Trump Corruption

The Washington Post reports: A federal judge issued an emergency order early Saturday prohibiting Elon Musk’s U.S. DOGE Service from accessing personal and financial data on millions of Americans kept at the Treasury Department, noting the possibility for irreparable harm. U.S. District Judge Paul A. Engelmayer’s decision also ordered Musk and his team to “immediately destroy any and all copies …

The New York Times reports: President Trump announced his intention on Friday to bring the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington more firmly under his control, saying he would dismiss several board members and install himself as chairman. “At my direction, we are going to make the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., GREAT AGAIN,” Mr. Trump …

Mother Jones reports: Last year, Kash Patel, the MAGA provocateur whom Donald Trump has nominated to head the FBI, received $25,000 from a Russia-linked production company to participate in a documentary in which he assailed the FBI and called for closing its headquarters. In this film—which credits Patel as an executive producer—he offers a blistering attack on the FBI. He …

Politico reports: A federal judge today ordered an immediate halt to key aspects of President Donald Trump’s effort to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, blocking Secretary of State Marco Rubio from placing 2,200 employees of the agency on leave in a matter of hours. “They should not put those 2,200 people on administrative leave,” U.S. District Judge Carl …

Axios reports: President Trump said on Friday that there is “no rush” moving forward with his “Gaza takeover” plan, which he also described as a “real estate transaction” between America and Israel.  “The U.S. would view it as a real estate transaction. We will be an investor in this part of the world. No rush to do anything,” he said. Trump …

First, there was this bizarre exchange: Fox News White House Correspondent Peter Doocy asked President Donald Trump about Elon Musk declaring his “straight man” love for him. Doocy asked Trump what First Lady Melania Trump thought of Musk declaring his “straight man” love for the president. DOOCY: Elon Musk says I love Donald Trump as mush as a straight man …

The CBC reports: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told business leaders at the Canada-U.S. Economic Summit in Toronto that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to annex Canada “is a real thing.” “Mr. Trump has it in mind that the easiest way to do it is absorbing our country and it is a real thing.” Trudeau said. The prime minister made the …

Newsweek reports: The acting U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. sent a letter Friday saying his office is conducting an “inquiry” into people who were referred to him by Elon Musk, who oversees the Department of Government Efficiency. Martin said in his letter that his office will “chase” people to “the end of the Earth to hold them accountable,” even if …

Punchbowl News reports: President Donald Trump has tasked Vice President JD Vance and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz with overseeing a potential sale of TikTok, according to multiple sources on Capitol Hill and the White House. Vance is in charge of “quarterbacking a deal to save TikTok,” according to a source familiar with the matter. Waltz and the National Security …

Politico reports: The Trump administration has moved to push out a swathe of federal workers previously involved in combating election-related disinformation. Employees from the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency who once worked in its Election Security and Resilience division were notified Thursday night they were being put on administrative leave. The move comes shortly after the installment of new DHS …

San Francisco’s PBS affiliate reports: The Federal Communications Commission is investigating San Francisco-based KCBS for its coverage of immigration enforcement actions in San José last month, sparking concerns from press freedom advocates and drawing right-wing backlash to the radio station. In an interview on Fox News, Trump-appointed commission chair Brendan Carr said he opened the investigation after KCBS shared the …

ABC News reports: “We care,” Melania Trump declared in 2018 during a visit to Egypt as first lady to promote her partnership with the U.S. Agency for International Development. “We care, and we want to show the world that we care, and I’ve partnered and am working with USAID,” she continued. “And that’s what I want to share — that …

The New York Times reports: Asanda Zondi received a startling phone call last Thursday, with orders to make her way to a health clinic in Vulindlela, South Africa, where she was participating in a research study that was testing a new device to prevent pregnancy and H.I.V. infection. The trial was shutting down, a nurse told her. The device, a …

Axios reports: The Trump administration is being sued over its move to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), with unions representing workers in the lawsuit calling the action “unconstitutional and illegal.” The lawsuit that was filed in federal court Thursday seeks to block efforts to place most of USAID’s 10,000-strong global workforce on administrative leave by Friday night …

CNN reports: A representative from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, was granted access to the Energy Department’s IT system on Wednesday by Energy Secretary Chris Wright [photo], two people with knowledge of the situation told CNN. Wright granted access to DOGE representative Luke Farritor — a 23-year-old former SpaceX intern — even over objections from members of …

Wired reports: US Treasury Department and White House officials have repeatedly denied that technologists associated with Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had the ability to rewrite the code of the payment system through which the vast majority of federal spending flows. WIRED reporting shows, however, that at the time these statements were made, a DOGE operative did …

The Washington Post reports: President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court, claiming that the court “has engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” The order accused the ICC of illegitimately asserting jurisdiction over and opening “preliminary investigations concerning personnel and the United States and certain …

Reuters reports: Panama President José Raúl Mulino said on Thursday the U.S. was spreading “lies and falsehoods” after the State Department claimed U.S. government vessels would be able to pass through the Panama Canal without paying. The comments were likely to exacerbate tensions between the two countries after the U.S. had cited progress on military cooperation and confronting alleged Chinese …

The Washington Post reports: Records obtained by The Post show that several members of Musk’s DOGE team — some of whom are in their early 20s and come from positions at his private companies — were given “administrative” access to OPM computer systems within days of Trump’s inauguration last month. That gives them sweeping authority to install and modify software …

CNN reports: The FBI is preparing to disband a team of specialists charged with combating foreign threats to US elections. The shuttering of the FBI Foreign Influence Task Force and planned reassigning of team members follows a directive from incoming and newly sworn in US Attorney General Pam Bondi dissolving the team. “To free resources to address more pressing priorities, …