Trump Corruption

The panicking continues: President Trump on Monday asserted his right to provide himself with a pardon, but insisted he won’t need to do so because he has not done anything that would warrant one. New talk emerged over the weekend as to whether or not Trump could or would give himself a pardon after The New York Times obtained and …

Under repeated direct questioning from CNN’s Dana Bash, GOP House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dodged, weaved, and diverted but ultimately refused to comment on the revelation that Trump dictated Junior’s lying letter about the Trump Tower meeting with Russians. McCarthy’s flailing came after Bash rolled clips of multiple Trump officials denying that Glorious Leader had dictated the letter. More from …

It feels like Glorious Leader is really panicking: President Trump on Sunday blasted the FBI and Department of Justice for not telling him that agents were “secretly investigating” his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, during the 2016 election. He added that Manafort “came into the campaign very late and was with us for a short period of time,” but said …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani said early Sunday that President Trump “probably” has the power to pardon himself, but has no plans to do so. “He’s not, but he probably does,” Giuliani, who recently joined Trump’s legal team, said on ABC’s “This Week.” “He has no intention of pardoning himself,” Giuliani said. “That’s another really interesting constitutional question: Can the …

CNN reports: In a confidential letter to special counsel Robert Mueller in January, President Donald Trump’s legal team acknowledged for the first time that Trump “dictated” the first misleading statement put out about his son’s controversial 2016 meeting with Russians at Trump Tower. “You have received all of the notes, communications and testimony indicating that the President dictated a short …

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s lawyers have for months quietly waged a campaign to keep the special counsel from trying to force him to answer questions in the investigation into whether he obstructed justice, asserting that he cannot be compelled to testify and arguing in a confidential letter that he could not possibly have committed obstruction because he …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday continued his attacks on the special counsel investigation into possible Russian links to his campaign, questioning in a tweet whether officials from Robert Mueller’s office or the Justice Department had released letters from Trump’s attorneys to the media. It was unclear what exactly prompted Trump’s accusation, though Trump’s attorneys have reportedly been in …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump granted a full pardon Thursday to conservative commentator Dinesh D’Souza and said he was strongly considering clemency for other celebrity felons, signaling his willingness to exercise his unilateral power to reward friends and allies while undercutting the work of his nemeses in law enforcement. With Thursday’s announcements, Trump also delivered an indirect but unmistakable …

The New York Daily News reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling has cost just under $8 million since the former FBI director was appointed last May, according to a new spending report released Thursday. The bill is a far cry from the $20 million President Trump claims that probe has cost and is only slightly higher than …

Politico reports: Before President Donald Trump tagged him a “spy” who had “infiltrated” his campaign, Stefan Halper had a different relationship with the White House: helping advance Trump’s trade agenda with China. In recent weeks, Halper has found himself at the center of the media cycle after reports that the FBI used him as an informant to contact several members …

Tim Mak reports at NPR: Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen is facing legal peril, including an FBI raid of his home and office — and involvement in a civil lawsuit with porn star Stormy Daniels. But in the past, it was Cohen who has sought to put legal pressure on others to solve problems for his boss. For the first …

Mediaite reports: President Donald Trump, amidst a frenzied spurt of tweets Thursday morning, issued one in which he rejected allegations he fired former FBI director James Comey because of the Russia investigation, which remains a core pillar of the argument he obstructed justice. Trump told NBC’s Lester Holt in May 2017: “And in fact when I decided to just do …

The FBI did warn him but the gaslighting continues: President Trump quotes conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh in a tweet on Thursday, saying the FBI should have told Trump they embedded an informant in his campaign. The president in recent weeks has claimed without evidence that the FBI planted a mole in his campaign and sought to spy on his …

The New York Post reports: President Trump has no plans to fire Attorney General Jeff Sessions before the Russia probe is completed, the president’s lawyer said Wednesday. Rudy Giuliani told reporters outside the White House in an impromptu gaggle that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and Special Counsel Robert Mueller should also be safe from Trump’s wrath. “I don’t think …

Politico reports: Self-described friends of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort are launching a defense fund to help pay the mounting legal bills he’s incurring as a result of two looming criminal cases brought by special counsel Robert Mueller. A newly revealed website portrays the wealthy lobbyist and political consultant as struggling to cover his debts since prosecutors froze his …

The Washington Post reports: Federal prosecutors investigating President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen are poised to receive on Wednesday 1 million files from three of his cellphones seized last month, according to a filing submitted to the court Tuesday night by special master Barbara Jones. In her update to the court, Jones said investigators from the Office of the U.S. …

Our Glorious Leader is continuing his streak of raging tweets, which now number nearly 40 in the last 72 hours. This morning he turned his fire once again on Attorney General Jeff Sessions, declaring that he wishes he’d never hired him. In today’s tweets, Trump quotes GOP Rep. Trey Gowdy but conveniently overlooks the portion of Gowdy’s interview which denounces …

The New York Times reports: By the time Attorney General Jeff Sessions arrived at President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for dinner one Saturday evening in March 2017, he had been receiving the presidential silent treatment for two days. Mr. Sessions had flown to Florida because Mr. Trump was refusing to take his calls about a pressing decision on his travel ban. …

In his 22nd tweet in the last 48 hours, Glorious Leader again attacked the press, accusing them of the most dishonest “disinformation campaign” in the history of politics. And as he does almost every day, he reminds us that he won the election. The most recent avalanche of butthurt tweets has some speculating that yet another scandal is about to …

The Hill reports: President Trump suggested on Tuesday that special counsel Robert Mueller’s team of investigators was planning to meddle in the 2018 midterm elections, and urged Republican lawmakers to “stay tough” in the coming months. Trump’s tweet was the latest in a series of posts lashing out at investigators – whom he has dubbed the “13 angry Democrats” – …