Trump Corruption

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump plans to attend a SpaceX launch in Texas on Tuesday, according to two people familiar with the planning, in yet another demonstration of the billionaire Elon Musk’s increasing closeness to the incoming president. SpaceX will be conducting its sixth test of its Starship rocket, the largest and most powerful rocket ever …

The New York Times reports: In his private conversations over the past few days, President-elect Donald J. Trump has admitted that his besieged choice for attorney general, Matt Gaetz, has less than even odds of being confirmed by the Senate. But Mr. Trump has shown no sign of withdrawing the nomination, which speaks volumes about his mind-set as he staffs …

Axios reports: President-elect Trump is personally calling senators to press them to confirm former Rep. Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general, according to senators who have spoken with Trump. Trump is digging in on his embattled and controversial nominee and is sending an unmistakable message to Senate Republicans that he expects him to be confirmed. “He clearly wants Matt …

The Washington Post reports: Civil-liberties lawyers alarmed by President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to launch mass deportations of undocumented immigrants sued the federal government Monday for information about how authorities might quickly remove people from the United States. The federal lawsuit alleges that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has failed to respond to requests for basic information about its existing contracts …

The Huffington Post reports: A New York judge has reportedly agreed to postpone the start of Steve Bannon’s trial on charges that he defrauded supporters of President-elect Donald Trump after his defense requested it be pushed back into the new year. Judge April Newbauer moved his Dec. 9 trial start date to Feb. 25, according to Courthouse News and reporter …

CNN reports: Trump’s pick for chairman of the FCC, Brendan Carr, wasted no time in stating his priorities on Sunday night. Just one hour after thanking the president for the appointment, Carr wrote on X, “We must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.” Musk immediately replied with one word of affirmation: “Based.” Carr has …

The Hill reports: President-elect Trump on Monday recirculated a social media post suggesting his incoming administration will declare an immigration national emergency and use military assets to support his mass deportation pledge, labeling the claim “TRUE!!!” On his Truth Social site, Trump at 4:03 a.m. re-posted Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, a conservative organization that’s been active, both …

The Daily Beast reports: Trump is calling for the investigation of pollster Ann Selzer after she released a bombshell Iowa poll just days before the presidential election that showed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris up in the state by three points. Ultimately, Selzer was off by 16 points. On Sunday, just a few weeks after the poll was released, Selzer announced …

Bloomberg News reports: Members of President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team have told advisers they plan to make a federal framework for fully self-driving vehicles one of the Transportation Department’s priorities, according to people familiar with the matter. If new rules enable cars without human controls, that would directly benefit Elon Musk, the Tesla Inc. chief executive officer and Trump mega-donor …

“The stuff that Trump eats is really, like, bad. Campaign food is always bad, but the food that goes onto that airplane is like just poison. You don’t have the choice, you’re either given KFC or Big Macs. That’s when you’re lucky and then the rest of the stuff I consider kind of inedible. And then he drinks Diet Coke.” …

“Over the last 40 years, even conservatives, we’ve talked a big game for 40 years about cutting the federal government, about reducing the scope of the federal government. “Politicians haven’t been able to do it. And so Elon and I, we’re not politicians. We’re businessmen. We’re coming at it from the outside. Sometimes if you go inside, you become native …

NBC News reports: The Trump transition team is compiling a list of senior current and former U.S. military officers  and exploring whether they could be court-martialed. Officials working on the transition are considering creating a commission to investigate the 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan, including gathering information about who was directly involved in the decision-making for the military, how it was …

The New York Times reports: President-elect Donald J. Trump chose his attorney general almost on a whim, in the sky between Washington and Palm Beach, Fla. He scoffed at a candidate for the Department of Homeland Security, then abruptly changed his mind. His defense secretary pick was a snap judgment during a slide presentation at Mar-a-Lago. Much of the action …

The Associated Press reports: Rudy Giuliani has relinquished dozens of watches and a Mercedes once owned by movie star Lauren Bacall to two former Georgia election workers who won a $148 million defamation judgment, his lawyer said. Joseph Cammarata said in a letter filed late Friday in Manhattan federal court that the trove of watches and a ring were delivered …

Fox News reports: President-elect Donald Trump has chosen Karoline Leavitt to serve as his press secretary for his upcoming administration. Leavitt has already acted as Trump’s spokesperson throughout his campaign. “Karoline Leavitt did a phenomenal job as the National Press Secretary on my Historic Campaign, and I am pleased to announce she will serve as White House Press Secretary,” Trump …

CNN reports: President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is bypassing traditional FBI background checks for at least some of his Cabinet picks while using private companies to conduct vetting of potential candidates for administration jobs, people close to the transition planning say. Trump and his allies believe the FBI system is slow and plagued with issues that could stymie the president-elect’s plan …

Law & Crime reports: Rudy Giuliani’s legal woes continued to worsen this week. On the heels of his bankruptcy attorneys seeking to quit, a Colorado appeals court on Thursday handed down a significant victory to a former Dominion Voting Systems executive, allowing him to proceed with a defamation lawsuit. The ruling was issued by a three-judge panel on the Colorado …

Politico reports: Steven Cheung, who served as Donald Trump’s principal spokesperson on his 2024 campaign and also served on his 2020 and 2016 campaigns, is joining the White House as communications director, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Cheung has been a near constant presence at Trump’s side and a key member of his tight-knit presidential …

“It’s breathtaking in its extremism. Matt Gaetz has no experience whatsoever with the Department of Justice other than being a subject of investigation for trafficking, sex trafficking minors. “That’s his experience with the Department of Justice. We’re talking about someone who would be responsible for the entire system of justice, who has been and investigated by the system of justice …

The Columbia Journalism Review reports: The letter, addressed to lawyers at the New York Times and Penguin Random House, arrived a week before the election. Attached was a discursive ten-page legal threat from an attorney for Donald Trump that demanded $10 billion in damages over “false and defamatory statements” contained in articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig, …