Trump Corruption

Vanity Fair reports: Within the next month, Mueller is reportedly planning to deliver his findings in the obstruction of justice investigation to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. “Donald is very worried,” said a Republican close to Trump. The difference is that Trump is now more unshackled than at any point in his presidency, meaning that firing Mueller or Rosenstein remains …

Yet another tentacle in the Trump corruption syndicate: AT&T and drug giant Novartis got nothing but bad publicity when they asked Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen for help with business, but a Florida immigration firm that tapped him appears to have gotten nearly everything it wanted. When Nicholas Mastroianni II hooked up with Cohen last year, his business was …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump’s hotel company did not break the law by doing business with other countries, a Justice Department lawyer told a federal judge Monday. The state of Maryland and the District Columbia have accused Trump of capitalizing on the presidency and causing harm to local businesses that compete with his Washington hotel. Monday’s arguments before …

McClatchy reports: Several prominent Russians, some in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle or high in the Russian Orthodox Church, now have been identified as having contact with National Rifle Association officials during the 2016 U.S. election campaign. The contacts have emerged amid a deepening Justice Department investigation into whether Russian banker and lifetime NRA member Alexander Torshin [photo] illegally channeled …

The Daily Beast reports: On Sunday’s edition of Last Week Tonight, host John Oliver delivered an update on what he’s coined “Stupid Watergate” in honor of the one-year anniversary of the Mueller investigation—or a “witch-hunt,” according to the hysterical folks over at State TV (Fox News). Oliver broke down the Fox News Army’s three diversionary tactics for swaying public opinion …

The New York Times reports: Striking a note for transparency, a federal judge ruled on Friday that President Trump and his longtime personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, cannot proceed in total secrecy as they weigh in on the final stages of a laborious review of a huge trove of materials seized from Mr. Cohen during a series of raids by …

“I’ll double-down on what I’ve said to you before: I cannot believe Manafort is ever going to go into a court with these charges. We had charges before in the indictment that I thought were significant and now you add years on to that previous indictment and you say he has to sit down and flip at some point. This …

The Associated Press reports: House Democrats on Friday formally requested that the Justice Department investigate Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt for potential criminal conduct. In a letter to FBI Director Chris Wray and Justice criminal division chief John Cronan, six Democratic lawmakers with oversight of Pruitt’s agency allege he repeatedly violated federal anti-corruption laws by seeking to leverage his …

The New York Times reports: The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, brought new obstruction charges on Friday against President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and added allegations against a close associate, who prosecutors suspect has ties to Russian intelligence. Prosecutors said the obstruction charge relates to Mr. Manafort’s efforts to coach the stories of witnesses against him. He …

Politico reports: Lawyers representing about 200 Democratic members of Congress urged a federal judge on Thursday to allow them to press ahead with a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump from taking payments and other benefits from foreign governments doing business with his corporate empire. Nearly a year after the suit was filed, Judge Emmet Sullivan of U.S. District …

David Corn reports at Mother Jones: On Thursday afternoon, Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, made a dramatic request: He essentially asked special counsel Robert Mueller to consider whether perjury charges should be brought against witnesses who testified to the committee during its Trump-Russia investigation. Schiff did not convey this request directly to Mueller. …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday assailed special counsel Robert Mueller’s team for bias, calling for the group’s “many conflicts of interest” to be publicized. The president has recently taken to labeling special counsel Robert Mueller’s team as a a collection of “13 angry Democrats,” despite the fact that Mueller himself is a Republican. Trump has recently spread the …

“When I first learned of the Steele dossier, it just rang true to me, because that’s how the Russians do things. And before he became a candidate or president, Donald Trump was the perfect target for Russian intelligence. Here is someone who has no self-control, a sense of sexual entitlement and intermittent financial crisis. I mean, that’s made-to-order for seduction …

The Hill reports: Former U.S. attorney Harry Litman said he expects President Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, to be sent to federal prison by the end of the week. “Prosecutors hate this, judges hate this and he’s going to have to bring his toothbrush to court on Friday because the statute says, if they find this happened, there’s a …

He doesn’t respect lesbian porn actress Melania either? Rudy Giuliani told an audience in Israel that he does not think first lady Melania Trump believes that President Donald Trump had an affair with Stormy Daniels. “She believes her husband, and she doesn’t think it’s true,” Giuliani said at the “Globes” Capital Market conference in Tel Aviv. The former GOP mayor …

NBC News reports: Stormy Daniels says in a new lawsuit that her former attorney betrayed her and became a “puppet” for President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer while still representing her. The filing in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday alleges that Beverly Hills lawyer Keith Davidson “hatched a plan” and “colluded” with Trump attorney Michael Cohen to get …

Vice News reports: Tech pro tip to Paul Manafort: Encrypting messages doesn’t mean much if your iCloud is backing them up. President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager may now be going to jail for witness tampering, after Robert Mueller’s team accessed his iCloud account and found evidence he was trying to shape the testimony of two witnesses in his bank …

The Washington Post reports: Three months after Scott Pruitt was sworn in as head of the Environmental Protection Agency, his executive scheduler emailed Dan Cathy, chairman and president of the fast food company Chick-fil-A, with an unusual request: Would Cathy meet with Pruitt to discuss “a potential business opportunity”? A call was arranged, then canceled, and Pruitt eventually spoke with …

Fox News reports: President Trump blamed Attorney General Jeff Sessions Tuesday for the ongoing “Russian Witch Hunt Hoax,” noting that he “would have quickly picked someone else” as the nation’s chief law officer if he knew of Sessions’ decision to “recuse himself.” The president suggested that Sessions, who was involved in the Trump campaign, “knew better than most that there …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, who has been indicted by U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller, attempted to tamper with potential witnesses, Mueller said in a court filing on Monday. Mueller, who is investigating possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, asked the judge overseeing the case in U.S. District Court for the District of …