Trump Corruption

NBC News reports: Jared Kushner’s application for a top secret clearance was rejected by two career White House security specialists after an FBI background check raised concerns about potential foreign influence on him — but their supervisor overruled the recommendation and approved the clearance, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News. The official, Carl Kline, is a former …

Politico reports: Former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen will comply with a subpoena from the Senate Intelligence Committee to testify before that panel, Cohen’s personal lawyer Lanny Davis said Thursday. “Of course he will honor the subpoena,” Davis said on MSNBC when asked if Cohen would testify. “But what he will do as a result of the subpoena is a …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen has been subpoenaed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee in mid-February, CNN reported on Thursday. Cohen was interviewed by committee staff in fall of 2017 as part of its ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Since, Cohen has pleaded guilty to lying to Congress …

ABC News reports: Michael Cohen’s lawyer, Lanny Davis, says Rudy Giuliani should be indicted for “witness tampering” following his comments on national television earlier this week. “Calling out a man’s father-in-law and wife in order to intimidate the witness is not fair game and it needs to be investigated,” Davis told ABC News’ chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump on Thursday bragged about his former “fixer” backing off publicly testifying against him after the president had lobbed multiple threats aimed at his father-in-law. Cohen on Wednesday announced that he was indefinitely postponing his planned testimony before the House of Representatives next month due to threats made by the president to his father-in-law. So …

The Washington Post reports: Attorneys for Paul Manafort on Wednesday rebutted allegations the former Trump campaign chairman lied to investigators and broke his plea deal, saying any misstatements he gave to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s probe of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election were unintentional. In a redacted version of a 10-page document filed under seal, Manafort’s …

The Los Angeles Times reports: Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former lawyer and fixer, will postpone his hotly anticipated appearance before the House Oversight Committee because of “ongoing threats against his family” from President Trump, his spokesman said Wednesday. Cohen was scheduled to testify on Feb. 7. He’s been the target of repeated insults from Trump and his lawyer, former New …

CBS News reports: House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings announced Wednesday that the committee is launching an investigation into “grave breaches with the security clearance process” at the White House. “The goals of this investigation are to determine why the White House and Transition Team appear to have disregarded established procedures for safeguarding classified information, evaluate the extent to which …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has expressed interest in the Trump campaign’s relationship with the National Rifle Association during the 2016 campaign. “When I was interviewed by the special counsel’s office, I was asked about the Trump campaign and our dealings with the NRA,” Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, told CNN. The special counsel’s team was …

“I am afraid it will be on my gravestone. ‘Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.’ Somehow, I don’t think that will be it. But, if it is, so what do I care? I’ll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter. He will be on my side, because I am, so far. I don’t think, as a …

Axios reports: Donald Trump Jr. placed the blame for a Trump Tower Moscow project solely on President Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen in an interview on Fox News’ “The Ingraham Angle” Monday night, saying, “We don’t know anything about it.” Trump Jr.’s statement contradicts multiple facts that have already been made public about the Moscow project — mentioned publicly in …

The New York Times reports: When the Trump administration announced last month that it was lifting sanctions against a trio of companies controlled by an influential Russian oligarch, it cast the move as tough on Russia and on the oligarch, arguing that he had to make painful concessions to get the sanctions lifted. But a binding confidential document signed by …

The Associated Press reports: The Chinese government has granted Ivanka Trump’s company preliminary approval for another five trademarks this month, as her father’s administration pushes ahead on trade negotiations with China. Four trademarks, including child care centers, sunglasses and wedding dresses, were approved on Sunday. A fifth, covering brokerage, charitable fundraising and art valuation services, was approved on Jan.6, according …

The New York Daily News reports: President Trump did not speak with Michael Cohen before he testified falsely before Congress about plans to develop a skyscraper in Moscow during the 2016 campaign, Rudy Giuliani said Monday, backing off previous assertions that such talks may have taken place. The former New York mayor, who serves as Trump’s top lawyer in Robert …

Talking Points Memo reports: President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Sunday that conversations about a potential Trump Tower deal in Moscow — conversations involving then-candidate Trump — occurred “as far as October, November” of 2016. Giuliani’s timeline extends beyond what Cohen acknowledged in pleading guilty to lying to Congress about the deal: In that timeline, discussions about the …

ABC News reports: The Senate Intelligence Committee has subpoenaed conservative conspiracy theorist and special counsel witness Jerome Corsi, his attorney said on Friday. The committee is seeking both an interview and documents from Corsi, an associate of longtime GOP operative and Trump ally Roger Stone, Corsi’s lawyer Larry Klayman said. Klayman declined to provide details on the subpoena, which he …

“Any suggestion — from any source — that the President counseled Michael Cohen to lie is categorically false. Michael Cohen is a convicted criminal and a liar. To quote the prosecutors, he has traded ‘on a pattern of lies and dishonesty over an extended period of time’ and for that ‘he is going to pay a very, very serious price.’ …

Mediaite reports: Kellyanne Conway gave an interview to Fox Business on Friday, during which, she did not deny the report that President Donald Trump told Michael Cohen to lie before Congress about the timeline for his plans to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. “[Fox News reporter] Kevin Corke was characterizing Michael Cohen’s past testimony and also talking about some …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump on Friday accused his former lawyer Michael Cohen of “lying to reduce his jail time” in the wake of a bombshell report from BuzzFeed News that said the president himself directed Cohen to lie to Congress. Trump did not directly address the BuzzFeed article in his tweet, which added, “Watch” Cohen’s “father-in-law!” The source material …

Newsweek reports: The president and his two of his children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., also received regular updates about the development which could have netted $300 million in profits, the BuzzFeed report states. But Trump’s current attorney, Giuliani, was dismissive of the claims made by the news outlet. After BuzzFeed claimed that Giuliani’s phone was switched off to avoid …