Trump Corruption

REPORTER: Have you spoken to any of the families of the victims of the plane crash? TRUMP: I don’t want to comment on that. REPORTER: Do you have a plan to go visit the site? TRUMP: What’s the site? The water? You want me to go swimming? REPORTER: Or to meet with the responders down there? TRUMP: I don’t have …

First, there’s this little reminder: The administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, Michael Whitaker, resigned from his position on January 20 after repeated demands from Elon Musk that he quit, leaving the agency without a Senate-confirmed leader during a major crisis in the wake of the D.C. plane crash. Musk called for Whitaker’s resignation in September after the FAA chief …

CBS News reports: A senator at Kash Patel’s confirmation hearing to be F.B.I. director pressed him to articulate a simple truth: Joseph R. Biden won the 2020 election. Under three minutes of questioning from Senator Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat, Mr. Patel conceded only that Mr. Biden was “certified” as the president. “Can you say the words ‘Joe Biden won …

The New York Times reports: Brendan Carr, the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, informed NPR and PBS this week that he had ordered an investigation into the practice of their member stations airing sponsorships. Mr. Carr told Katherine Maher, NPR’s chief executive, and Paula Kerger, PBS’s chief executive, about the investigation in a letter on Wednesday. Mr. Carr, who …

“Despicable. As families grieve, Trump should be leading, not lying. We put safety first, drove down close calls, grew Air Traffic Control, and had zero commercial airline crash fatalities out of millions of flights on our watch. President Trump now oversees the military and the FAA. One of his first acts was to fire and suspend some of the key …

NPR reports: On his first day in office, President Donald Trump granted clemency to every person charged or convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, even those convicted of violently assaulting police officers. But Trump’s pardons and commutations for people he has called “patriots” did not wipe away certain defendants’ extensive criminal records …

NBC News reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday blasted former President Joe Biden and Democratic diversity measures after a midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter above Washington, D.C., the night before. Trump, speaking at the White House, claimed that DEI “could have been” to blame for the collision, the deadliest U.S. plane …

The Latin Times reports: A Puerto Rican family, including a toddler, was taken into custody by ICE in Milwaukee after being overheard speaking Spanish; this incident is the latest in a surge of racial profiling concerns amid Trump’s immigration crackdown. The family, all U.S. citizens, were transported to a detention center before officials acknowledged their mistake and issued an apology. …

Reuters reports: U.S. President Donald Trump’s military deportation flight to Guatemala on Monday likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant, according to data provided by U.S. and Guatemalan officials. That is more than five times the $853 cost of a one-way first class ticket on American Airlines from El Paso, Texas, the departure point for the flight, according to a …

“The airplane was on a perfect and routine line of approach to the airport. The helicopter was going straight at the airplane for an extended period of time. It is a CLEAR NIGHT, the lights on the plane were blazing, why didn’t the helicopter go up or down, or turn. Why didn’t the control tower tell the helicopter what to …

The New York Times reports: Senior Justice Department officials under President Trump have held discussions with federal prosecutors in Manhattan about the possibility of dropping their corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams of New York, according to five people with knowledge of the matter. The officials have also spoken to Mr. Adams’s defense team since Mr. Trump took office, the …

“Medicare and Medicaid have not been affected by any action we’re taking in any way, shape or form. We are merely looking at parts of the big bureaucracy where there has been tremendous waste and fraud and abuse. And that process we identified and stopped $50 million being sent to Gaza to buy condoms for Hamas — 50 million. And …

CNN reports: Truth Social owner Trump Media & Technology Group announced Wednesday it plans to expand into financial services and potentially buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Shares of Trump Media (DJT) climbed 8% on the news. Trump Media said it plans to launch a fintech brand called Truth.Fi and to introduce investment vehicles that will focus on American growth, manufacturing, …

ABC News reports: President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he is directing the opening of a detention center at Guantanamo Bay to hold up to 30,000 migrants who are living illegally in the United States. Trump made the announcement right before he signed the Laken Riley Act into law as his administration’s first piece of legislation. The bipartisan measure means …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump is making plans to mark the 250th anniversary of American independence with an “extraordinary celebration” and a new national monument. Trump is expected to sign an executive order Wednesday establishing a task force to coordinate and plan the event, according to a White House document shared with The Associated Press. The United States …

The Washington Post reports: The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash. In a memo dated Wednesday and distributed to federal agencies, Matthew J. Vaeth, acting director of the …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s administration is ending the case against his former co-defendants in the classified documents investigation brought by former special counsel Jack Smith.The Justice Department has stopped pursuing an appeal brought by Smith to revive the criminal charges against Trump’s employees. The appeal had also sought to defend the attorney general’s ability to appoint special prosecutors — …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump has hired the elite white-shoe law firm Sullivan & Cromwell to appeal his criminal conviction in the Manhattan hush money case, according to two people familiar with the matter. The most prominent member of Trump’s new legal team is Robert Giuffra, the firm’s co-chair. Also working on the case will be four other Sullivan & …

The Daily Beast reports: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has again criticised billionaire Elon Musk, calling the tech mogul’s latest show of support for the German far right “disgusting.” Speaking to CNN Tuesday, Scholz slammed Musk’s involvement in Germany’s upcoming February election and weighed in on the billionaire’s plea for Germans to “move beyond” the guilt of the Holocaust during a …

Politico reports: Donald Trump’s attorney general nominee Pam Bondi, who represented the president during his first impeachment trial, was voted out of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday morning in a party-line, 12-10 vote. “Her record and her testimony showed the American people that she will follow through and enforce the law fairly, without fear or favor,” Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck …