Trump Corruption

The Washington Post reports: President Trump has sought repeatedly to punish journalists for the way they ask him questions, directing White House staff to ban those reporters from covering official events or to revoke their press credentials, according to several current and former administration officials. At various moments throughout his presidency, Trump has vented angrily to aides about what he …

The Hill reports: MSNBC’s Donny Deutsch said President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen told him several months ago that Trump knew “everything” going on during his 2016 campaign, including about his son’s meeting with Russians inside Trump Tower. A panel on Friday’s “Morning Joe” was discussing a new report that Cohen says Trump had prior knowledge of the June 2016 …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump launched into a Twitter tirade early Friday morning taking shots at his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, suggesting he is “is trying to make up stories” to “get himself out of an unrelated jam.” The tweetstorm started off on the topic of a New York Times report that Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe is looking at Trump’s …

Newsweek reports: Rudy Giuliani accused Michael Cohen of being a “pathological liar” after reports emerged that he would tell special counsel Robert Mueller that Donald Trump knew about the infamous 2016 Trump Tower meeting before it happened, contradicting the president’s claim of ignorance. “I expected something like this from Cohen, he’s been lying all week. He’s been lying for years,” …

Politico reports: Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney, is prepared to tell special counsel Robert Mueller that then-candidate Trump knew about and approved the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting between his campaign officials and a Russian lawyer who promised dirt on Hillary Clinton, according to a source with knowledge of Cohen’s account, who confirmed a CNN report from …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday urged people to buy and read Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz’s new book arguing against his possible impeachment. Dershowitz, who supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, has emerged as a regular voice in the media defending Trump on legal issues, including special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian election interference. The Harvard …

The Associated Press reports: The Moscow lawyer said to have promised Donald Trump’s presidential campaign dirt on his Democratic opponent worked more closely with senior Russian government officials than she previously let on, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press. Scores of emails, transcripts and legal documents paint a portrait of Natalia Veselnitskaya as a well-connected attorney who served …

Raw Story reports: Federal officials have issued a subpoena to longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg in their criminal probe of former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen. The Wall Street Journal reports that Weisselberg is “considered a witness” in the investigation of Cohen, whose office was raided by the FBI this past April. “For decades, Mr. Weisselberg has served …

The New York Times reports: For years, President Trump has used Twitter as his go-to public relations weapon, mounting a barrage of attacks on celebrities and then political rivals even after advisers warned he could be creating legal problems for himself. Those concerns now turn out to be well founded. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is scrutinizing tweets …

USA Today reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo could be in for a rough afternoon on Capitol Hill. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is expected to grill him on the Helsinki summit, Iran and North Korea. While congressional hearings aren’t usually must-see TV, viewers may be in for political fireworks Wednesday. That’s because Trump has angered European allies, held a …

“There is an indication of a fraud. And the significance of that is, if the client and the lawyer discuss the commission of a crime, or discuss the commission of a fraud, there is no attorney-client privilege in that conversation. Meaning the tape can be used by anybody who can get their hands on it for any purposes. Both civil …

The Huffington Post reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to a newly released audio tape that appears to capture him discussing a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal with his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, saying the recording was “cut while I was presumably saying positive things.” In the recording, Trump, then a presidential candidate, appears to be discussing …

Mediaite reports: Appearing on Good Morning America Wednesday, Lanny Davis told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that while there’s nothing criminal revealed on the tape, “it’s about lies and truth.” “The power of the truth is what Michael Cohen now has, no matter what Mayor Giuliani invents for a president who’s been known to lie,” Davis said. “Don’t believe me, listen to …

CNN reports: Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording of the conversation aired exclusively on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.” Cohen told Trump about his plans to set …

“The president finds it extremely inappropriate for somebody to go on television under the perception of legitimacy, integrity and level false and baseless claims against another person without any evidence whatsoever. He finds that to be somewhat troublesome and concerning and so he has begun the mechanism to remove security clearances from certain individuals. The names were listed yesterday. And …

Bloomberg reports: The trial set to begin this week for Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was delayed until July 31 by a judge who separately granted immunity to five witnesses who said they would have remained silent without the protection. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III on Monday pushed back Manafort’s bank- and tax-fraud trial after defense …

The Guardian reports: At least 12 audio files have been handed to the US government as part of the cache of material seized from Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, according to a new court filing. It emerged last week that Cohen had taped a phone call with Trump in which they discussed a possible payout in connection with a …

Talking Points Memo reports: With the criminal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort just two days away, the judge in the case ordered the testimony of five witnesses granted immunity by special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis at a hearing Monday morning said he would unseal the documents that would reveal the identities of …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump is again taking aim at Amazon for “using” the U.S. Postal Service as its “delivery boy,” raising the possibility of bringing antitrust claims against the company. Trump railed against the e-retailer and the newspaper — both owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos — in a series of tweets Monday morning, claiming the newspaper has “gone crazy” …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump renewed his complaints Monday about the Russia investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller, writing online that it was triggered by a now-infamous dossier of salacious but unverified information detailing ties between Russia and the president’s campaign. Contrary to Trump’s Monday morning tweet, the newly declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court wiretap application shows that investigators did …