Trump Corruption

The Washington Post reports: President Trump granted a full pardon Thursday to conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza and said he was strongly considering clemency for other celebrity felons, signaling his willingness to exercise his unilateral power to reward friends and allies while undercutting the work of his nemeses in law enforcement. With Thursday’s announcements, Trump also delivered an indirect but unmistakable …

The New York Daily News reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling has cost just under $8 million since the former FBI director was appointed last May, according to a new spending report released Thursday. The bill is a far cry from the $20 million President Trump claims that probe has cost and is only slightly higher than …

Politico reports: Before President Donald Trump tagged him a “spy” who had “infiltrated” his campaign, Stefan Halper had a different relationship with the White House: helping advance Trump’s trade agenda with China. In recent weeks, Halper has found himself at the center of the media cycle after reports that the FBI used him as an informant to contact several members …

Tim Mak reports at NPR: Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen is facing legal peril, including an FBI raid of his home and office — and involvement in a civil lawsuit with porn star Stormy Daniels. But in the past, it was Cohen who has sought to put legal pressure on others to solve problems for his boss. For the first …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump, amidst a frenzied spurt of tweets Thursday morning, issued one in which he rejected allegations he fired former FBI director James Comey because of the Russia investigation, which remains a core pillar of the argument he obstructed justice. Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt in May 2017: “And in fact when I decided to just do …

The FBI did warn him but the gaslighting continues: President Trump quotes conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in a tweet on Thursday, saying the FBI should have told Trump they embedded an informant in his campaign. The president in recent weeks has claimed without evidence that the FBI planted a mole in his campaign and sought to spy on his …

The New York Post reports: President Trump has no plans to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions before the Russia probe is completed, the president’s lawyer said Wednesday. Rudy Giuliani told reporters outside the White House in an impromptu gaggle that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Robert Mueller should also be safe from Trump’s wrath. “I don’t think …

Politico reports: Self-described friends of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are launching a defense fund to help pay the mounting legal bills he’s incurring as a result of two looming criminal cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. A newly revealed website portrays the wealthy lobbyist and political consultant as struggling to cover his debts since prosecutors froze his …

The Washington Post reports: Federal prosecutors investigating President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen are poised to receive on Wednesday 1 million files from three of his cellphones seized last month, according to a filing submitted to the court Tuesday night by special master Barbara Jones. In her update to the court, Jones said investigators from the Office of the U.S. …

Our Glorious Leader is continuing his streak of raging tweets, which now number nearly 40 in the last 72 hours. This morning he turned his fire once again on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, declaring that he wishes he’d never hired him. In today’s tweets, Trump quotes GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy but conveniently overlooks the portion of Gowdy’s interview which denounces …

The New York Times reports: By the time Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrived at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner one Saturday evening in March 2017, he had been receiving the presidential silent treatment for two days. Mr. Sessions had flown to Florida because Mr. Trump was refusing to take his calls about a pressing decision on his travel ban. …

In his 22nd tweet in the last 48 hours, Glorious Leader again attacked the press, accusing them of the most dishonest “disinformation campaign” in the history of politics. And as he does almost every day, he reminds us that he won the election. The most recent avalanche of butthurt tweets has some speculating that yet another scandal is about to …

The Hill reports: President Trump suggested on Tuesday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators was planning to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections, and urged Republican lawmakers to “stay tough” in the coming months. Trump’s tweet was the latest in a series of posts lashing out at investigators – whom he has dubbed the “13 angry Democrats” – …

The Associated Press reports: Ivanka Trump’s brand continues to win foreign trademarks in China and the Philippines, adding to questions about conflicts of interest at the White House, The Associated Press has found. On Sunday, China granted the First Daughter’s company final approval for its 13th trademark in the last three months, trademark office records show. Over the same period, …

“This is a president that people that know him have routinely stated that he insists on knowing what’s going on around him. He absolutely despises people that are trying to make money on his back — quote, unquote — without his knowledge. In my view, there’s no question that he knew what was going on here relating to Michael Cohen …

The Washington Examiner reports: Rudy Giuliani lashed out at former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan when asked Sunday if he thought they were part of a “deep state” conspiracy against President Trump. “I don’t know what you want to call it,” Giuliani told CNN’s “State of the Union.” “I think they are two …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that the Russia probe has “devastated and destroyed” the reputations of people, continuing his weekend Twitter assault against the Robert Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. It’s unclear who Trump is referring to when he says individuals have “went back home in tatters.” A score of former campaign aides have …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani suggested on Sunday that former President Barack Obama and his top intelligence officials “knew” the FBI had used an alleged top-secret informant to spy on Trump’s 2016 campaign. In an interview with radio host John Catsimatidis, Giuliani insisted that former CIA Director John Brennan and former National Intelligence Director James Clapper were …

Via Mediaite: Even as some Republicans have suggested it may not be entirely accurate, President Trump is standing by his “SpyGate” claim. He also tweeted this afternoon that the FBI and/or DOJ never contacted him about this “phony Russia problem.” However, NBC News reported late last year that “in the weeks after he became the Republican nominee on July 19, …

Yahoo News reports: The FBI has obtained secret wiretaps collected by Spanish police of conversations involving Alexander Torshin [photo], a deputy governor of Russia’s Central Bank who has forged close ties with U.S. lawmakers and the National Rifle Association, that led to a meeting with Donald Trump Jr. during the gun lobby’s annual convention in Louisville, Ky., in May 2016, …