Trump Corruption

CBS News provides likely topics: North Korea — Mr. Trump will be welcoming the three U.S. citizens home from North Korea, after two of them have been detained for months, and the third since 2015, well before he was elected president. But questions about the Trump administration’s strategy in negotiating with North Korea ahead of an expected meeting remain. Withdrawing …

STAT News reports: The curious relationship between one of the world’s biggest drug makers and President Trump’s personal lawyer began early last year when Michael Cohen, a longtime fixer for the president, reached out to Novartis’s then-chief executive officer Joe Jimenez, promising help gaining access to Trump and influential officials in the new administration, according to an employee inside Novartis …

CNBC reports: Drug giant Novartis paid President Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen more than $1 million for health-care policy consulting work that he actually ended up being “unable” to do, the company said Wednesday. The company also said it has been questioned by special counsel Robert Mueller’s team about the payments to Cohen. Novartis said it signed a one-year contract …

Via Mediaite: When Avenatti joined ABC’s George Stephanopoulos to talk about the payments [from Russian oligarch Viktor Vekelsberg], he reiterated that “something doesn’t smell right,” and Cohen’s dealings suggest that he might be selling access to Trump. Avenatti said there’s “no question” about the accuracy of his report, but there is something the president or his attorney can do if …

Reuters reports: Novartis has ended a contract with a U.S. firm linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, and has cooperated with a special counsel looking into potential meddling in the 2016 U.S. election, the Swiss drugmaker said. It was responding to remarks by an attorney for porn star Stormy Daniels that Novartis was among companies that made …

The New York Times reports: A shell company that Michael D. Cohen used to pay hush money to a pornographic film actress received payments totaling more than $1 million from an American company linked to a Russian oligarch and several corporations with business before the Trump administration, according to documents and interviews. Financial records reviewed by The New York Times …

CNN Money reports: AT&T confirmed Tuesday evening that it paid President Trump’s personal lawyer Michael Cohen in 2017 for “insights into understanding the new administration.” The payments were revealed in a document published by Stormy Daniels’ attorney Michael Avenatti Tuesday afternoon. Avenatti alleged that Essential Consultants, a shell company set up by Cohen before the election to pay Daniels, was …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigators have questioned a Russian oligarch about hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments his company’s US affiliate made to President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, after the election, according to a source familiar with the matter. Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of asset manager Renova Group, is an oligarch close to Vladimir Putin, and …

The Washington Times reports: The attorney for Stormy Daniels publicly accused President Trump’s personal lawyer Tuesday of taking money from a Russian oligarch, possibly as reimbursement for the hush money he had paid. Michael Avenatti made the accusation on Twitter against Michael Cohen, who has acknowledged paying $130,000 to the adult-film star whose real name is Stephanie Clifford. Mr. Avenatti …

Jennifer Rubin writes for the Washington Post: If Sanders was really trying to do her job honestly, she would come forward the moment she learned that she had been given false information. Instead, she plays 20 questions with the press, waiting to reveal new information only when a series of questions manages to corner her. Even worse, instead of responding …

Back in 2016, CNN banned Roger Stone for a series of tweets which included calling Ana Navarro “borderline retarded.” Stone was later banned from Twitter after a tweetstorm against CNN that included calling Don Lemon an “ignorant cocksucker.” But today he was back on CNN. Former Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone on Monday said that he has not been contacted …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Monday criticized the suggestion that he has obstructed justice in the Russia investigation, saying he is simply “fighting back.” Trump’s tweet comes after a federal judge last week pushed back against prosecutors handling the case of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. Trump has repeatedly referring to the probe into Russian election meddling and …

Golf News reports: Trump arrived at the DC-area golf club at 10:30 a.m., per CBS reporter Mark Knoller. The round of golf was his first of the weekend, coming after Trump made controversial remarks on Saturday night in a speech in Cleveland. Expect Trump to spend more weekends when in D.C. at this 36-hole facility which hosted the 2017 Senior …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani on Sunday said while he has no knowledge of President Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, paying any women in addition to Stormy Daniels, he believes Cohen would have done so if he deemed it “necessary.” “I have no knowledge of that. But I would think if it was necessary, yes.” Giuliani, who recently joined Trump’s …

The Guardian reports: Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal. People in the Trump camp contacted private investigators in May last year to “get dirt” on Ben Rhodes, who had …

The New York Times reports: President Trump knew about a six-figure payment that Michael D. Cohen, his personal lawyer, made to a pornographic film actress several months before he denied any knowledge of it to reporters aboard Air Force One in April, according to two people familiar with the arrangement. How much Mr. Trump knew about the payment to Stephanie …

“In Washington, a brand new series of words presented for our consumption. Maybe Team Trump’s just shifting strategies. Maybe they’re trying to confuse everybody. Certainly, the undeniable chaos is definitely not chaos at all, they are clear on that point. But what Team Trump said last month, then changed last week, then reimagined again on Tuesday, was revised and extended …

The Hill reports: Rudy Giuliani jabbed the attorney for adult film actress Stormy Daniels on Thursday, saying that lawyer Michael Avenatti should turn in his license to practice law. Giuliani, a member of President Trump’s legal team, called the publicity-savvy Avenatti an “ambulance chaser” and “complete jerk” over his recent comments that the president will be forced to resign over …

Giuliani is spin spin spinning to save his neck: First: There is no campaign violation. The payment was made to resolve a personal and false allegation in order to protect the President’s family. It would have been done in any event, whether he was a candidate or not. Second: My references to timing were not describing my understanding of the …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump said Friday his new lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, is “a great guy” and “he’ll get his facts straight.” “He’s learning the subject matter. He’s going to be issuing a statement, too,” Trump said of the former New York City mayor, on the White House South Lawn. “He started yesterday. He’ll get his facts straight.” Once he …