Trump Corruption

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 …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday broke his silence about the revelation that his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen secretly recorded one of their conversations before the 2016 election dealing with a payment over the story of former Playboy model’s alleged affair with Trump. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed to The Post that the recording existed …

Lordy, there are more tapes, says Avenatti: Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti said Michael Cohen has several audio recordings of President Trump discussing women who have come forward after allegedly having affairs with Trump. Avenatti told MSNBC on Friday that there are more tapes. “I know for a fact that this is not the only tape,” Avenatti said. “I think …

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording. The F.B.I. seized the recording this year …

Politico reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller released an itemized list Wednesday night detailing well over 500 pieces of evidence that his prosecutors are considering presenting during their upcoming criminal trial of former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. To make its case that Manafort committed bank and tax fraud, the lead Russia investigator signaled his intention to share with a …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. Back at the White House on Tuesday, the president told reporters that he said he meant he doesn’t see why Russia “wouldn’t” be responsible. He also said he accepts …