Trump Corruption

The New York Daily News reports: Continuing its federal shakeups, the Trump administration dismissed Obama-appointed U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy on Friday. Murthy was relieved of his duties effective immediately, and his position will be temporarily filled by Deputy Surgeon General Sylvia Trent-Adams as the White House looks for a replacement, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said …

The Hill reports: Former Trump advisor Carter Page defended himself during a CNN appearance on Saturday, amidst mounting reports about his alleged contacts with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. “I was never, nothing I was ever asked to do or no information I was ever asked for, was anything beyond what you could see on CNN,” Page told CNN’s …

CNN reports: The FBI gathered intelligence last summer that suggests Russian operatives tried to use Trump advisers, including Carter Page, to infiltrate the Trump campaign, according to US officials. The new information adds to the emerging picture of how the Russians tried to influence the 2016 election, not only through email hacks and propaganda but also by trying to infiltrate …

Business Insider reports: The House Intelligence Committee announced on Friday that it had extended invitations to three former officials with knowledge of Russia’s interference in the US election to testify in an open hearing in May, over a month after the committee’s chairman first scrapped the session. “Yesterday, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence sent two letters related to …

The Independent reports: Exxon Mobil has reportedly applied to the US Treasury Department for a waiver from US sanctions on Russia, which – if granted – would mean that it can resume its joint venture with Russian-state owned oil giant PAO Rosneft. Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported that Exxon had been seeking US permission …

Politico reports: During his campaign, Donald Trump promised to pay the legal bills of supporters who beat up protestors at his rallies, but a POLITICO analysis found that Trump’s campaign hasn’t always paid its own legal bills in a timely or transparent fashion. The analysis of court and campaign filings found that Trump’s campaign committee is still spending heavily to …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump promoted his “buy American, hire American” policy again Tuesday — but his family’s companies haven’t always followed that pledge themselves. After touring a Snap-on tools plant in Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon, Trump signed an executive order pushing the hiring of domestic workers by American companies. “We are sending a powerful signal to the world. We …

The Associated Press reports: On April 6, Ivanka Trump’s company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world’s second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for …

Politico reports: When the Trump administration initially announced last Friday that it would not release a log of visitors to the White House, reversing a practice begun by former President Barack Obama, White House communications director Michael Dubke said the move would protect the nation’s national security interests as well as the privacy of those visiting the Trump administration. But …

The Independent reports: Donald Trump has accused protesters who took to the streets of cities across the US to demand he publish his tax returns of being part of an organised conspiracy paid for by persons unknown. The billionaire said his election as US President meant the release of tax returns was irrelevant, writing on Twitter: “Someone should look into …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday reportedly took a longer route than usual on his way back to his Mar-a-Lago resort in what reporters said appeared to be an attempt to avoid large crowds of Tax March protesters. According to pool reports, Trump’s motorcade made a long loop to get back to Mar-a-Lago after leaving Trump International Golf Club …

The Read Deal reports: A Miami-based paint company stiffed three years ago by President Donald Trump’s Doral golf resort may finally get paid. The Third District Court of Appeals on Friday rejected the Trump National Doral Miami’s petition to throw out a lower court’s prior ruling affirming a nearly $35,000 construction lien The Paint Spot placed on the property, and …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump will not release records of visitors to the White House, his administration announced Friday, breaking with President Barack Obama and raising concerns about transparency. The Obama administration had posted the visitor logs online. But White House communications director Michael Dubke said in a statement Trump had decided to withhold them because of “the grave national …

Last year the Justice Department declared that it would no longer contract with private for-profit prisons after widespread reports of corruption and mistreatment of prisoners by the global private prison company GEO Group. Back in February that decision was reversed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the GEO Group donated six figures to a pro-Trump super PAC. Which brings us …

Slate reports: Buried in the last paragraph of a Guardian story about British intelligence alerting the U.S. to contact between Trump advisers and Russian officials is this sort-of bombshell: One source suggested the official [American] investigation was making progress. “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign …

Fast Company reports: A campaign finance watchdog said today that chief White House strategist Steve Bannon may have illegally benefited from spending by a pro-Trump super PAC while he led Trump’s presidential campaign. The Campaign Legal Center believes Make America Number 1, a super PAC that backed Trump, may have improperly subsidized Bannon’s salary. In a letter to regulators on …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is registering as a foreign agent. Paul Manafort’s spokesman says he was in talks with the government about registering before the 2016 election and is now “taking appropriate steps” in response to “formal guidance” from the government. The spokesman says Manafort’s lobbying work was not conducted on behalf of the …

Whoa. The Washington Post reports: The United Arab Emirates arranged a secret meeting in January between Blackwater founder Erik Prince and a Russian close to President Vladi­mir Putin as part of an apparent effort to establish a back-channel line of communication between Moscow and President-elect Donald Trump, according to U.S., European and Arab officials. The meeting took place around Jan. …

The New York Daily News reports: President Trump, after again ripping the “Fake News Media,” turned to Fox News for proof that he’s the victim in the probes of his administration’s alleged Russian ties. The President, in another Saturday morning tweetstorm, quoted a Fox story from a day earlier reporting that members of Trump’s team were identified in intelligence reports …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday called for NBC News to devote more attention to his unproven claims that President Obama spied on him and stop covering the investigations into Russia’s interference in the election. It was not immediately apparent what NBC coverage Trump was taking issue with. Chuck Todd on Friday interviewed top Washington lawyer Abbe Lowell and …