Trump Corruption

The New York Post reports: He’s never discussed a pardon for Paul Manafort, President Trump said Wednesday — but it’s “not off the table.” “It was never discussed, but I wouldn’t take it off the table. Why would I take it off the table?” the president said during an Oval Office interview. He ripped special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe and …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump told special counsel Robert Mueller in writing that Roger Stone did not tell him about WikiLeaks, nor was he told about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his son, campaign officials and a Russian lawyer promising dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to two sources familiar with the matter. One source described the President’s answers without …

The Hill reports: Conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi said Wednesday that he won’t be pursuing a pardon from President Trump after rejecting a plea deal offer from the special counsel that would have allowed him to avoid prison. “My decision to reject the special counsel offer was not made anticipating a pardon, I have no reason to believe or anticipate that …

The Daily Beast reports: President Donald Trump, who built his political rise on promoting far-right birther claims against President Barack Obama, does in fact have a joint defense agreement with leading birther conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi, The Daily Beast has confirmed. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney handling special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, said in a brief phone interview morning that the …

The New York Times reports: A lawyer for Paul Manafort, the president’s onetime campaign chairman, repeatedly briefed President Trump’s lawyers on his client’s discussions with federal investigators after Mr. Manafort agreed to cooperate with the special counsel, according to one of Mr. Trump’s lawyers and two other people familiar with the conversations. The arrangement was highly unusual and inflamed tensions …

NBC News reports: Two months before WikiLeaks released emails stolen from the Clinton campaign, right-wing conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi sent an email to former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone anticipating the document dump, according to draft court papers obtained by NBC News. “Word is friend in embassy plans 2 more dumps,” Corsi wrote on Aug. 2, 2016, referring to WikiLeaks …

NBC News reports: Former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort strongly denied a report Tuesday that he had secretly met with Julian Assange several times in the WikiLeaks founder’s refuge in the Ecuadorian embassy in London in recent years. Manafort, in a statement through his spokesman, called the article from The Guardian “totally false and deliberately libelous.” “I have never met …

Law & Crime reports: Following a groundbreaking report accusing Paul Manafort of meeting with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange prior to President Donald Trump‘s 2016 election win, it seems the Commander-in-Chief’s attorney is doing some damage control. NBC News’ Kristen Welker tweeted Tuesday that Rudy Giuliani described the Guardian scoop as “unequivocally fake news I am told.” Giuliani, who in the …

The right wing Daily Caller reports: Right-wing author Jerome Corsi claims in a forthcoming book that he has a joint defense agreement with President Donald Trump and was provided limited immunity during his testimony before special counsel Robert Mueller’s grand jury to discuss a “cover story” he claims he crafted for Trump confidant Roger Stone. Corsi says he received immunity …

The Guardian reports: Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, and visited around the time he joined Trump’s campaign, the Guardian has been told. Sources have said Manafort went to see Assange in 2013, 2015 and in spring 2016 – during the period when he was made a …

ABC News reports: The morning after Robert Mueller’s prosecutors accused the president’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, of lying and breaking his cooperation agreement with the special counsel, President Donald Trump took to Twitter to criticize the probe as a “Phony Witch Hunt” that’s doing “TREMENDOUS damage to our Criminal Justice System.” Manafort, who agreed to cooperate with the special …

The New York Times reports: Paul Manafort, President Trump’s former campaign chairman, repeatedly lied to federal investigators in breach of a plea agreement he signed two months ago, the special counsel’s office said in a court filing late on Monday. Mr. Manafort’s “crimes and lies” during a series of interviews with prosecutors working for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller …

He surely didn’t need very much convincing. ABC News reports: President Donald Trump’s reluctance to hold Saudi leadership accountable for the brutal murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi stemmed from an aspirational $110 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Saudia Arabia that was inflated at the direction of Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, according to two U.S. officials …

Raw Story reports: Jerome Corsi, the right-wing operative best known for spreading baseless conspiracies about former President Barack Obama’s birth certificate, has been reportedly offered a plea deal by special counsel Robert Mueller. Speaking with MSNBC, Corsi said he was offered a plea deal by Mueller in which he would agree to plead guilty to one charge of perjury. However, …

Newsweek reports: A federal judge has ruled that former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos must report to prison on Monday as originally ordered. Papadopoulos was looking to delay his 14-day sentence by citing a constitutional challenge to the appointment of Robert Mueller as the head of the special counsel investigation. The challenge is widely seen as inaccurate and based in …

From the Hollywood Reporter: Bill Shine received an $8.4 million severance package upon leaving his post as co-president of Fox News Channel in May 2017, according to a financial disclosure form he filed upon entering Donald Trump’s White House as deputy chief of staff for communications. The document was released to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, a day after Thanksgiving. …

The Associated Press reports: A conservative writer and associate of Trump confidant Roger Stone said Friday that he is in plea talks with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team. Jerome Corsi told The Associated Press he has been negotiating a potential plea but declined to comment further. Stone, who also has said he is prepared to be indicted, said earlier this …

CNBC reports: A New York Supreme Court judge on Friday denied a request from President Donald Trump and his family members to dismiss a lawsuit against them and the Trump Foundation alleging that the charitable foundation violated state and federal laws for “more than a decade.” In her ruling Friday, Justice Saliann Scarpulla shot down an argument from the Trump …

The Washington Post reports: Conservative writer and conspiracy theorist Jerome Corsi is in plea negotiations with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, according to a person with knowledge of the talks. The talks with Corsi — an associate of both President Trump and GOP operative Roger Stone — could bring Mueller’s team closer to determining whether Trump or his advisers …

Open Secrets reports: A single six-figure donor accounted for 100 percent of funding raised by a nonprofit run by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before he became Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff last year, new tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal. President Trump tapped Whitaker to become acting Attorney General earlier in November after Jeff Sessions …