Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in the final months of this year’s election to help Donald J. Trump win the presidency, federal filings revealed on Thursday. The sum is a fraction of Mr. Musk’s wealth. But it is nonetheless a staggering amount from a single donor, …

NBC News reports: The incoming Trump administration is preparing a list of countries to which it may deport migrants when their home countries refuse to accept them, according to three sources familiar with the plans. The countries include but may not be limited to Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, Panama and Grenada, the sources said. The plans could mean that …

Politico reports: President Joe Biden’s senior aides are conducting a vigorous internal debate over whether to issue preemptive pardons to a range of current and former public officials who could be targeted with President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, according to senior Democrats familiar with the discussions. Biden’s aides are deeply concerned about a range of current and …

Mediaite reports: Former Pence aide Olivia Troye told her followers on social media that her legal counsel received a letter from an attorney representing Patel threatening legal action unless she retracted comments she made on MSNBC. On Monday, Troye claimed during an MSNBC interview that Patel would “lie about intelligence” while serving in the Department of Defense during Trump’s first …

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump has asked a court to dismiss the criminal case against him related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. In a filing on Wednesday, Trump and his attorney argued that the Georgia state Court of Appeals lacks jurisdiction to “entertain any further criminal process” over him as the incoming president and the …

Pete Hegseth writes for the Wall Street Journal: The press is peddling anonymous story after anonymous story, all meant to smear me and tear me down. It’s a textbook manufactured media takedown. They provide no evidence, no names, and they ignore the legions of people who speak on my behalf. They need to create a bogeyman, because they believe I …

Today’s installment in the neverending grift: Donald Trump has launched a new golf video game that allows you to tee it up as the US President-elect. Trump Golf, a mobile game available for pre-order on iOS and Android, will let you play with your friends on a collection of Trump-owned golf courses. There is a catch, however. To play the …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump picked Paul Atkins to serve as chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, turning to a pro-business conservative and former regulator to run the agency that is in charge of protecting investors from fraud and malfeasance on Wall Street. Mr. Atkins, a lawyer, has been playing an active role in helping …

The Associated Press reports: Former Trump campaign lawyer Kenneth Chesebro, who pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in the Georgia 2020 election meddling case against the President-elect and others, is trying to invalidate that plea. Chesebro was charged in August 2023, alongside Donald Trump and 17 others, in a sprawling indictment accusing them of participating in a wide-ranging scheme to …

“The Wall Street Journal is becoming more and more obnoxious and unreadable. Today’s main headline is: ‘Trump’s DEA Pick Pulls Out In Latest Setback.’ With all that’s happening in the World, this is their Number One story of the day. “Besides, he didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors …

Reuters reports: Donald Trump on Wednesday tapped Jared Isaacman to lead NASA, selecting a billionaire private astronaut and close associate of Elon Musk to oversee an agency closely linked to the SpaceX founder’s business. Isaacman, CEO of payment processing company Shift4 Payments, has flown to space twice in missions arranged by his Polaris program, an effort using SpaceX vehicles and …

USA Today reports: Peter Navarro will head back to the White House as a top advisor on trade and manufacturing, President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday on Truth Social. Navarro is an economist who served in Trump’s first administration, running a newly created National Trade Council and then the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy. A loyal supporter to the president-elect, …

The Washington Post reports: Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun invested $30 million in President-elect Donald Trump’s crypto project three weeks after the election, helping Trump make a potentially hefty profit. Sun, who recently made headlines for buying, then eating, a $6 million banana art piece, is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission on charges of fraud, market manipulation …

CNN reports: Vivek Ramaswamy, the co-chair of the proposed Department of Government Efficiency alongside billionaire Elon Musk, has a lengthy history of attacking his partner’s ties to China, frequently referring to Musk as a “circus monkey” and a puppet for the Chinese Communist Party. Ramaswamy’s critiques, reviewed by CNN’s KFile, include pointed remarks about Musk’s 2022 suggestion that Taiwan should …

The Bulwark reports: Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis have personally discussed the possibility of the Florida governor becoming the next secretary of defense amid concerns that sexual assault allegations could engulf the president-elect’s current nominee for the post, Pete Hegseth. “These discussions are real. It’s serious. I can’t say it’s definitely going to happen, but the governor is receptive and …

Raw Story reports: Embattled Donald Trump ally Rudy Giuliani missed a deadline to reply to a motion arguing he should be held in contempt, according to a report. “Mr. Giuliani … was fully aware of Plaintiffs’ Motion for Civil Contempt, as well as the Court’s Order scheduling a hearing on the Motion for December 12, 2024,” said a new filing …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump’s transition operation announced on Tuesday that it had belatedly signed an agreement with the Justice Department that will allow the F.B.I. to conduct background checks on people Mr. Trump intends to appoint as senior officials in his new administration. F.B.I. background checks have long been a routine part of transitions. Law-enforcement …

CNN reports: Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the FBI, was recently informed by the bureau that he had been targeted as part of an Iranian hack, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. Hackers are believed to have accessed at least some of Patel’s communications, according to one of the sources. Trump transition spokesman Alex Pfeiffer …

The Independent reports: Does Donald Trump want to conquer Canada? The president-elect posted a bewildering image of him and the Canadian flag on top of a mountain just days after suggesting Canada become the U.S.’s 51st state. “Oh Canada,” Trump captioned the AI-generated image. There was just one problem: the mountain range appeared to be the Swiss Alps, with the …

The Hill reports: President-elect Trump’s team outlined the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee benefits for donors over the Jan. 20 weekend, which include a reception with Cabinet picks, a Sunday service and the inaugural ball. In a benefits outline obtained by The Hill, the team highlighted that committee members who give $1 million or raise $2 million receive six tickets to access …