Trump Corruption

CNN reports: The White House has issued a formal threat to former national security adviser John Bolton to keep him from publishing his book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” sources familiar with the matter tell CNN. The White House had no comment. Neither Bolton nor a spokesman for the publisher, Simon & Schuster, responded to a …

CNN’s K-File reports: Law professor Alan Dershowitz, who is a member of President Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team, said in 2016 that he believed Trump was more corrupt than Hillary Clinton and more likely to continue being corrupt as president. Dershowitz spoke on the Senate floor Monday in defense of the President. He made the 2016 comments during an appearance …

“Mitt Romney’s call for John Bolton’s testimony comes as no surprise. Romney has been, lets say, wobbly throughout. He’s long had connections with foreign policy RINOs and they with him. Bolton one of them. He served as Romney’s foreign policy adviser during Romney’s failed 2012 presidential run. “Not so complicated, is it? John Bolton himself has been reduced to a …

Raw Story reports: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Wednesday briefly became the fourth Republican senator to say that former National Security Adviser John Bolton should testify — and then he changed his mind. Democrats would need four Republican senators to vote with them in order to hear Bolton’s testimony. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) …

And the hits just keep coming: Lev Parnas, an indicted associate of President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, asked a federal court for permission to turn over more evidence to House Democrats after already providing some evidence, including a 2018 recording of Trump discussing the dismissal of then-U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch. In a letter dated Friday, Parnas’s attorney …

The New York Daily News reports: The former New York mayor was upset Tuesday that Democrats are leaving him in the cold while pressing for John Bolton to be called as a witness at President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial. “They have indicated in every way possible they are afraid of my physical presence,” Giuliani told the Daily News as part …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s lawyers on Tuesday are kicking off their final day of arguments in his impeachment trial. After previewing their case in a short session on Saturday, Trump’s legal team doubled down on Monday, insisting that there was nothing improper about his dealings with Ukraine’s government and casting blame on former Vice President Joe Biden and …

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports: President Donald Trump is denying that he told former National Security Adviser John Bolton he wanted to withhold military aid from Ukraine until the country launched investigations into Joe Biden and his son, allegations that Bolton levies in his new book, according to news reports. But one of Trump’s former top aides told a Sarasota crowd …

The New York Times reports: John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, privately told Attorney General William P. Barr last year that he had concerns that President Trump was effectively granting personal favors to the autocratic leaders of Turkey and China, according to an unpublished manuscript by Mr. Bolton. Mr. Barr responded by pointing to a pair of Justice …

Mediaite reports: Fox News Senior Judicial Analyst Andrew Napolitano argued that in light of newly reported revelations in an upcoming book by John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s best defense is to simply own up to all that the House Managers are alleging and simply argue that it’s not impeachable. Napolitano called material that appears to be in former National Security …

Axios reports: If at least four Senate Republicans decide to vote with Democrats this week to subpoena witnesses and documents in President Trump’s impeachment trial, Hill Republicans fear a potential domino effect, with additional GOP senators — especially those up for reelection in November — falling. “You don’t want to be one of the first four. But no one gives …

The Associated Press reports: Vice President Mike Pence’s office says he was not asked by President Donald Trump to raise the Biden family or Burisma in conversations with the president of Ukraine last year. Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short says in a statement that Trump “expressed concerns about corruption in Ukraine” in a meeting before Pence flew to Poland …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell did not know that President Donald Trump’s administration had a copy of an explosive manuscript by ex-national security adviser John Bolton, a spokesman said. And Kentucky’s longtime senator, who has said he’s in “total coordination” with the White House on the impeachment trial, reportedly isn’t happy. A McConnell spokesman told The …

CBS News reports: In an interview with “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell, Congressman Mark Meadows said there would be repercussions if Republicans break with President Donald Trump on impeachment. O’Donnell sat down with impeachment defense surrogates Representatives Meadows, Doug Collins, Elise Stefanik and Debbie Lesko. “Do you think Republican senators face political repercussions if they break with the president?” …

From an op-ed just published by Fox News: Presidents must be able to candidly consult with their advisers without worrying they will leak these discussions to the press or obtain high-dollar book contracts to publish them. A book by a former national security adviser ahead of a president’s reelection bid may set a dangerous precedent since it could discourage future …

The Associated Press reports: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney is disputing former national security adviser John Bolton’s claims in his forthcoming book. Among the claims is an allegation that President Donald Trump told Bolton he wanted to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in security aid from Ukraine until it helped investigate a Democratic political rival. Mulvaney …

The Hill reports: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) says she is “curious” to know what former national security adviser John Bolton might have to say about President Trump’s relations with Ukraine but stopped short of saying if she would support calling him to testify in the impeachment trial. “Well I read it. I’ve said before I was curious what Ambassador Bolton …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser has upended the Senate impeachment trial, and new revelations from John Bolton’s draft book manuscript could turn the tide on whether senators call for witnesses. The President’s legal team resumes its second day of arguments at 1 p.m. ET Monday, but all of the attention will be focused on the Republican …

The New York Times reports: By Monday morning, several Republican senators had angrily called the White House trying to determine who at the administration knew about Mr. Bolton’s manuscript, which aides there have had for several weeks, and what was in it. They told the White House they felt blindsided, according to people briefed on the calls who insisted on …

From George Conway’s op-ed in the Washington Post: Before the Senate on Saturday, deputy White House counsel Michael Purpura laid out the elements of that defense. Key among them: “Not a single witness testified that the President himself said there was any connection between any investigations and security assistance, a Presidential meeting, or anything else.” If Bolton testifies to what’s …