Trump Corruption

Reuters reports: The Republican chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday opened the door to a Senate investigation into unproven allegations regarding Ukraine raised by President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, inviting the attorney to testify. “It is time for the Senate to inquire about corruption and other improprieties involving Ukraine,” Senator Lindsey Graham said in a …

CBS News reports: U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland will be skipping his appearance on Captiol Hill after being deposed for a closed-door meeting as part of the ongoing impeachment inquiry, according to Congressional sources. Sondland was mentioned in the original whistleblower complaint and a key witness to the Trump-Ukraine dealings. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff told …

“I’m surprised there’s only a second whistle-blower and not a bus full. There’s never been a presidency where the incumbent has been surrounded, I don’t say it playfully, by backstabbers and vipers and rats and snitches. It’s true. “And Congressman Garamendi, just there, he looked the President Zelensky in the eye, the star prosecution witness is the president of Ukraine, …

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration directed a top American diplomat involved in its pressure campaign on Ukraine not to appear Tuesday morning for a scheduled deposition with House Democrats conducting an impeachment inquiry, according to two people briefed on the matter. The decision to block Gordon D. Sondland, the United States ambassador to the European Union, from …

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: Tensions between Minneapolis city leaders and President Donald Trump’s campaign escalated Monday when the campaign threatened to sue the city for trying to force it to pay $530,000 for security during this week’s rally. Trump’s campaign team said in a news release late Monday night that Mayor Jacob Frey is “abusing the power of his office” …

NBC News reports: A dozen House Democrats are calling for President Donald Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, to resign in the wake of revelations about his key role in the unfolding Ukraine scandal. The calls for his ouster come as Sondland prepares to be deposed Tuesday by House committees as part of their impeachment inquiry into the …

Just in via press release: The Inspector General of the Department of Justice should investigate whether Attorney General William Barr violated federal ethics laws and principles by participating in matters related to allegations in the Ukraine whistleblower complaint, according to a letter sent today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). While Attorney General Barr was directly implicated …

Axios reports: A pair of Rudy Giuliani’s business associates wrapped up in the Ukraine investigation will not comply with information and deposition requests from the House committees leading the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, their attorney John Dowd [photo] told the Miami Herald Monday. The big picture: Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman are Trump donors who helped connect Giuliani with …

Yahoo News reports: President Trump’s personal attorney, Rudolph Giuliani, says he is working with outside lawyers to prepare lawsuits against prominent Democrats such as House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff of California and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan. That defense was blunted by news of an additional whistleblower who would reportedly corroborate how Trump allegedly pressured the new Ukrainian president, …

Politico reports: In her first 14 months as Transportation secretary, Elaine Chao met with officials from Kentucky, which her husband Mitch McConnell represents in the Senate, vastly more often than those from any other state. In all, 25 percent of Chao’s scheduled meetings with local officials of any state from January 2017 to March 2018 were with Kentuckians, who make …

The Associated Press reports: As Rudy Giuliani was pushing Ukrainian officials last spring to investigate one of Donald Trump’s main political rivals, a group of individuals with ties to the president and his personal lawyer were also active in the former Soviet republic. This circle of businessmen and Republican donors touted connections to Giuliani and Trump while trying to install …

The Washington Post reports: Since Democrats began an impeachment inquiry, President Trump has repeatedly lashed out at Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), the House Intelligence Committee chairman, by accusing him of treason and demanding that he be removed from office. On Sunday night, Trump repeated those claims on Twitter — and this time, suggested that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) …

Real Clear Politics reports: President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani joined FNc’s Howard Kurtz for a marathon interview on “MediaBuzz” Sunday. “The fact is, the president of the United States has every right to ask countries to help us in a criminal investigation that should be undertaken,” Giuliani stated. “I mean, suppose the political opponent committed murder, what are we …

Fox News reports: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., vowed to expose the anonymous whistleblowers against President Trump if Democrats move forward with impeachment; at the same time, he warned against Trump having China pursue an investigation of Joe Biden. A second unidentified whistleblower was confirmed Sunday morning, reportedly with firsthand information to support some of the allegations another …

From the editorial board of the Washington Post: Text messages among U.S. diplomats and a Ukrainian official released by House committees definitively show that not only did the Trump administration seek to extract Ukrainian promises of political probes in exchange for a summit meeting, but also they spent weeks negotiating the deal both before and after the Trump-Zelensky phone call. …

The New York Times reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defiantly insisted on Saturday in Greece that the Trump administration was right to ask Ukrainian officials to investigate claims of election interference in the 2016 American presidential campaign, bolstering a widely debunked conspiracy theory that had already been dismissed by his own diplomatic envoy. In comments to journalists in Athens, …

The Washington Post reports: An attorney for the whistleblower who raised the alarm about President Trump’s communications with Ukraine said Sunday that “multiple” whistleblowers have come forward. The news, which comes as House Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry and are subpoenaing the White House for documents, adds to the deepening political crisis facing the president. Mark Zaid, who also …

Axios reports: President Trump told House Republicans that he made his now infamous phone call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the urging of Energy Secretary Rick Perry — a call Trump claimed he didn’t even want to make. Trump made these comments during a conference call with House members on Friday, according to 3 sources on the call. Per …

Reuters reports: US President Donald Trump on Sunday opened a new front in the impeachment battle that threatens his administration, blasting a prominent member of his party for criticizing his push to get foreign nations to probe a leading Democratic rival. The Republican president, who launched a stream of invective at Democrats and the media this week as an impeachment …

This thing just continues to snowball: A second intelligence official who was alarmed by President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine is weighing whether to file his own formal whistle-blower complaint and testify to Congress, according to two people briefed on the matter. The official has more direct information about the events than the first whistle-blower, whose complaint that Mr. Trump was …