Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: American law enforcement and intelligence agencies are examining intercepted communications and financial transactions as part of a broad investigation into possible links between Russian officials and associates of President-elect Donald J. Trump, including his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, current and former senior American officials said. The continuing counterintelligence investigation means that Mr. Trump will …

Raw Story reports: Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer took time out of his first official press conference on Thursday to “encourage” people to visit Donald Trump’s Washington, D.C. hotel. Although Trump has said that he has turned his business over to his sons, he reportedly made a visit to the Trump International Hotel on Wednesday. At Spicer’s press …

But it’s still not completely over: Days before President-elect Donald Trump is set to take the oath to uphold the Constitution, he has followed through on a more painful obligation: coughing up $25 million to settle litigation over his defunct Trump University real estate seminar program. Trump University — now known as the Trump Entrepreneur Initiative — transferred the funds …

Salon reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price of Georgia, introduced legislation last year that would help a biotech company only days after he purchased stock in it. Less than a week after buying between $1,001 and $15,000 of shares in Zimmer Biomet, Price introduced a bill known as the HIP Act. …

The Washington Post reports: Airplanes belonging to Donald Trump’s businesses will be inspected over the next four years by employees of the Federal Aviation Administration that he will lead. Disputes over Trump’s trademark registrations could be reviewed by judges appointed by his hand-picked commerce secretary. His Department of Housing and Urban Development could reverse its past opposition to a potentially …

President-Elect Donald Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho today committed an outright corporate endorsement, urging his followers to buy L.L. Bean products after the company’s heiress was found to have made an illegal campaign donation. The Associated Press reported last week: L.L. Bean heiress Linda Bean made excessive contributions to a political action committee she bankrolled to support Republican President-elect Donald Trump, …

Law Newz reports: Earlier today, Donald Trump held a press conference, where his attorney, Sheri Dillon, spoke regarding Trump’s business interests. As LawNewz.com noted, Dillon is a partner at the law firm Morgan Lewis & Bokius. Using the services of the firm makes sense for Trump, as Morgan Lewis is a world-renowned organization. In fact, just last year, Chambers and …

It looks like Pam Bondi is getting her reward for refusing to investigate Trump University three days after Hair Furor gifted her campaign with $25,000. The Tampa Bay Times reports: Immediately after Donald Trump was elected president, one Florida name was floated above the rest for a job in his administration: Attorney General Pam Bondi. About two weeks out from …

The New York Daily News reports: President-elect Donald Trump rang in the new year together with Joseph “Joey No Socks” Cinque — a convicted felon with ties to notorious Gambino crime family boss John Gotti, a recently released video has revealed. Cinque can be seen in a video obtained by the Palm Beach Daily News, cheering loudly as a tuxedo-clad …

About 800 socialites, business moguls, and lobbyists paid a minimum of $525 each to be in the presence of Hair Furor and his children at Mar-A-Lago’s sold-out New Year’s Eve bash. Teen Vogue reports: Incoming White House Director of Strategic Communications Hope Hicks attempted to dismiss concern that the Mar-a-Lago’s pricy New Year’s Eve Party comprised yet another conflict of …

The Huffington Post reports: Tickets were on sale for a lavish New Year’s Eve party that President-elect Donald Trump and his family are hosting at the Mar-a-Lago Club this weekend, which once again raises those thorny ethics question that have dogged Trump’s presidential transition. Mar-a-Lago sold the tickets, according to Politico reporter Kenneth Vogel. Since Trump himself owns the Palm …

Politico reports: Kuwait’s ambassador to the United States is denying a report that he was pressured by associates of Donald Trump to host a major celebration at the president-elect’s hotel in Washington instead of its usual venue, the Four Seasons. Salem Al-Sabah said he decided to schedule Kuwait’s National Day event on Feb. 25 at the Trump hotel because he’d …