Trump Corruption

The Washington Post reports: President Trump late on Sunday sought to douse speculation that he may fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III amid an intensifying campaign by Trump allies to attack the wide-ranging Russia investigation as improper and politically motivated. Returning to the White House from Camp David, Trump was asked Sunday whether he intended to fire Mueller. “No, …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump on Monday predicted that Republicans will perform “very well” in next year’s mid-term elections, touting his party’s record last year in special elections to fill vacant House seats while claiming that he had predicted recent GOP losses in Virginia and Alabama. It was not clear why the president put “I” in quotation marks. Trump also …

Newsweek reports: Democratic Congresswoman Jackie Spier said Friday the “rumor on the Hill” is that President Donald Trump intends to fire Special Counsel Robert Mueller next week when Congress is gone for the holidays. Should Trump go through with the unconfirmed rumor, Spier said an “effort” for impeachment would follow. Spier added Republicans are aiming to shut down the House …

The Washington Post reports: Senior White House official Jared Kushner and his legal team are searching for a crisis public relations firm, according to four people familiar with the matter. Kushner’s lawyer, Abbe Lowell, has quietly called at least two firms, these people said. The inquiries have occurred in the past two weeks, and officials at the firms were asked …

Reuters reports: A U.S. District Court judge on Friday said she would release former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort from house arrest once he meets certain conditions, expressing satisfaction that the $10 million he agreed to forfeit would be available if he ever failed to appear for court proceedings. In her order, Judge Amy Berman Jackson said to be released …

“You might find it hard to believe, but the Trump White House today said it is wrong when people put out information they know to be incorrect in an attempt to mislead the republic. That’s right, the White House, run by the president who came to political prominence by promoting the lie that the first African-American president was born in …

CBS News reports: Several women who have publicly accused President Trump of sexual misconduct are speaking out together at a joint news conference on Monday in New York City. According to a press release, the women will be speaking together for the first time about their experiences with Mr. Trump on Monday which is being held by the organization Brave …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday lashed out at The New York Times on Monday over a report that said he watches a minimum of four hours of cable news each day. The tweet comes after The Times, in a report published over the weekend, cited individuals close to the president saying Trump watches anywhere from four to sometimes …

ABC News reports: The Italian fiancee of George Papadopoulos offered the first public defense of the embattled former Trump campaign adviser, who in October was revealed as the first campaign adviser to plead guilty and cooperate with the special counsel’s Russia probe. “George is very loyal to his country,” Simona Mangiante told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an …

CNN reports: Candidate Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and others in the Trump Organization received an email in September 2016 offering a decryption key and website address for hacked WikiLeaks documents, according to an email provided to congressional investigators. The September 4 email was sent during the final stretch of the 2016 presidential race — two months after …

Talking Points Memo reports: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee, told reporters on Wednesday evening that Donald Trump Jr. cited attorney-client privilege to avoid answering the committee’s questions about a discussion he had with President Donald Trump about his June 2016 meeting with Kremlin-linked officials. After the committee completed its interview with Trump Jr., …

The New York Times reports: Michael T. Flynn, President Trump’s former national security adviser, told a former business associate that economic sanctions against Russia would be “ripped up” as one of the Trump administration’s first acts, according to an account by a whistle-blower made public on Wednesday. Mr. Flynn believed that ending the sanctions could allow a business project he …

The Associated Press reports: Lawyers for President Donald Trump argued on Tuesday that a defamation lawsuit filed by a former contestant on his reality TV show “The Apprentice” who accused him of unwanted sexual contact should at least be blocked while he’s in office because he’s too busy and important. Summer Zervos was a contestant on the show in 2006 …

The Hill reports: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is urging the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to subpoena Donald Trump Jr. to testify publicly before the panel. The Democratic senator, a member of the committee, sent a letter to Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) on Tuesday asking him to “immediately issue a subpoena for public testimony and documents from Donald Trump, …

Bloomberg reports: Special prosecutor Robert Mueller zeroed in on President Donald Trump’s business dealings with Deutsche Bank AG as his investigation into alleged Russian meddling in U.S. elections widens. Mueller issued a subpoena to Germany’s largest lender several weeks ago, forcing the bank to submit documents on its relationship with Trump and his family, according to a person briefed on …

The Associated Press reports: While facing several felony charges, Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been working on an op-ed essay with a longtime colleague “assessed to have ties” to a Russian intelligence service, according to court papers filed Monday by prosecutors working for special counsel Robert Mueller. In the court filing, prosecutors say Manafort and the colleague …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday defended former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying it’s “very unfair” he was charged with a crime and Hillary Clinton was not. “Well, I feel badly for Gen. Flynn,” Trump told reporters. “I feel very badly. He’d led a very strong life.” “I will say this, Hillary Clinton lied many times to the …

Axios reports: John Dowd, President Trump’s outside lawyer, outlined to me a new and highly controversial defense/theory in the Russia probe: A president cannot be guilty of obstruction of justice. The “President cannot obstruct justice because he is the chief law enforcement officer under [the Constitution’s Article II] and has every right to express his view of any case,” Dowd …

Newsweek reports: Jared Kushner failed to disclose his role as a co-director of the Charles and Seryl Kushner Foundation from 2006 to 2015, a time when the group funded an Israeli settlement considered to be illegal under international law, on financial records he filed with the Office of Government Ethics earlier this year. The latest development follows reports on Friday …

NBC News reports: A Senate investigation into President Donald Trump’s possible connections to Russia has revealed a possible obstruction of justice case against the president, Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein said on “Meet The Press” Sunday. “The [Senate] Judiciary Committee has an investigation going as well and it involves obstruction of justice and I think what we’re beginning to see is …