Trump Corruption

Reuters reports: A Florida golf club owned by U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Friday to pay $5.45 million to settle claims by former members that it wrongfully refused to refund their deposits when they wanted to resign. The payout is more than 94 percent of the $5.77 million that U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra, who must approve the settlement, …

CNBC reports: Soon after the Republican National Committee came under pressure for paying legal bills for President Donald Trump and his eldest son in the special counsel’s Russia probe, it started covering expenses for the president’s re-election campaign. The RNC is using campaign funds to pay Trump’s company more than $37,000 a month in rent, and to pay thousands of …

The New York Times reports: A former top adviser to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud and lying to investigators in the special counsel inquiry into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and will cooperate with the investigation. The adviser, Rick Gates, is a longtime political consultant who once served as Mr. Trump’s deputy campaign …

The Washington Post reports: New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year. A new indictment has long been expected in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s prosecution of Manafort and his right-hand man, Rick Gates, on …

The Associated Press reports: Payday lenders got regulators to rethink rules on how closely to vet borrowers. E-cigarette makers got a delay in federal oversight of many vaping products. Candy makers praised a decision to hold off on more stringent labeling standards. And title insurers declared “victory” for getting changes that benefited them in the tax overhaul. What do all …

The Hill reports: White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday night argued the Trump administration has “not declared war on the press,” despite concerns from a past press secretary. Mike McCurry, who served as press secretary during the Clinton administration, pressed Sanders over President Trump’s repeated attacks on the media, including his claim that the media is the …

NBC News reports: Federal investigators are probing whether former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort promised a Chicago banker a job in the Trump White House in return for $16 million in home loans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told NBC News. Manafort received three separate loans in December 2016 and January 2017 from Federal Savings Bank for …

The Washington Post reports: The parents of first lady Melania Trump have become legal permanent residents of the United States and are close to obtaining their citizenship, according to people familiar with their status, but their attorney declined to say how or when the couple gained their green cards. Immigration experts said Viktor and Amalija Knavs very likely relied on …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump slammed the attorney general on Wednesday, calling on his more than 48 million Twitter followers to “ask Jeff Session” why the Obama administration is not the focus of the special counsel’s Russia probe. Trump has used his Twitter account to attack Sessions before, particularly since Sessions recused himself from investigating matters relating to the 2016 …

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump Jr. said that any talk of his family profiting from his father’s presidency is “nonsense” as he embarked on a trip to India that has raised ethical concerns about using the name of the American president to promote international business ventures. The eldest son of President Donald Trump, who is in India to meet …

Mediaite reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders insisted to reporters today that President Trump has accepted that Russia meddled in the election. The first question of the press briefing, from NBC News’ Kristen Welker, concerned whether President Trump finally accepts that Russia meddled and influenced the 2016 election. “One of the places where you guys seem to get …

The New York Times reports: As accounts of past sexual indiscretions threatened to surface during Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, the job of stifling potentially damaging stories fell to his longtime lawyer and all-around fixer, Michael D. Cohen. To protect his boss at critical junctures in his improbable political rise, the lawyer relied on intimidation tactics, hush money and the …

The Wrap reports: President Donald Trump was watching “Fox & Friends” on Tuesday, tweeting out his gratitude to the Fox News morning show over a segment focusing on President Obama’s handling of the Russia threat. Trump added an attack on Obama, pulled word for word from the “Fox & Friends” line up. The tweets came after show co-hosts Steve Doocy, …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s interest in Jared Kushner has expanded beyond his contacts with Russia and now includes his efforts to secure financing for his company from foreign investors during the presidential transition, according to people familiar with the inquiry. This is the first indication that Mueller is exploring Kushner’s discussions with potential non-Russian foreign investors, including in …

According to a piece published today by the New Yorker, judges at a recent Miss Universe pageant compared notes after the naming of the finalists and were shocked to realize that several of the women named had not been selected by them. Well, you know where that’s going: A day or two before a pageant began, Trump would casually visit …

The Washington Post reports: The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is making what’s been dubbed an unofficial visit to India to promote his family’s real estate projects there. But he’s also planning to deliver a foreign policy speech on Indo-Pacific relations at an event with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Beginning Tuesday, the junior Trump will have a full …

The Los Angeles Times reports: A former top aide to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign will plead guilty to fraud-related charges within days – and has made clear to prosecutors that he would testify against Paul J. Manafort Jr., the lawyer-lobbyist who once managed the campaign. The change of heart by Trump’s former deputy campaign manager, Richard W. Gates III, who …

Politico reports: Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) jabbed President Donald Trump on Sunday for citing the indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team in their probe on Russian election meddling as proof his campaign had not colluded with foreign operatives. During an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union,” the Democratic lawmaker was asked whether he felt the indictment by Mueller …

The Washington Examiner reports: President Trump said Sunday Russia accomplished its goal of creating “discord, disruption and chaos” in the United States and now Russians are “laughing their asses off” at the U.S. Trump spent the early part of Sunday morning tweeting thoughts about Russian meddling in the 2016 election, Rep. Adam Schiff’s criticisms of the Obama administration, and a …

Trump, as always, is lying. Just one example from the New York Times: In 2014, Russians working for a shadowy firm called the Internet Research Agency started gathering American followers in online groups focused on issues like religion and immigration. Around mid-2015, the Russians began buying digital ads to spread their messages. A year later, they tapped their followers to …