Trump Corruption

Gosh, whatever will they talk about? President Donald Trump plans to meet one-on-one with Vladimir Putin at the start of their July 16 summit in Helsinki, Finland, according to a person familiar with the plans, before allowing other aides to join the highly anticipated encounter with the Russian leader. The meeting will be the first formal summit talks between them. …

CNN reports: EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides have kept “secret” calendars and schedules to overtly hide controversial meetings or calls with industry representatives and others, according to a former EPA official who is expected to soon testify before Congress. A review of EPA documents by CNN found discrepancies between Pruitt’s official calendar and other records. EPA staffers met …

The Hill reports: A woman publicly confronted Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt while he was eating lunch on Monday and urged him to resign, according to video posted on Facebook. “EPA head Scott Pruitt was 3 tables away as I ate lunch with my child. I had to say something,” Kristin Mink posted on Facebook with an accompanying …

NBC News reports: Since her husband took office Melania Trump has earned six figures from an unusual deal with a photo agency in which major media organizations have indirectly paid the Trump family despite a requirement that the photos be used only in positive coverage. President Donald Trump’s most recent financial disclosure reveals that in 2017 the first lady earned …

Talking Points Memo reports: Top Republican donor Elliott Broidy will end hush money payments to his onetime mistress in a situation arranged by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, claiming a breach of the nondisclosure agreement. According to a Sunday Wall Street Journal report, Broidy agreed last year to pay Playboy model Shera Bechard $1.6 million in installments in exchange for …

Reuters reports: A personal assistant to Paul Manafort granted an FBI agent access to a storage locker in Virginia, allowing the government to secure evidence that President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager is trying to suppress, according to testimony Friday in a federal court hearing. FBI special agent Jeff Pfeiffer made the disclosure at a hearing to consider whether evidence …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s pick to run the IRS, tax lawyer Chuck Rettig, owns properties at the Trump International Hotel Waikiki and Tower. He’d previously disclosed his 50 percent stake in a pair of Honolulu rental units, but not their specific location. That detail was discussed later, at a June 21 meeting with congressional staff, according to a memo …

Reuters reports: A search warrant application unsealed on Wednesday revealed closer links than previously known between President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort and a Russian oligarch with close ties to the Kremlin. In an affidavit attached to the July 2017 application, an FBI agent said he had reviewed tax returns for a company controlled by Manafort and his …

The Associated Press reports: A federal judge in Virginia rejected a bid by President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, to throw out charges in the special counsel’s Russia investigation, clearing the way for a much-anticipated trial to start as scheduled next month. The decision Tuesday by U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III was a setback for Manafort in …

Bloomberg reports: Special Counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to accelerate his probe into possible collusion between Donald Trump’s presidential campaign and Russians who sought to interfere in the 2016 election, according to a person familiar with the probe. Mueller and his team of prosecutors and investigators have an eye toward producing conclusions — and possible indictments — related to collusion …

Glorious Leader is, of course, reading Fox News: Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., on Friday reportedly joked about the Russia investigation at a high-dollar retreat on Martha’s Vineyard and told Democratic donors to “buckle up.” Warner reportedly joked to donors that he might reveal sensitive information known only to him and Special Counsel Robert Mueller who’s investigating the Trump campaign’s alleged …

Politico reports: Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort is appealing a judge’s decision to jail him over charges that he attempted to tamper with the testimony of two potential witnesses against him. Ten days after U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson revoked Manafort’s house arrest and ordered him jailed, his defense attorneys filed an official notice Monday appealing her …

The Christian Post reports: President Trump told former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in an interview that mainstream media’s coverage of his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “almost treasonous.” He also revealed that evangelicals are more thankful than Jews for moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. On his show on Trinity Broadcasting Network that aired Saturday, Huckabee …

The New York Times reports: President Trump asserted on Sunday that immigrants who crossed into the United States illegally should be sent back immediately without due process or an appearance before a judge, an escalation of his attacks on the judicial system. It was another twist in an already head-spinning series of developments on immigration after the president reversed a …

The Hill reports: Comedian Tom Arnold said Friday that he and President Trump’s former, longtime personal lawyer are teaming up to “take down” the president. Arnold tweeted a photo with Michael Cohen on Thursday with the caption, “I Love New York,” which Cohen retweeted without comment. Arnold then told NBC News that he met with Cohen as part of a …

The Washington Post reports: During the presidential campaign, National Enquirer executives sent digital copies of the tabloid’s articles and cover images related to Donald Trump and his political opponents to Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen in advance of publication, according to three people with knowledge of the matter — an unusual practice that speaks to the close relationship between Trump and …

The Hill reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Thursday that the Trump administration “never really intended” to separate migrant children from their parents when he issued its aggressive crackdown on immigration prosecutions. In an interview with CBN News released Thursday, Sessions said he had not anticipated the massive public backlash from the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy that he …

The Hill reports: Roger Stone said Thursday that it’s possible he’ll be indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller. “I acknowledge it is a possibility,” Stone said in an interview on Hill.TV’s “Rising.” Stone, however, pushed back that he is “concerned” about being charged, noting that would suggest culpability. Some of Stone’s contacts during the 2016 presidential race have attracted scrutiny, …

The Intercept reports: Scott Pruitt has now spent more than $4.6 million from public coffers on security, according to documents obtained by The Intercept and Documented under the Freedom of Information Act. The amount represents a $1.1 million increase from Pruitt’s total security costs as released in another disclosure just a month ago. Pruitt’s high spending on security has become …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Federal authorities have subpoenaed the publisher of the National Enquirer for records related to its $150,000 payment to a former Playboy model for the rights to her story alleging an affair with Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter. The subpoena from Manhattan federal prosecutors requesting information from the publisher, American Media Inc., …