Trump Corruption

CNN Business reports: During his second term, President-elect Donald Trump is widely expected to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that guarantee 70% of America’s mortgages. Amid a housing market marked by stubbornly high mortgage rates, a long-standing supply shortage and soaring home prices, some economists warn that privatizing these two mortgage behemoths, worth a combined $146 …

Florida Politics reports: A new survey of voters shows that 7 out of 10 Republicans want Lara Trump in the Senate. But those voters don’t live in Florida, where she has been angling for an appointment from Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Victory Insights poll of North Carolina Republicans finds that 69% of them want the Republican National Committee (RNC) Co-Chair …

The Daily Beast reports: At Vets for Freedom, where he held the top post from 2007 to 2012, Hegseth ran up mountain-sized debt and was subject to rumors of spending on parties, or what one former associate of the group told The New Yorker “could politely be called trysts.” A group of donors to the group hired an accountant to …

CNN reports: Karoline Leavitt, President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming White House press secretary, deleted two social media posts she shared after the January 6, 2021, riot at the US Capitol — including a retweet praising then-Vice President Mike Pence for certifying the 2020 election. The post included a video of Pence calling the attack “a dark day in the history of …

Mediaite reports: In his announcement, Biden said the investigations and prosecutions of his son were politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.” Trump, in his post on his Truth Social app, used the same words to describe the pardon. And he asked whether the pardon would extend to those who have been convicted in the January 6 riot. “Does the …

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports: The producer of a documentary that falsely accused a metro Atlanta man of committing election fraud during the 2020 election has issued an apology saying his depiction was based on “inaccurate information.” The statement by right-wing commentator Dinesh D’Souza came months after Salem Media Group issued a similar apology to Mark Andrews about “2000 Mules,” …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump announced on Sunday that he would name Massad Boulos, a Lebanese American businessman and the father-in-law of his daughter Tiffany, as a senior adviser covering Arab and Middle Eastern affairs. It was the second time this weekend that Mr. Trump offered a position in his administration to an in-law, coming one …

The Hill reports: “Trump has nominated Kash Patel to be his Lavrentiy Beria,” Bolton said in a statement to NBC News’s “Meet The Press” on Sunday. “Fortunately, the FBI is not the NKVD. The Senate should reject this nomination 100-0.” Beria was appointed by former Soviet Union Prime Minister Joseph Stalin as deputy chief of the Soviet secret police. He …

“It’s a terrible development for the men and women of the FBI and also for the nation that depends on a highly functioning, professional, independent Federal Bureau of Investigation. The fact that Kash Patel is profoundly unqualified for this job is not even like a matter for debate. “So I think what we should really be thinking about right now …

The Washington Post reports: President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday tapped Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, replacing Anne Milgram. In picking the Florida sheriff to lead the DEA, Trump has selected a law enforcement professional with three decades of experience working for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office but seemingly little time in the national spotlight. …

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that he intends to nominate Kash Patel to serve as FBI director, in an extraordinary announcement that once in office Trump would move to replace the current director, Christopher Wray, before his term expires. Wray has three years remaining in his 10-year term and would have to resign or be fired to create …

Politico reports: Donald Trump’s supporters thought voter fraud could determine the election outcome — until he won. Heading into Election Day, nearly 9 in 10 Trump voters said fraud was a serious issue. Afterward, just a bit over one-third said so. Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris has scrambled public opinion about a range of other issues, too. For …

CNN reports: Donald Trump has selected his son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, to serve as the next US ambassador to France, the president-elect announced Saturday. Charles Kushner was pardoned by Trump in 2020 following a 2005 conviction on federal charges. Chris Christie, who led the case as the US attorney for New Jersey, said in 2019 that Kushner committed …

Bloomberg News reports: US President-elect Donald Trump warned the so-called BRICS nations that he would require commitments that they would not move to create a new currency as an alternative to using the US dollar and repeated threats to levy a 100% tariff. “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor …

The Hill reports: President-elect Trump may need to rely on acting secretaries to fill out his Cabinet as a number of key nominations draw significant concern from key GOP senators. When Senate confirmations are in limbo, especially if there is pushback from lawmakers, presidents can slip nominees into acting roles for at least 210 days. Trump did so across more …

The Guardian reports: Musk has long been a critic of the Biden administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (Bead) Program, which provides $42.45 billion through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to expand high-speed internet access in rural communities. Starlink, the satellite internet services subsidiary of SpaceX, has largely been shut out of this funding after government agencies deemed it too slow …

Fortune reports: Donald Trump’s designated government efficiency co-czar, Vivek Ramaswamy, signaled his intention to scrutinize a loan granted by the Biden administration to EV manufacturer Rivian, a rival of Tesla. Ramaswamy, the founder of several biotech firms collectively known as the “Vants,” is due to take charge of the quasi-official Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, once Trump is sworn …

The Wall Street Journal reports: For local sheriffs who have long talked tough on immigration, their time has come. Trump’s transition team is already pursuing new spaces they can repurpose into short-term detention centers near large, Democratic-run cities. It is also weighing a broad mix of changes to give sheriffs more power, with rewards for jurisdictions that cooperate, and financial …

The New York Times reports: During the campaign, Trump swore he had “nothing to do with” a right-wing policy blueprint known as Project 2025 that would overhaul the federal government, even though many of those involved in developing the plans were his allies. Mr. Trump even described many of the policy goals as “absolutely ridiculous.” And during his debate with …

Fox News reports: Trump’s campaign spokesperson and incoming White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Wednesday “no decisions on this issue have been made,” when asked if Trump would discharge transgender military personnel after international reports this week claimed that he would. “These unnamed sources are speculating and have no idea what they are actually talking about. No policy should …