Trump Corruption

Tick tock tick tock: Special Counsel Robert Mueller has impaneled a grand jury in Washington to investigate Russia’s interference in the 2016 elections, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing two people familiar with the matter. That’s a sign that his inquiry is growing in intensity and entering a new phase, the report said. Legal experts quoted by the newspaper say …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump made building a wall along the southern U.S. border and forcing Mexico to pay for it core pledges of his campaign. But in his first White House call with Mexico’s president, Trump described his vow to charge Mexico as a growing political problem, pressuring the Mexican leader to stop saying publicly that his government …

Politico reports: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is resisting the pleas of State Department officials to spend nearly $80 million allocated by Congress for fighting terrorist propaganda and Russian disinformation. It is highly unusual for a Cabinet secretary to turn down money for his department. But more than five months into his tenure, Tillerson has not issued a simple request …

Talking Points Memo reports: A former Justice Department official specializing in fraud and illegal foreign bribery cases has become the sixteenth lawyer on the special counsel team investigating into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, Reuters reported Tuesday. Josh Stueve, a spokesperson for special counsel Robert Mueller, confirmed the hiring of attorney Greg Andres to Reuters. During his two-year tenure …

CBS News reports: Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto is calling into question President Trump’s most recent claims that the leader called him to praise his administration’s work on the U.S.-Mexico border. As Mr. Trump welcomed his new Chief of Staff John Kelly to the Cabinet table on Monday, Mr. Trump took time to applaud the work Kelly had done during …

The Hill reports: The White House on Tuesday denied that Fox News gave President Trump prior review of a story that raised conspiracy theories about the death of a Democratic National Committee staffer. “The president had no knowledge of the story and its completely untrue that he or the White House [had] involvement in the story,” said White House press …

The Washington Post reports: Flying home from Germany on July 8 aboard Air Force One, Trump personally dictated a statement in which Trump Jr. said that he and the Russian lawyer had “primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children” when they met in June 2016, according to multiple people with knowledge of the deliberations. The statement, issued …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman will not be testifying Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, as originally scheduled, after the committee rescinded its subpoena. The committee withdrew its subpoena for Paul Manafort late Tuesday after Manafort agreed to turn over documents and to continue negotiating about setting up an interview with the panel, according to …

USA Today reports: Just six months after his inauguration, Americans already are split down the middle, 42%-42%, over whether President Trump should be removed from office, a new USA TODAY/iMediaEthics Poll finds. The online poll of 1,330 adults, taken July 17-19 by SurveyUSA, has a margin of error of 2.8 percentage points. More than a third, 36%, say Trump isn’t …

ABC News reports: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been issued a subpoena compelling him to participate in a hearing about Russian interference in the election. “While we were willing to accommodate Mr. Manafort’s request to cooperate with the committee’s investigation without appearing at Wednesday’s hearing, we were unable to reach an agreement for a voluntary transcribed interview with …

Reuters reports: A senior Russian banker who met President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, did not do so on the Kremlin’s orders, a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday. Kushner, who was quizzed on Monday by Senate investigators on his contacts with Russians as part of an investigation into possible Kremlin meddling in last year’s presidential election, …

This could be big. The Guardian reports: Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of Donald Trump, who acts as his senior White House adviser, secured a multimillion-dollar Manhattan real estate deal with a Soviet-born oligarch whose company was cited in a major New York money laundering case now being investigated by members of Congress. A Guardian investigation has established a series of …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., wants Jared Kushner to testify openly before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and said Congress shouldn’t assume he has told all of the truth about his meetings with Russian officials in his early morning statement Monday. “It is imperative that the public hear Jared Kushner testify in an open session […], under oath, …

CBS News reports: Senior White House adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner, standing before cameras at the White House called his service there the “honor and privilege of a lifetime” and said he comes to work every day with “enthusiasm” for what can be. He reiterated part of a statement released earlier Monday, telling reporters that he “did not collude …

The Daily Beast reports: President Trump kicked off Monday morning with a tweet that seemed to reflect his open hostility towards Jeff Sessions, his own appointee as attorney general. “So why aren’t the Committees and investigators, and of course our beleaguered A.G., looking into Crooked Hillarys crimes & Russia relations?” the president wrote, describing his long-time supporter Sessions as troubled. …

Talking Points Memo reports: The President began the week claiming that Washington, D.C. is “much worse than anyone ever thought,” taking to Twitter to make yet another jab at the news media. Using one of his campaign tag-lines “Drain the Swamp,” President Donald Trump said the phrase should be changed to “Drain the Sewer” instead, saying it “begins with the …

The Washington Post reports: Jared Kushner, President Trump’s senior adviser and son-in-law, plans to detail four meetings he had with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign and transition period — including one set up by Donald Trump Jr. with a Russian lawyer — but will deny any improper contacts or collusion in testimony to a congressional panel on Monday. Kushner …

CBS News reports: President Trump tweeted Sunday a complaint that Republicans aren’t doing enough to protect him. “It’s very sad that Republicans, even some that were carried over the line on my back, do very little to protect their President,” he tweeted. It’s not clear what he’s referring to, although a tweet just before decried the “phony Russian Witch Hunt.” …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s eldest son and his former campaign chairman won’t testify publicly next week and are instead discussing being privately interviewed by a Senate committee investigating Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election, the panel said. The committee initially called for Donald Trump Jr. and Paul Manafort to appear publicly Wednesday. But the top Republican and …

The New York Times reports: Ivanka Trump or her trust received at least $12.6 million since early 2016 from her various business ventures and has an arrangement to guarantee her at least $1.5 million a year even as she serves in a top White House position, according to her first ethics disclosure made public late Friday. The report was released …