Trump Corruption

From the Wall Street Journal: Before the 2016 presidential election, a longtime Republican opposition researcher mounted an independent campaign to obtain emails he believed were stolen from Hillary Clinton’s private server, likely by Russian hackers. In conversations with members of his circle and with others he tried to recruit to help him, the GOP operative, Peter W. Smith, implied he …

Politico reports: The firm headed by Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, made more than $17 million working as a foreign agent of a pro-Russian Ukrainian political party, according to newly filed disclosure reports. The filing makes Manafort the second Trump campaign official to retroactively disclose foreign lobbying. Michael Flynn, Trump’s ousted former national security adviser, filed paperwork …

The Hill reports: The New York Times has compiled a massive list called “Trump’s Lies,” in what they say catalogues “nearly every outright lie” President Trump has made since his January inauguration. The Times‘s list, which ran in the paper’s opinion section, including his inaccurate claim that there was a terror attack in Sweden last February and his recent incorrect …

Media Matters has the transcript of the Fox & Friends interview that aired this morning: AINSLEY EARHARDT (CO-HOST): Big news today. You said you didn’t tape [former FBI Director] James Comey. Do you want to explain that? Why did you want him to believe you possibly did that? PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well I didn’t tape him. You never know what’s …

ABC News reports: Despite his foreboding warning in the aftermath of James Comey’s dismissal in May, President Donald Trump does not have tapes of his conversations with the former FBI director, he tweeted Thursday. In May, three days after Comey’s firing, Trump wrote: “James Comey better hope that there are no “tapes” of our conversations before he starts leaking to …

Unshockingly, Trump is twisting what Johnson said. Jeh Johnson, the former Homeland Security chief, says he wasn’t aware that the FBI had opened a counterintelligence investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian officials. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence committee, Rep. Adam Schiff, asked Johnson if former FBI Director Jim Comey would have opened such an …

CNN reports: Two of the nation’s top intelligence officials told Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team and Senate investigators, in separate meetings last week, that President Donald Trump suggested they say publicly there was no collusion between his campaign and the Russians, according to multiple sources. Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers described …

The Associated Press reports: President. Candidate. Businessman. Three of President Donald Trump’s roles converge next week as he holds his first re-election fundraiser at his hotel in Washington. Trump can see the Trump International Hotel from the White House lawn, making it a premier and convenient location for the June 28 major-donor event, his campaign director Michael Glassner said. But …

The Hill reports: For the tenth time in the last several months, Republicans on Wednesday blocked a Democratic resolution offered on the House floor to request President Trump’s tax returns. The measure was defeated on a procedural vote of 227-188 that fell largely along party lines. The resolution considered Wednesday was offered by Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), the top Democrat …

ABC News reports: The Trump Organization wants its tax bill cut in half at one of its high-end golf clubs, part of a longstanding Trump practice of using legal challenges and appeals to lower his corporate tax bills. President Donald Trump’s company, now run by his adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, has requested a property tax break of a …

In a piece that was teased last night by Rachel Maddow, this morning Bloomberg published a report detailing the Trump family’s dealings with a “shadowy” real estate development firm linked to a notorious Russian mobster. An excerpt: One of Bayrock’s principals was a career criminal named Felix Sater who had ties to Russian and American organized crime groups. Before linking …

The Hill reports: The top White House spokesman on Monday did not directly answer a question about whether President Trump supports Rod Rosenstein amid speculation that the deputy attorney general may have to recuse himself from overseeing an investigation into Russian election meddling. “The president has confidence in everyone who serves in this administration,” press secretary Sean Spicer said when …

The New York Times reports: Amid a broadening investigation of Russian contacts with his associates and his own role in trying to stop it, President Trump fired off another angry tweet this past week repeating his assertion that he has no business interests in Russia. But while no Trump Tower graces the Moscow skyline, the Russian authorities recently made sure …

The Hill reports: One of President Trump’s attorneys on Sunday insisted “there is not an investigation of the president of the United States, period.” He was responding to reports that a Justice Department investigation has expanded to obstruction of justice charges related to the president’s decision to fire an FBI director, as well as apparent confirmation by the president himself. …

The International Business Times reports: Financial disclosure documents released Friday by the Office of Government Ethics shed new light on President Trump’s finances, even as he refuses to release his tax returns. The documents show that Trump owes hundreds of millions of dollars to major financial institutions — some with business before Trump’s administration. According to section 8 of the …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time Friday that he is under federal investigation as part of the expanding probe into Russia’s election meddling. He lashed out at a top Justice Department official overseeing the inquiry, reflecting his mounting frustration with the unrelenting controversy that has consumed his early presidency. Trump advisers and confidants describe …

Market Watch reports: With President Donald Trump blasting reports that he is under investigation for possible obstruction of justice, Trump ally and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said any charge wouldn’t stick for one simple reason. “Technically, the president of the United States cannot obstruct justice,” Gingrich said Friday during an event at the National Press Club. “The president of …

Citing an unnamed source, this afternoon NBC’s Katy Tur reports on Twitter that Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen, he of “says who!” fame, has hired his own attorney to represent him in the ever-expanding Russia investigation. According to Tur, Cohen is now scheduled to testify before the House Intelligence Committee on September 5th. Tur’s source says the delay is due …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump confirmed Friday morning he is under investigation over his decision to fire FBI Director James Comey. “I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt,” he said on his Twitter account. News surfaced this week that Trump is being investigated for …

The Hill reports: President Trump assailed the ongoing probes of Russia’s role in the 2016 election on Friday, blasting Congress and the Justice Department for continuing the investigations despite not presenting “any proof” of collusion between his campaign and the Kremlin. Reports emerged this week that the government’s probe of last year’s election has expanded to included possible obstruction of …