Trump Corruption

The Hill reports: Two women who were featured in a video of a naturalization ceremony shown at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday night said they did not know it would be aired at the political event. Sudha Narayanan and Neimat Awadelseid told The Wall Street Journal that they didn’t mind being featured but said they were not aware the …

The New York Post reports: “You may have been a headache,” Bob Hope sang in his signature tune, “but you never were a bore.” Last night, for the first time in memory, Donald Trump was a bore.  It’s not that he had nothing to say. He had everything to say. And he said it. And said it again. And did …

Politico reports: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday that if Democrats take the White House in November, they will unilaterally release President Donald Trump’s long-hidden tax returns. In a news conference, she also staunchly defended House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal, including his handling of the fight for the president’s tax records, ahead of a tough primary the …

The New York Times reports: The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has scaled back the agency’s recommendation advising some people not to get tested after exposure to the novel coronavirus, now saying “testing may be considered for all close contacts of confirmed or probable Covid-19 patients.” The statement by Dr. Robert R. Redfield was issued to …

The White House has responded to new Washington Post reporting on how Trump is spending millions in public money on visits to his properties. In response to questions for this report, White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement that Trump has “turned over the day-to-day responsibilities of running the company though he was not required to, [and] has …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump says he will call for drug tests for both former Vice President Joe Biden and himself before the first candidates’ debate on Sept. 29. In an Oval Office interview Wednesday, the president expressed suspicion at what he said was a sudden, marked improvement in Biden’s debate performance during the Democratic primary season and suggested …

“I was under general anesthesia in the operating room. Last Thursday, I was not part of any discussion or deliberation regarding these new testing recommendations. I’m concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations. “I’m worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern. In fact, it is.” – Anthony Fauci, after the CDC …

CNN reports: A sudden change in federal guidelines on coronavirus testing came this week as a result of pressure from the upper ranks of the Trump administration, a federal health official close to the process tells CNN. “It’s coming from the top down,” the official said of the new directive from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new …

Update to the post below: Michael Estevez of Burson Cohn & Wolfe, a public relations firm representing Goya, subsequently told The Hill that Unanue would not be speaking at the RNC. The campaign did not respond to further questions about Unanue’s potential appearance during the program. Unanue was not named among the group of speakers issued by the campaign earlier …

Mediaite reports: White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows shrugged off criticisms for the second night of the Republican National Convention, saying “nobody” cares if the ceremonial pomp violated the Hatch Act. Meadows gave an interview on Wednesday for POLITICO Playbook, during which, Anna Palmer brought up Secretary of State Mike Pompeo giving a speech to the convention in the …

The Washington Post reports: Trump arrived at a lectern set up in the White House’s Great Hall. There, acting homeland security secretary Chad Wolf waited, along with five candidates for naturalization: two men and three women, one in a headscarf and another in a traditional Indian sari. The five were presented to Wolf. “On behalf of everyone here today,” Wolf …

The New York Post reports: Eric Trump, speaking on the second night of the 2020 Republican National Convention, cast his father as a successful first-time politician running against a Democrat who’s done little. “Most politicians spend their entire careers in Washington DC and get absolutely nothing accomplished. For example: Joe Biden. Joe Biden is a politician who has been in …

Fox News reports:  “What stands out to me is that about two or three weeks ago, Donald Trump suggested that he might make his acceptance speech at the White House,” Fox News host Chris Wallace said Tuesday night. “And there was an uproar in Washington. Republican Senate leaders said, ‘That can’t happen. We can’t have that.’ That barrier was completely …

Forbes reports: Donald Trump continued to shift money from his donors to his business last month, as his reelection campaign paid his private companies for rent, food, lodging and other expenses, according to a review of the latest Federal Election Commission filings. The richest president in American history, who has yet to donate to his 2020 campaign, has now moved …

NBC News reports: Diplomats who are barred by law from mixing work and politics say they’re appalled by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s decision to address the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, breaking with long-standing traditions aimed at isolating American’s foreign policy from partisan battles at home. It would be problematic enough, current and former U.S. diplomats said, if Pompeo …

Axios reports: President Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he will nominate acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf to be the permanent head of the agency. It’s been more than 500 days since a Senate-confirmed secretary led the Department of Homeland Security — a record for any administration. Wolf himself has served in an acting role since November 2019, taking over …

The New York Daily News reports: Steve Bannon may be facing years behind bars but at least he can do his next court appearance in his swim trunks. The right-wing flame-thrower got permission to appear via video next Monday for a Manhattan hearing on charges that he scammed donors who gave millions to a charity claiming to build a stretch …

The Hill reports: As the GOP convention kicked off Monday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered a message to American voters: ignore President Trump. “One thing I will say to the American people: Do not pay any attention to Donald Trump,” Pelosi said during an appearance on MSNBC. “It is his goal to scare people from voting, to intimidate them by …

The Associated Press reports: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told lawmakers Monday that he has warned allies of President Donald Trump that the president’s repeated attacks on mail-in ballots are “not helpful,” but denied that recent changes at the Postal Service are linked to the November elections. DeJoy was testifying for a second day on Capitol Hill, facing tense questions from …

Reuters reports: TikTok on Monday sued U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration over his executive order banning transactions in the United States with the popular short-form video-sharing app, calling it a pretext to fuel anti-China rhetoric as he seeks reelection. TikTok and its parent ByteDance Ltd rejected what they called the White House’s position that it was a national security threat, …