, according to a report. Ivanka played a key role in hammering out the deal for the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver, which opened just one month after her father entered …

The New York Times reports: Early last year, a private equity billionaire started paying regular visits to the White House. Joshua Harris, a founder of Apollo Global Management, was advising Trump administration officials on infrastructure policy. During that period, he met on multiple occasions with Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, said three people familiar with the meetings. …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort maintained his innocence on Wednesday to new charges he acted as an unregistered foreign agent and directed an international money-laundering conspiracy. Manafort appeared at the federal courthouse and entered a formal plea of not guilty to a second indictment brought against him by prosecutors working for special counsel …

The New York Times reports: Hope Hicks, the White House communications director, told House investigators on Tuesday that her work for President Trump, who has a reputation for exaggerations and outright falsehoods, had occasionally required her to tell white lies. But after extended consultation with her lawyers, she insisted that she had not lied about matters material to the investigations …

The Washington Post reports: Officials in at least four countries have privately discussed ways they can manipulate Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, by taking advantage of his complex business arrangements, financial difficulties and lack of foreign policy experience, according to current and former U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports on the matter. Among those nations discussing ways …

The Atlantic reports: On March 17, 2017, WikiLeaks tweeted that it had never communicated with Roger Stone, a longtime confidante and informal adviser to President Donald Trump. In his interview with the House Intelligence Committee last September, Stone, who testified under oath, told lawmakers that he had communicated with WikiLeaks via an “intermediary,” whom he identified only as a “journalist.” …

CNBC reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller moved Monday to dismiss more than 20 charges against former Trump campaign official Rick Gates, multiple outlets reported, after Gates pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy and lying. The charges being dropped were brought against Gates in a court in Alexandria, Virginia, in keeping with the terms of his plea deal. “The Office will …

This will likely be on the menu today: Three hours into her scheduled testimony before the House Intelligence Committee, White House Communications Director Hope Hicks appears to be answering some of the committee’s questions, according to multiple members, though Democrats and Republicans on the committee differed on how useful those answers were. Asked how the interview with Hicks was proceeding, …

The Guardian reports: A senior career official in the US Department of Housing and Urban Development has alleged that she was demoted and replaced with a Donald Trump appointee after refusing to break the law by funding an expensive redecoration of Ben Carson’s office. Helen Foster said she was told “$5,000 will not even buy a decent chair” after informing …

Via Mediaite: President Donald Trump’s TiVo was working overtime on Tuesday morning, as it seemed he was catching up on last night’s episode of Martha McCallum’s Fox News show. Former judge Andrew Napolitano was reacting to Trump’s remarks in an interview with Jeanine Pirro from the weekend, in which he called on “you know who” — ostensibly Attorney General Jeff …

Bloomberg reports: White House communications director Hope Hicks is scheduled to be interviewed privately Tuesday by the House Intelligence Committee, which is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to two House officials familiar with the matter. Her appearance before the committee is scheduled for 10 a.m., said the officials, who asked for anonymity to discuss the plans. On …

UPI reports: White House press secretary Sarah Sanders is scheduled to give an on-camera press briefing on Monday afternoon. The briefing is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. EST. Sanders likely will face questions about the Supreme Court’s refusal to bypass the usual appeals court process and rule on attempts to block President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Deferred …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump mangled a quote from a Fox News anchor in an attack on Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. In a tweet late Saturday, Trump claimed to have quoted a Fox News report by Molly Line, who was describing a Democrat memo rebutting GOP claims of surveillance abuses by Justice Department …

Reuters reports: A Florida golf club owned by U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Friday to pay $5.45 million to settle claims by former members that it wrongfully refused to refund their deposits when they wanted to resign. The payout is more than 94 percent of the $5.77 million that U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra, who must approve the settlement, …

CNBC reports: Soon after the Republican National Committee came under pressure for paying legal bills for President Donald Trump and his eldest son in the special counsel’s Russia probe, it started covering expenses for the president’s re-election campaign. The RNC is using campaign funds to pay Trump’s company more than $37,000 a month in rent, and to pay thousands of …

The New York Times reports: A former top adviser to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud and lying to investigators in the special counsel inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and will cooperate with the investigation. The adviser, Rick Gates, is a longtime political consultant who once served as Mr. Trump’s deputy campaign …

The Washington Post reports: New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year. A new indictment has long been expected in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s prosecution of Manafort and his right-hand man, Rick Gates, on …

The Associated Press reports: Payday lenders got regulators to rethink rules on how closely to vet borrowers. E-cigarette makers got a delay in federal oversight of many vaping products. Candy makers praised a decision to hold off on more stringent labeling standards. And title insurers declared “victory” for getting changes that benefited them in the tax overhaul. What do all …