Trump Corruption

The Week reports: President Trump is traveling to North Dakota on Wednesday, where he will visit an Andeavor oil refinery to discuss tax reform. “We are the highest taxed nation in the world,” Trump added to this announcement on Twitter, an entirely false statement that he has made at least three times. “By all metrics we looked at, the United …

The Daily Beast reports: During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump attacked Hillary Clinton for accepting money from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, complaining during one of the debates, “These are people that kill women and treat women horribly and yet you take their money.” That was, of course, before he made his first foreign visit as president to Saudi Arabia—and …

The Hill reports: The Justice Department confirmed in a court briefing filed late Friday that neither it nor the FBI has evidence that Trump Tower was the target of surveillance efforts by the Obama administration during the 2016 presidential election. The Motion for Summary Judgement was filed in D.C. district court in response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit …

The Washington Post reports: Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III is reviewing a letter drafted by President Trump and a top aide in the days before the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey laying out in detail why the president wanted to get rid of the country’s top law enforcement official, according to people familiar with the Mueller probe. …

The Daily Beast reports: Special counsel Bob Mueller has teamed up with the IRS. According to sources familiar with his investigation into alleged Russian election interference, his probe has enlisted the help of agents from the IRS’ Criminal Investigations unit. This unit—known as CI—is one of the federal government’s most tight-knit, specialized, and secretive investigative entities. Its 2,500 agents focus …

Raw Story reports: A co-host on President Donald Trump’s favorite morning news show said on Thursday morning that it’s time to wind down special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade declared on Thursday that “six months is enough” time for Mueller to fully investigate the complex web of …

The Daily Beast reports: Documents disclosed this week show just how far former Trump Organization adviser and convicted felon Felix Sater will go to help his one-time business associate President Donald Trump. In emails released by The New York Times on Monday, Sater bragged to the president’s lawyer in 2015 that, with Kremlin help, “our boy can become president of …

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, has given Congress a point-by-point rebuttal of a dossier alleging that he has deep ties to Russian officials — an effort to clear his name as the Justice Department and congressional committees investigate Russia’s attempts to disrupt last year’s election. Mr. Cohen encouraged lawmakers to investigate those who …

Politico reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team is working with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on its investigation into Paul Manafort and his financial transactions, according to several people familiar with the matter. The cooperation is the latest indication that the federal probe into President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman is intensifying. It also could potentially provide Mueller with …

Bloomberg reports: Two federal watchdog agencies are taking an active look at the controversial General Services Administration lease for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, Bloomberg BNA has learned. Both the Government Accountability Office and GSA’s Office of Inspector General have opened probes into the lease, officials with both groups confirmed. The GAO since June has been looking into GSA’s …

Newsweek reports: President Donald Trump loves to talk about trade deals. It was with fervor that he announced a new deal to supply Finland’s air force with “a large number” of F18 fighter jets from Boeing. The news was a surprise to many, most of all Finland and its President Sauli Niinistö, who was sharing a podium with Trump as …

Politico reports: The Senate Judiciary Committee has reached an agreement and set a date for Donald Trump Jr. to testify behind closed doors to the panel, the committee confirmed on Tuesday. The committee would not divulge the exact date, but another source familiar with the matter said the testimony would likely occur in the “next few weeks.” Trump Jr. is …

Law Newz reports: Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) doesn’t appear to be thrilled with President Donald Trump‘s new hat. Not what’s written on it, which is a simple USA in white print on a red background, with the Trump name on the back, but its marketing. Turns out they’re not alone, as Trump’s own former head of …

NBC News reports: Federal investigators working for Special Counsel Robert Mueller are keenly focused on President Donald Trump’s role in crafting a response to a published article about a meeting between Russians and his son Donald Jr., three sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The sources told NBC News that prosecutors want to know what Trump knew about …

ABC News reports: Four months into his campaign for president of the United States, Donald Trump signed a “letter of intent” to pursue a Trump Tower-style building development in Moscow, according to a statement from the then-Trump Organization Chief Counsel Michael Cohen. The involvement of then-candidate Trump in a proposed Russian development deal contradicts repeated statements Trump made during the …

The Washington Post reports: A top executive from Donald Trump’s real estate company emailed Vladi­mir Putin’s personal spokesman during the U.S. presidential campaign last year to ask for help advancing a stalled Trump Tower development project in Moscow, according to documents submitted to Congress Monday. Michael Cohen, a Trump attorney and executive vice president for the Trump Organization, sent the …

A reminder from Law Newz: As tropical storm Harvey batters its way through Texas, flooding the Gulf Coast at unprecedented levels, it might be interesting to look at President Donald Trump‘s own relationship with hurricanes, or the lack thereof. In October, The Associated Press reported that the then-candidate claimed to have taken $17 million in insurance money for storm damage …

The Washington Post reports: While Donald Trump was running for president in late 2015 and early 2016, his company was pursuing a plan to develop a massive Trump Tower in Moscow, according to several people familiar with the proposal and new records reviewed by Trump Organization lawyers. As part of the discussions, a Russian-born real estate developer urged Trump to …

CNN reports: Congressional investigators have unearthed an email from a top Trump aide that referenced a previously unreported effort to arrange a meeting last year between Trump campaign officials and Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The aide, Rick Dearborn, who is now President Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, sent a brief …

Raw Story reports: MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough suggested President Donald Trump is being blackmailed by Russian president Vladimir Putin. “Donald Trump, at some point in his life, has insulted everybody around him in the harshest of terms, including his own children,” Scarborough said. There is only one exception to Trump’s bullying and belligerence, he said. “The only person that I certainly …