Trump Corruption

The Huffington Post reports: President Donald Trump on Wednesday responded to a newly released audio tape that appears to capture him discussing a payment to former Playboy model Karen McDougal with his personal lawyer Michael Cohen, saying the recording was “cut while I was presumably saying positive things.” In the recording, Trump, then a presidential candidate, appears to be discussing …

Mediaite reports: Appearing on Good Morning America Wednesday, Lanny Davis told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that while there’s nothing criminal revealed on the tape, “it’s about lies and truth.” “The power of the truth is what Michael Cohen now has, no matter what Mayor Giuliani invents for a president who’s been known to lie,” Davis said. “Don’t believe me, listen to …

CNN reports: Presidential candidate Donald Trump is heard on tape discussing with his attorney Michael Cohen how they would buy the rights to a Playboy model’s story about an alleged affair Trump had with her years earlier, according to the audio recording of the conversation aired exclusively on CNN’s “Cuomo Prime Time.” Cohen told Trump about his plans to set …

“The president finds it extremely inappropriate for somebody to go on television under the perception of legitimacy, integrity and level false and baseless claims against another person without any evidence whatsoever. He finds that to be somewhat troublesome and concerning and so he has begun the mechanism to remove security clearances from certain individuals. The names were listed yesterday. And …

Bloomberg reports: The trial set to begin this week for Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman, was delayed until July 31 by a judge who separately granted immunity to five witnesses who said they would have remained silent without the protection. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III on Monday pushed back Manafort’s bank- and tax-fraud trial after defense …

The Guardian reports: At least 12 audio files have been handed to the US government as part of the cache of material seized from Donald Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen, according to a new court filing. It emerged last week that Cohen had taped a phone call with Trump in which they discussed a possible payout in connection with a …

Talking Points Memo reports: With the criminal trial of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort just two days away, the judge in the case ordered the testimony of five witnesses granted immunity by special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team. U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis at a hearing Monday morning said he would unseal the documents that would reveal the identities of …

CNBC reports: President Donald Trump is again taking aim at Amazon for “using” the U.S. Postal Service as its “delivery boy,” raising the possibility of bringing antitrust claims against the company. Trump railed against the e-retailer and the newspaper — both owned by billionaire Jeff Bezos — in a series of tweets Monday morning, claiming the newspaper has “gone crazy” …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump renewed his complaints Monday about the Russia investigation of special counsel Robert Mueller, writing online that it was triggered by a now-infamous dossier of salacious but unverified information detailing ties between Russia and the president’s campaign. Contrary to Trump’s Monday morning tweet, the newly declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court wiretap application shows that investigators did …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday broke his silence about the revelation that his former longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen secretly recorded one of their conversations before the 2016 election dealing with a payment over the story of former Playboy model’s alleged affair with Trump. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani confirmed to The Post that the recording existed …

Lordy, there are more tapes, says Avenatti: Stormy Daniels attorney Michael Avenatti said Michael Cohen has several audio recordings of President Trump discussing women who have come forward after allegedly having affairs with Trump. Avenatti told MSNBC on Friday that there are more tapes. “I know for a fact that this is not the only tape,” Avenatti said. “I think …

The New York Times reports: President Trump’s longtime lawyer, Michael D. Cohen, secretly recorded a conversation with Mr. Trump two months before the presidential election in which they discussed payments to a former Playboy model who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump, according to lawyers and others familiar with the recording. The F.B.I. seized the recording this year …

Politico reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller released an itemized list Wednesday night detailing well over 500 pieces of evidence that his prosecutors are considering presenting during their upcoming criminal trial of former Donald Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. To make its case that Manafort committed bank and tax fraud, the lead Russia investigator signaled his intention to share with a …

The Associated Press reports: President Donald Trump says he meant the opposite when he said in Helsinki that he doesn’t see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 U.S. elections. Back at the White House on Tuesday, the president told reporters that he said he meant he doesn’t see why Russia “wouldn’t” be responsible. He also said he accepts …

The Scotsman reports: Donald Trump personally profited by more than £50,000 from his weekend stay at his loss-making Turnberry resort, with the US government footing the accommodation bill for the president and his entourage, The Scotsman can reveal. US federal government spending records seen by this newspaper show a series of payments worth a total of £52,477 were made by …

From the right wing Townhall: While President Trump has faced widespread backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike over his performance at the Helsinki Summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin — not everyone was displeased. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), in fact, liked much of what Trump had to say. He brushed aside criticism Trump received from within the GOP as nothing …

“There is no reason for any of those [Trump campaign connections to Russia]. Unless you were willing to believe the worst. And who wants to believe the worst? You don’t want to think too hard about the worst-case scenario. If the worst case is true. For everything that we’ve been through as a country, for every kind of trial and …

The New York Post reports: President Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen tweeted his support for US intelligence agencies and berated Russia on Monday in a clear rebuke of his old boss’s Helsinki press performance. Cohen, who has given an interview to George Stephanopoulos, did not mention Trump in his tweet. But Cohen’s commentary came just hours after Trump sided …

The New York Daily News reports: Rudy Giuliani came out batting for President Trump after his softball press conference with Vladimir Putin on Monday, claiming he doesn’t see what good it would do to confront the Russian leader over his government’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election. “I don’t know what it would have accomplished if Trump said, ‘I believed …

“What could possibly cause President Trump to put the interests of Russia over those of the United States? Millions of Americans will continue to wonder if the only possible explanation for this dangerous behavior is the possibility that President Putin holds damaging information over President Trump. For the president of the United States to side with President Putin against American …