Trump Corruption

Moments ago the House Judiciary Committee voted 24-16 along party lines to hold AG Bill Barr in contempt for refusing to provide an unredacted version of the Mueller report. The issue now proceeds to the full House. Vox reports: As serious as contempt sounds, it realistically won’t amount to more than Congress sending a powerful message — unless Democrats pass …

The Washington Post reports: The White House formally asserted executive privilege over special counsel Robert S Mueller III’s report Wednesday, President Trump’s first use of the executive authority in the latest confrontation with Congress. Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd wrote in a letter to Congress that Trump had “asserted executive privilege over the entirety of the subpoenaed materials.” Boyd …

ABC News reports: The Democratic chairman of the House Judiciary Committee said Wednesday said he will go forward with a vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena to turn over the full Mueller report despite a last-minute threat from the Justice Department that if it happens, it will ask President …

The Huffington Post reports: President Donald Trump tweeted early Wednesday following a report that documented more than $1.1 billion in personal business losses over a 10-year period beginning in 1985. Trump seemingly tried to downplay the report, saying that “almost all real estate developers” wanted to show losses for tax purposes and renegotiate with banks, and it was “sport.” His …

NBC News reports: “Hung jury” is how Democratic pollster Peter Hart described our latest NBC/WSJ poll showing a nation divided over the Mueller probe. And maybe the biggest reason for this stalemate is that President Trump’s political base — especially those who get their news from Fox — hasn’t budged an inch, according to the poll. Fewer than 30 percent …

The Associated Press reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on the Senate floor declared “case closed” on the Russia probe and potential obstruction by Trump, deriding Democrats who he says are “grieving” the result. “It’s finally over,” the Republican leader said, in his most significant comments yet on the investigation. The Kentucky Republican called Mueller’s findings “bad news for the …

ABC News reports: The White House has instructed former White House counsel Donald McGahn not to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats for documents related to the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, according to a letter sent Tuesday from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to McGahn’s attorney William Burck. Earlier Tuesday, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on …

The New York Times reports: Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a leading contractor for President Trump’s inaugural committee and a former adviser to the first lady, Melania Trump, has publicly disputed accounts of her departure from the White House last year, rejecting claims from officials that she was dismissed. Ms. Winston Wolkoff specifically took issue with suggestions by White House officials that …

The Washington Post reports: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday told House Democrats he would not furnish President Trump’s tax returns despite their legal request, the latest move by Trump administration officials to shield the president from congressional investigations. Mnuchin, in a letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.), said he had consulted with the Justice …

The Hill reports: New York Attorney General Letitia James on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Treasury Department and IRS, arguing that the agencies have failed to respond to information requests about its guidance reducing donor disclosure requirements for certain tax-exempt groups. “My office depends on these critical donor disclosure forms to be able to adequately oversee non-proofit organizations in …

The Washington Post reports: More than 370 former federal prosecutors who worked in Republican and Democratic administrations have signed on to a statement asserting special counsel Robert Mueller’s findings would have produced obstruction charges against President Donald Trump – if not for the office he held. The statement – signed by myriad former career government employees, as well as high-profile …

The Associated Press reports: House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has scheduled a Wednesday vote to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress after the Justice Department declined to provide an unredacted version of the Mueller report to Congress. The vote to hold Barr in contempt marks the first time that House Democrats are moving to punish a Trump …

The New York Times reports: He spoke eight times with Robert S. Mueller III’s investigators, appeared before three congressional committees and helped federal prosecutors with at least two criminal inquiries into President Trump’s inner circle. But on Monday, perhaps the most important number in Michael D. Cohen’s life will be 1,095: the number of days in a three-year prison term. …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump on Sunday seemed to warm to the idea of reparations — for himself, and in the form of an unconstitutional, two-year addition to his first term in the White House. He retweeted a proposal offered by Jerry Falwell Jr., the president of Liberty University, that he be granted another two years in office as …

Axios reports: President Trump tweeted on Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller should not testify before Congress, arguing that Democrats are “looking for a redo” after the investigation failed to establish that his campaign conspired with Russia. Attorney General Bill Barr — despite being accused by many Democrats of obfuscating and spinning the Mueller report’s findings in favor of Trump …

Just in from Quinnipiac Polling: American voters say 57 – 28 percent that Donald Trump committed crimes before he became president, according to a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. This compares to results of a March 5 survey, before release of the Mueller Report, in which voters said 64 – 24 percent that President Trump committed crimes before he …

Law & Crime reports: President Donald Trump‘s attorneys filed a memorandum of law on Friday in an effort to block Deutsche Bank and Capital One from complying with subpoenas from the House of Representatives ahead of a May 6 deadline. Attorneys moved for a preliminary injunction to block the “outrageously broad” subpoenas. They noted that the subpoenas demand, “among other …

CBS News reports: In April, protesters outside the nation’s largest facility for unaccompanied migrant children noticed a familiar face enter the massive, fenced site in Homestead, Florida: former White House chief of staff John Kelly. Soon after, a local television station recorded footage of him riding on the back of a golf cart as he toured the grounds. It wasn’t …

The Washington Examiner reports: Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham invited special counsel Robert Mueller to “provide testimony” to the panel if Mueller wanted to discuss any discrepancies with Attorney General William Barr’s responses to questions from lawmakers this week about a phone call between the two men. “Please inform the Committee if you would like to provide testimony regarding …

The Associated Press reports: “The Situation” and the Fyre Festival fraudster are already there. President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, is up next. It’s not reality TV. It’s a federal prison 70 miles (113 kilometers) from New York City where white-collar and D-list scoundrels can do time while playing bocce ball and noshing on rugelach. Otisville is …