Trump Corruption

Via Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics: Last fiscal year, the Trump family took more trips that required Secret Service protection than the Obama family took in seven, according to a budget document released by the Treasury Department. On average, Obama’s family took 133.3 protected trips per year, while the Trump family has taken an average of 1,625 annually. Much of …

Related to the previous JMG post. The Hollywood Reporter reports: Journalists, litigants and even actor Tom Arnold for years have been trying to get their hands on unaired footage from The Celebrity Apprentice that allegedly incriminates Donald Trump — and on Thursday a New York federal judge ordered MGM to hand over tapes in a lawsuit over an alleged multilevel …

Law & Crime reports: President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and the Trump Organization just suffered a major defeat in federal court–losing a battle to have a years-old so-called “racketeering enterprising” lawsuit against them decided via secret arbitration. Those claims are now all but certain to be litigated publicly. The class action plaintiffs originally filed suit …

The Washington Post reports: Glenn Fine, the acting inspector general at the Defense Department, was dismissed from his acting position at the Pentagon, making him ineligible to be the watchdog over spending to counter the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. Fine, a career official who will remain a deputy inspector general, had been chosen for the spending role by …

Newsweek reports: Social media users have been reacting to President Donald Trump’s championing of the use of hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19, with some referring to a deal struck in 2017 between the pharmaceutical company Novartis, which makes the drug, and the president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. On Sunday night and Monday morning, Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical company that …

Politico reports: The intelligence community watchdog removed abruptly late Friday by President Donald Trump says he believes Trump ousted him because of his evenhanded handling of a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to the president’s impeachment. “It is hard not to think that the President’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as …

Fox News reports: Democrats on Friday reacted furiously to President Trump’s decision to fire the intelligence community inspector general who informed Congress about the Ukraine whistleblower complaint. “Trump’s dead of night decision to fire ICIG Michael Atkinson is another blatant attempt to gut the independence of the Intelligence Community and retaliate against those who dare to expose presidential wrongdoing,” said …

PolitiFact reports: President Donald Trump deflected blame for the slow start of testing for the new coronavirus in the United States. “We inherited a broken test,” he said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends” March 30. Trump said much the same the day before during a Rose Garden press conference. “We took over a dead, barren system,” Trump said. “That …

The Washington Post reports: The Trump Organization has laid off or furloughed about 1,500 employees at hotels in the United States and Canada as the coronavirus pandemic inflicts further pain on the president’s private business. With most of President Trump’s hotels and clubs closed amid stay-at-home orders around the world, the Trump Organization has responded by slashing costs, much like …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump notified Congress on Friday that he is firing the inspector general of the U.S. intelligence community who was involved in triggering an impeachment probe of the president last year. In a letter to key lawmakers, Trump said he planned to remove the official, Michael Atkinson, in 30 days, saying, “it is vital that I have …

The New York Times reports: At one of the most perilous moments in modern American history, Mr. Kushner is trying in a disjointed White House to marshal the forces of government for the war his father-in-law says he is waging. A real estate developer with none of the medical expertise of a public health official nor the mobilization experience of …

First, a reminder on Trish Regan’s firing: Fox Business announced on Friday that Trish Regan, the host of the network’s “Trish Regan Primetime” program, has been let go in the aftermath of her infamous tirade claiming that the COVID-19 outbreak was part of some kind of anti-Trump scheme run by Democrats and the media. The development came several weeks after …

CNN’s relentless Daniel Dale reports: President Donald Trump falsely claimed Thursday that airplane and train passengers are being given “very strong tests” for the coronavirus both before departure and after arrival. Asked at a White House briefing if he is considering a temporary ban on domestic flights and rail travel, Trump said he was thinking about how to handle flights …

The New York Times reports: All over the country, businesses large and small are seeking breathing room from their lenders, landlords and business partners as they face the financial fallout from the coronavirus crisis. President Trump’s family company is among those looking for help. With some of its golf courses and hotels closed amid the economic lockdown, the Trump Organization …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Donald Trump attacked Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) on Thursday morning after the Democratic leader criticized Trump’s fumbling response to the medical equipment shortage in New York. During an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Schumer described how New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio have been “calling all over the …

The Washington Post reports: The Secret Service this week signed a $45,000 contract to rent a fleet of golf carts in Northern Virginia, saying it needed them quickly to protect a “dignitary” in the town of Sterling, home to one of President Trump’s golf clubs, according to federal contracting data. The contract was signed Monday and took effect Wednesday, records …

The Washington Post reports: “I don’t take responsibility at all.” That’s what President Trump said this month when asked whether he takes responsibility for the slow rollout of testing that public health officials say handicapped the country’s ability to protect Americans from the coronavirus. But Trump’s desire to not take responsibility could also be extrapolated to the coronavirus crisis in …

The Atlantic reports: On March 13, President Donald Trump promised Americans they would soon be able to access a new website that would ask them about their symptoms and direct them to nearby coronavirus testing sites. He said Google was helping. That wasn’t true. But in the following days, Oscar Health—a health-insurance company closely connected to Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner—developed …

CBS News reports: Several rural-state governors alerted President Trump on Monday that they are struggling to obtain urgently needed medical supplies and testing equipment, warning that despite the worsening coronavirus situation in New York and other urban areas, more sparsely populated parts of the country need help, too. In response to requests for more testing kits, Mr. Trump said, “I …

The Hill reports: U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, an Obama-appointee, decided a former business partner of Trump International Hotels Management could amend its lawsuit against the company to include claims of fraud and breach of contract, according to the ruling obtained by The Hill. The business partner Orestes Fintiklis and his fund Ithaca Capital Investments obtained control of the Panama …