Trump Corruption

Politico reports: The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is accusing a top White House official of potentially violating criminal conflict of interest laws by playing a role in meetings with major companies in which he also appeared to have held millions of dollars in stock. The group filed its complaint Tuesday against Christopher Liddell, a former …

Raw Story reports: Fox News reporter Chris Wallace on Friday said it was “inconceivable” that Donald Trump was unaware of former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s lobbying work with a company connected to the Turkish government while serving as an adviser on his campaign. Reporters, including Fox’s John Roberts, grilled White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer over reports that a …

NBC News reports: The White House has confirmed the president’s transition team was informed before Inauguration Day that former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn might need to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department. That’s according to a White House official and a person with direct knowledge of discussions between transition lawyers and Flynn representatives. The White House …

Mediaite reports: Press Secretary Sean Spicer had a flummoxed moment on Thursday when he was asked about today’s news that Trump ally Nigel Farage went to the embassy where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange lives. “I have my own concerns here keeping track of what everyone is doing. I generally don’t worry about what’s going on across the pond,” Spicer said. …

Politico reports: President Donald Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn wrote an op-ed on Election Day calling for the U.S. to kick out an anti-government Turkish cleric without disclosing he was being paid by a firm linked to the Turkish government, according to documents newly filed with the Justice Department. POLITICO reported in November that Flynn’s consulting firm, Flynn …

Just in from Quinnipiac Polling: American voters say 52 – 40 percent that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions lied under oath during his confirmation hearings and say 51 – 42 percent that he should resign, according to a Quinnipiac University national poll released today. Voters disapprove 54 – 32 percent of the way President Donald Trump is handling U.S. policy …

The Associated Press reports: China has granted preliminary approval for 38 new Trump trademarks, paving the way for President Donald Trump and his family to potentially develop a host of branded businesses from hotels and golf clubs to bodyguard and concierge services, public documents show. Trump’s lawyers in China applied for the marks in April 2016, as Trump railed against …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Friday attacked Democratic calls for a probe into his contacts with Russia, tweeting a photo of Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer (N.Y.) with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The 2003 photo shows Schumer and Putin eating doughnuts in 2003 during Putin’s trip to New York to attend the opening of a Russian gas company’s station. …

So this happened right before Sessions recused himself. The Hill reports: President Trump said Thursday that he has “total” confidence in Attorney General Jeff Sessions, dismissing bipartisan calls for Sessions to recuse himself from federal investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Trump told reporters he “wasn’t aware” of Sessions’ conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S., …

From the Daily Beast: Attorney General Jeff Sessions will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, amid a firestorm over The Washington Post’s report that he had spoken with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, twice last year while also serving in a senior surrogate role on President Donald Trump’s campaign. During his confirmation hearing on …

Nothing is surprising anymore. Nothing. Via Mediaite: Back on October 11th of last year, exactly four weeks before his father’s victory in the presidential election, Donald Trump, Jr. spoke at an event in Paris held by the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs (CPFA), a French think tank. On Thursday, The Wall Street Journal published a report further scrutinizing the …

The Hill reports: The White House is dismissing calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from an investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. “There’s nothing to recuse himself,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in an interview with Fox News that aired late Thursday morning. “He was 100 percent straight with the committee, and …

The Associated Press reports: The intense attention being given to the new U.S. attorney general’s meetings with Russia’s ambassador could obstruct improved Washington-Moscow relations, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Thursday. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters he did not know about the meetings last year between Ambassador Sergei Kislyak and Jeff Sessions, who at that time was …

Mediaite reports: NBC caught up with Attorney General Jeff Sessions this morning, just hours after a Washington Post report said that Sessions did not disclose contact he had with the Russian ambassador during the campaign when he was going through his Senate Judiciary hearing to become the nation’s top prosecutor. “Well I have not met with any Russians at any …

The Hill reports: President Trump’s transition team called off a plan for an ethics, leadership and management course for his senior White House staff and appointees, including Cabinet members, according to a new report. According to documents obtained by Politico, the Trump team opted not to have staffers go through the program, which would have covered confirmation hearings, complying with …

Politico reports: Top congressional Democrats called on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to resign Wednesday after revelations that he had met with the Russian ambassador in the months before the election — meetings that Sessions did not disclose during his confirmation hearings. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) led the effort late on Wednesday night, accusing Sessions of “lying under oath” …

Reuters reports: The White House told a government watchdog agency that Kellyanne Conway, a senior aide to President Donald Trump, acted “inadvertently” when she publicly endorsed the clothing and jewelry line of Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, according to a letter the administration released on Wednesday. Conway came under criticism last month when she said on television that Americans should “go buy …

Multiple news outlets are reporting on Twitter that the White House has blocked them from entering today’s press gaggle with Sean Spicer. Among those reportedly locked out are CNN, the New York Times, Politico, Buzzfeed, and others. Earlier today Trump doubled down on his attack on the “fake news” media during his CPAC speech, again calling them “the enemy of …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to impose additional oversight on government regulations, designating officials within government agencies who will monitor rule-making and identify needed policy changes, he said. “Excessive regulation is killing jobs,” Trump said at an Oval Office signing ceremony Friday. “Every regulation should have to pass a simple test: Does it make life better …

The Associated Press reports: Attorney General Jeff Sessions has signaled his support for the federal government’s use of private prisons, rescinding a memo meant to phase out their use. Sessions issued a new memo Thursday replacing one issued last August by Sally Yates, the deputy attorney general at the time. That memo told the Bureau of Prisons to begin reducing …