CBS News reports: A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders. A wide-ranging subpoena the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn recently sent to Trump’s inaugural committee seeks records relating to 20 …
Read More »OOPS: Trump Admits Real Reason For Census Question
The Washington Post reports: President Trump just explained why he thinks we need a citizenship question on the census. But in doing so, he seems to have said the quiet part out loud — and conceivably could have undercut the Justice Department’s legal case. “Number one, you need it for Congress — you need it for Congress for districting,” he …
Read More »Company That Donated Fireworks To Trump’s Ego Rally Had Successfully Lobbied Against Tariffs On Fireworks
NBC News reports: President Donald Trump’s Fourth of July celebration will feature $750,000 of donated fireworks from an Ohio retailer who has lobbied the White House against expanded tariffs on Chinese imports. And last week, the same day the donation was announced, the company — Phantom Fireworks of Youngstown, Ohio — got what it wanted: Trump decided to hold off …
Read More »Trump Schedules Rally On Day Of Mueller’s Testimony
Mediaite reports: Since July 17 promises to be Mueller-palooza in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump‘s re-election team has decided to take Trump on the road that day and make some news of its own at a campaign rally in Greenville, N.C. The Trump campaign’s latest 2020 rally for supporters will be held on the same day that Special Counsel Robert …
Read More »WH Distributes VIP Fourth Tickets To Top GOP Donors
The Washington Post reports: The White House is distributing tickets for President Trump’s July Fourth speech on the Mall to Republican donors and political appointees, prompting Democratic lawmakers to question whether the administration’s planned celebration violates federal ethics rules. The Republican National Committee confirmed on Tuesday that it had received some passes to Trump’s address at the Lincoln Memorial, which …
Read More »Trump Wails: People Are “Fleeing New York” Because Dems: First They Tax You Too High, Then They Sue You
Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump started off the day with another Twitter rant against the state of New York and its investigations of his family business. The president ranted Monday and again today against the state and its Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, and attorney general, Latitia James, for investigating the Trump Organization and Trump Foundation, which was forced to …
Read More »Trump Rages: New York State Sues Me For Everything
NBC News reports: President Donald Trump on Monday accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of using New York Attorney General Letitia James to target his businesses for political purposes, claiming in an afternoon tweetstorm that the state sues “for everything” and is “always in search of a crime.” Speaking on a conference call with reporters, Cuomo said Monday that he …
Read More »Sarah Sanders: Today I Leave With My Head Held High
“Today I’ll walk out the gates of the White House for the last time as Press Secretary with my head held high. It’s been the honor and privilege of a lifetime to work with President @realDonaldTrump and his amazing team the last three and a half years. You’re the best…Thank you!” – Sarah Sanders, who may be the next governor …
Read More »Manafort Pleads Not Guilty To New York Fraud Charges
The Associated Press reports: Paul Manafort’s lawyer says he intends to seek the dismissal of state mortgage fraud charges, citing New York’s strong double jeopardy protections. Manafort is the former chairman of President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. He pleaded not guilty Thursday at a Manhattan arraignment. Defense lawyer Todd Blanche said it’s his view that “the laws of New York …
Read More »Trump’s DC Hotel Billed Secret Service $200K In 2017
NBC News reports: During the first year of Donald Trump’s presidency, the Trump International Hotel in Washington charged the Secret Service more than $200,000 in taxpayer money, including a bill topping $30,000 for two days of use, according to expense documents obtained by NBC News. The documents, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request covering Secret Service expenditures, detail …
Read More »House To Subpoena Conway On Hatch Act Violations
The New York Times reports: A House panel voted on Wednesday to subpoena Kellyanne Conway for her testimony after she failed to show to a hearing at which a special counsel told the committee she should be fired from the White House for her “egregious, repeated, and very public violations” of federal ethics law. The House Oversight and Reform Committee’s …
Read More »Mueller To Testify In Public Before House Committees
CBS News reports: Former special counsel Robert Mueller will testify before the House Judiciary Committee and House Intelligence Committee, Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, of New York, announced Tuesday. He will appear in an open session July 17. Mueller is responding to each committee’s subpoena, and each will be holding separate hearings. All members will have five minutes to question …
Read More »Murdoch Flack Scrubs Trump/Rape Story From NY Post
Slate reports: The New York Post tabloid has reportedly scrubbed the conservative news site of any mention of E. Jean Carroll’s recent rape allegation made against President Donald Trump last week in New York magazine. The Post’s website had carried two posts about the bombshell, one by a New York Post reporter and another Associated Press wire story about the …
Read More »Conway Won’t Show At Hatch Act Violations Hearing
CNN reports: White House lawyers told the House Oversight Committee on Monday that senior counselor Kellyanne Conway will not appear at a hearing on Wednesday after a federal agency said earlier this month that she was a repeat offender of the Hatch Act and she should be fired. Chairman Elijah Cummings, Democrat of Maryland, told CNN that he planned to …
Read More »Ross Aide Refused To Answer Questions On US Census
Politico reports: A former senior Commerce Department official refused to answer more than 100 questions during an interview with the House Oversight and Reform Committee that centered on the Trump administration’s controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, according to a transcript released Tuesday. Commerce Department lawyers instructed James Uthmeier, who served as senior adviser and …
Read More »Conway: Liberals Want To “Put A Big Roll Of Masking Tape Over My Mouth” To Stop My Hatch Act Violations
The Hill reports: Kellyanne Conway on Monday claimed allegations she violated the Hatch Act are politically motivated, after a House committee floated a subpoena for the White House counselor. The House Oversight and Reform Committee will vote this week on a subpoena to compel Conway to testify on the Office of Special Counsel’s (OSC) finding that she violated the law …
Read More »Unsealed Court Docs Reveal Hannity/Manafort Texts
Axios reports: Court documents previously filed under seal with the government’s sentencing recommendations for Paul Manafort were made public on Friday. The documents include a months-long text exchange between Manafort and a “Sean” who appears to be Fox News host Sean Hannity. In one March 2018 exchange, Manafort appears to offer a source to Hannity regarding a Russian-Ukrainian associate of …
Read More »Hope Hicks Told House Panel That Trump Was Serious When He Said He’d Accept Foreign Dirt On Opponents
Reuters reports: Hope Hicks, once a close aide to President Donald Trump, told the House Judiciary Committee that Trump was serious in saying there was nothing wrong in accepting derogatory information about political opponents from a foreign government, panel Chairman Jerrold Nadler said on Thursday. “Ms. Hicks made clear that she understood the president to be serious when he said …
Read More »Watchdog Group Files Hatch Act Complaint On Ivanka
The Hill reports: A watchdog group filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) on Thursday claiming Ivanka Trump, who is President Trump’s daughter and serves as his assistant, violated the Hatch Act, which bars federal employees from engaging in elections in their official capacity. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) cited a tweet from Ivanka …
Read More »Trump Defends “Wonderful” Hope Hicks After She Claims Immunity Dozens Of Times During Questioning
The Daily Beast reports: House Judiciary Committee Democrats are not happy with Hope Hicks. The president’s former adviser responded to questions from members of the committee behind closed doors on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, and—per numerous members—didn’t give them much to go on. As a result, members said they expect to take her to court. “This is the beginning of …
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