Trump Corruption

CBS News reports: Quietly, just before the calendar turned for the new year, an already whopping debt tentatively owed by President-elect Donald Trump and co-defendants in his New York civil fraud case hit an eye-popping, interest-accumulating milestone: half a billion dollars. The total crossed $500 million on Dec. 29, and stands at more than $502 million on Thursday, a spokesperson …

Reuters reports: Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who served as Donald Trump’s personal lawyer, has reached a settlement with two Georgia election workers he falsely accused of helping steal the 2020 election for Joe Biden, court records on Thursday show. The settlement came on the same day a non-jury civil trial before U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman …

The New York Times reports: Rudolph W. Giuliani has not shown up to federal court in Lower Manhattan to testify in a trial that will determine whether he can keep a Florida condo, his only remaining home, as well as three personalized Yankees World Series rings. The judge in the case, Lewis J. Liman, is expected to rule on whether …

The Associated Press reports: Thursday’s hearings include Doug Burgum for the Interior Department, Scott Turner for the Housing and Urban Development Department, Lee Zeldin for the EPA, Scott Bessent for the Treasury Department and Pam Bondi will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a second day. Bessent, the billionaire money manager from South Carolina, will take questions from members …

USA Today reports: The Donald Trump confirmation train keeps rolling Thursday as senators take up the president-elect’s picks to run the Treasury and Interior departments – and hear from witnesses in Pam Bondi’s bid to become the next U.S. Attorney General. So far, all of Trump’s appointees who’ve had hearings appear bound for confirmation after he takes office on Monday, …

The Telegraph reports: Donald Trump’s official inauguration portrait has been revealed ahead of next Monday’s ceremony – and has a striking resemblance to his infamous mugshot. The president-elect is well-lit, and is wearing a blue suit and blue tie – but it is his expression that has captured the attention of keen observers. Leaning in, Mr Trump has one eyebrow …

The Associated Press reports: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is set to be the first witness at a trial over whether he can keep his Florida condominium and three World Series rings or must turn them over to satisfy a $148 million defamation judgment awarded to two Georgia election workers. The trial, heard without a jury, begins Thursday morning …

The Huffington Post reports: Donald Trump posted online a list of people he said are not welcome to serve in his second administration, many of whom he also referred to with derogatory nicknames. Critics called it a “blacklist” and said it proves the president-elect wants total loyalty from government workers when he returns to office on Monday. They included his …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump is considering issuing an executive order once in office that would suspend enforcement of the TikTok ban-or-sale law for 60 to 90 days, hoping a brief reprieve for the Chinese-owned app will net him an early victory. Trump has expressed a keen interest in being seen as rescuing a platform on which he’s …

“This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies. I am thrilled American and Israeli hostages will be returning home to be reunited with their families …

Reuters reports: Aides to President-elect Donald Trump have asked three senior career diplomats who oversee the U.S. State Department’s workforce and internal coordination to step down from their roles, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said, in a possible signal of deeper changes ahead for the diplomatic corps. The team overseeing the State Department’s transition to the new administration …

Axios reports: President-elect Trump is being inundated with so much money from corporations and wealthy donors that his team expects to raise about $500 million by summer — even though he can’t run again, sources in his operation tell Axios. By stockpiling so much cash, Trump is signaling he doesn’t want to be seen as a lame duck in his …

Law & Crime reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday asked a federal court of appeals to reconsider taking on his request for a new trial in the defamation case brought — and won — by writer E. Jean Carroll. In December 2024, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit turned down a substantially similar …

Reuters reports: US President-elect Donald Trump announced on Tuesday his intention to establish an external revenue service to collect tariffs, duties, and all revenue generated from foreign sources as soon as he returns to the Oval Office. “We will begin charging those that make money off of us with Trade, and they will start paying, FINALLY, their fair share,” Trump …

The Associated Press reports: U.S. flags at President-elect Donald Trump‘s private Mar-a-Lago club are back to flying at full height. Flags are supposed to fly at half-staff through the end of January out of respect for former President Jimmy Carter, who died on Dec. 29. A large flag on Trump’s property in Palm Beach was initially lowered to half-staff according …

The Washington Post reports: Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s controversial pick for defense secretary, faces a high-stakes Senate confirmation hearing Tuesday that could determine whether his nomination moves forward. Hegseth, a National Guard veteran and former Fox News host, is expected to be grilled about his limited management experience and allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking, which he denies. …

“How bad is Seth Meyers on NBC, a ‘network’ run by a truly bad group of people – Remember, they also run MSDNC. I got stuck watching Marble Mouth Meyers the other night, the first time in months, and every time I watch this moron I feel an obligation to say how dumb and untalented he is, merely a slot …

The New York Post reports: The Make America Great Again-themed garbage truck, which made its first appearance on the campaign trail last October in Green Bay, Wis., is set to rumble down the streets of Washington, DC, during the traditional Inauguration Day parade held after the president takes the oath of office, multiple outlets reported on Monday. Trump, donning an …

The New York Times reports: Jack Smith, the special counsel who indicted President-elect Donald J. Trump on charges of illegally seeking to cling to power after losing the 2020 election, said in a final report released early Tuesday that the evidence would have been sufficient to convict Mr. Trump in a trial, had his 2024 election victory not made it …

“It’s nonsense to say somebody who came here when they were two, only speaks English, graduated as a high school valedictorian and is currently a nurse or a doctor should be deported. We’re going to deport them and they don’t speak the language of whatever country their parents came from, and they’ve earned the right to be Americans? “We are …