Trump Corruption

The Washington Post reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed Monday that he asked President Trump to fire the State Department inspector general because his work was “undermining” the department’s mission, but he declined to describe any specific concerns. In a telephone interview, Pompeo said the decision was not an act of political retaliation, because he did not know beforehand …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump will nominate a new U.S. Attorney to oversee the D.C. office, which handles both local and national cases including several high-profile prosecutions of the president’s allies. Justin Herdman, the U.S. attorney in Cleveland, would take the position now filled by Timothy Shea, who came to the office in February. The nomination of Herdman comes …

Fox News reports: Taking aim at Joe Biden, President Trump’s reelection team on Monday launched a faux “investigative” series that mocks the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee by spotlighting his numerous verbal miscues on the campaign trail. The video series by the Trump campaign is titled “Truth over Facts,” a phrase the former vice president used last August in Des Moines …

The New York Times reports: The Republican program, which has gained steam in recent weeks, envisions recruiting up to 50,000 volunteers in 15 key states to monitor polling places and challenge ballots and voters deemed suspicious. That is part of a $20 million plan that also allots millions to challenge lawsuits by Democrats and voting-rights advocates seeking to loosen state …

NBC News reports: A Democrat aide told NBC news the inspector general “was looking into the Secretary’s misuse of a political appointee at the Department to perform personal tasks for himself and Mrs. Pompeo.” Pompeo is married to Susan Pompeo, who’s been known to travel with the Secretary of State and was listed as “Special Assistant to the Secretary of …

The Washington Post reports: After former top vaccine official Rick Bright maintained Sunday that the federal government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic has been slow and chaotic, President Trump responded in a late-night tweetstorm, saying that whistleblowers like Bright are “causing great injustice and harm” to the nation. In an interview with “60 Minutes,” Bright, the former director of the …

Cox Media reports: Republican Sen. Mitt Romney on Saturday denounced President Donald Trump’s firings of internal government oversight officials, calling it a “threat to accountable democracy.” Romney’s comments came in response to Trump’s Friday firing of State Department Inspector General Steve Linick — the latest in a series of dismissals of independent government watchdogs that have come in the wake …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump fired the State Department’s inspector general on the recommendation of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a White House official said Saturday. Trump fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick Friday night, notifying Congress of the decision in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump, who has targeted several government agency watchdogs in the past …

Fox News reports: The Democrats are “trying to milk” the coronavirus pandemic for every election advantage they can get over President Trump, the president’s son, Eric Trump, said Saturday night. “So they will, and you watch, they’ll milk it every single day between now and Nov. 3. And guess what? After Nov. 3, coronavirus will magically all of a sudden …

Reuters reports: The U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Relations Committee on Saturday said it would investigate President Donald Trump’s firing of the State Department inspector general, after the president notified Congress late Friday that he planned to remove the watchdog. The Democratic-led committee said it would launch the probe along with colleagues on the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, …

The New York Post reports: Former White House strategist Steve Bannon gave sharply contradictory accounts under oath of his discussions with convicted felon Roger Stone about WikiLeaks, a review of official records by The Post shows. On Jan 16, 2018 — roughly five months after he left the White House – Bannon told members of the House Intelligence Committee repeatedly …

ABC News reports: The White House fired the State Department Inspector General late Friday, according to a State Department spokesperson and a senior congressional aide — the latest senior U.S. official involved in the impeachment probe into President Donald Trump to be forced out by his administration. The inspector general, who acts as an independent watchdog responsible for investigating the …

The Hill reports: President Trump told reporters at the White House Friday that his administration is “looking at” making coronavirus vaccines free to the public. “We’re looking at that actually,” Trump told reporters before departing for Camp David when asked if he thought vaccines should be free. He did not offer his personal opinion on the matter. The Trump administration …

Mediaite reports: During Friday’s White House press briefing, CBS News correspondent Steven Portnoy pressed Kayleigh McEnany on President Donald Trump’s comments about “Obamagate” crimes. “The president suggested people should be jailed for what he suggested earlier in the week was a very obvious crime,” he said. “You’re an attorney and the president’s spokesperson. Perhaps you could lay out the elements …

The Washington Post reports: The U.S. government has paid at least $970,000 to President Trump’s company since Trump took office — including payments for more than 1,600 nightly room rentals at Trump’s hotels and clubs, according to federal records obtained by The Washington Post. Since March, The Post has catalogued an additional $340,000 in such payments. They were almost all …

CBS News reports: A company whose largest shareholder is Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale received nearly $800,000 from the federal coronavirus relief fund for small businesses, according to a filing with the SEC. The company, CloudCommerce, was eligible for the low-interest loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. In late December, the digital marketing company began soliciting new investors through a …

The Washington Post reports: Weeks before a Republican donor and top White House ally becomes postmaster general, the U.S. Postal Service has quietly launched a review of its package delivery contracts and lost its last senior official who was not appointed by President Trump. The moves, confirmed by six people with knowledge of the Postal Service’s inner workings but not …

Axios reports: Senate Judiciary Chair Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) responded to President Trump’s tweet calling for Graham to compel former President Obama to testify before Congress about the Russia investigation, telling Politico: “I don’t think now’s the time for me to do that. I don’t know if that’s even possible.” Graham released a statement on Thursday saying the Judiciary Committee will …

NBC News reports: A private jet company founded by a donor to President Donald Trump received nearly $27 million in government funding under a program run by the Treasury Department, according to government filings. Clay Lacy Aviation, a private jet charter company based in Van Nuys, California, that serves wealthy executives and celebrities, received the government grant as part of …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday tore into ousted federal scientist-turned-whistleblower Dr. Rick Bright just before Bright was set to testify before Congress that the U.S. “missed early warning signals” about the coronavirus. “I don’t know the so-called Whistleblower Rick Bright, never met him or even heard of him,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning. Bright is scheduled to testify before …