Trump Lies

The New York Times reports: State prosecutors in Manhattan subpoenaed President Trump’s family business on Thursday, reviving an investigation into the company’s role in hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, according to people briefed on the matter. The subpoena, issued by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, demanded the Trump Organization provide documents related to money that had been …

ABC News reports: President Trump on Wednesday pushed back against Democratic presidential candidates decrying the treatment of migrants under his administration, blaming his predecessor for the construction of “cages.” The president repeated his claim that former President Obama implemented a policy of “child separation” and that he ended it. The Obama administration did not have a sweeping policy of prosecuting …

Talking Points Memo reports: It appears likely New York will have to wait to produce any of President Trump’s tax returns Congress may request, until certain legal questions surrounding a dispute over such a hypothetical request are settled. At a teleconference hearing on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols said he was “leaning” towards adopting a proposal that New York …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump made 78 false claims last week, including 24 related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and Russia. That compares to 61 false claims the week before and 29 the week before that. In the hours leading up to and after Mueller testified before two House committees, Trump unleashed a misinformation blitz about him on Twitter, …

Mediaite reports: During a signing ceremony for the 9/11 victim compensation fund bill, President Donald Trump — speaking to an audience filled with first responders — made reference his time “down there” at Ground Zero. Speaking from the White House Rose Garden Monday morning, the president discussed his time at the site of the attacks. “I was down there also,” …

Axios reports: President Trump is expected to nominate Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) to replace Dan Coats as director of national intelligence, according to three sources familiar with the president’s deliberations. Behind the scenes: Trump was thrilled by Ratcliffe’s admonishment of former special counsel Robert Mueller in last week’s House Judiciary Committee hearing. “The special counsel’s job, nowhere does it say …

Politico reports: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney said on Sunday President Donald Trump’s tweets against Rep. Elijah Cummings were not racist, explaining the president was just fighting back against “lies.” On “Fox News Sunday,” host Chris Wallace pointed out that the median household income in Cummings’ district is in the upper half nationally and that Columbia, Md., …

Roll Call reports: President Donald Trump said Friday that while he is a well-documented teetotaler, he prefers the appearance of American wines to their French counterparts. “I’ve always liked American wines better than French wines, even though I don’t drink wine. I just like the way they look,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Friday. Trump confirmed his administration …

The Hill reports: Government prosecutors filed a motion on Friday to get permission to show a clip from “The Godfather Part II” during the trial for Trump associate Roger Stone. The roughly four-and-a-half-minute scene, the prosecutors say, is one that Stone referenced in conversations that allegedly constituted witness tampering, according to court documents. “The relevant scene is important context for …

The New York Times reports: The House Judiciary Committee on Friday said it would ask a federal judge to unseal grand jury secrets related to Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and use the court filing to make the most explicit declaration yet that lawmakers are weighing whether to impeach President Trump. In a significant escalation, Representative Jerrold Nadler of New …

Deadline reports: President Donald Trump took a victory lap on Fox News last night, talking via phone to Hannity host Sean Hannity about Robert Mueller’s testimony before Congress. The President’s conclusion: The Democrats “created this phony crime” with their accusations of obstruction of justice. “I didn’t do it. They create a phony crime,” Trump said. “And then, they say, ‘he …

Mediaite reports: A new Fox News poll showed a large majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump‘s comments instructing four progressive Democrats to “go back” to unspecified countries were racist. 56% of all voters said that telling a person of color to “go back” is racist. 20% said it is not racist, and 18% say it depends. Among Republicans, 21% …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump’s pick for the top spokeswoman job at the Treasury Department repeatedly spread conspiracy theories that suggested then-President Barack Obama was secretly a Muslim who was sympathetic to America’s enemies. Monica Crowley, who was appointed by Trump last week as assistant treasury secretary for public affairs, made multiple comments spreading these false claims on her personal …

Politico reports: White House counselor Kellyanne Conway said Thursday she felt “great empathy and compassion” for former special counsel Robert Mueller, who has been the subject of criticism after giving congressional testimony in which he seemed at times unsure of the substance of the report his team released earlier this year. “I am first and foremost who I will always …

“The Committee has obtained direct evidence that multiple high-level White House officials have been violating the Presidential Records Act by using personal email accounts, text messaging services, and even encrypted applications for official business — and not preserving those records in compliance with federal law. What we do not yet know is why these White House officials were attempting to …

Mediaite reports: Donald Trump Jr. promoted a tweet from conservative polemicist Dinesh D’Souza calling Robert Mueller “mentally retarded” during a spate of attacks on the special counsel Wednesday. During his testimony, Mueller said he was “not familiar” with Fusion GPS, a research firm that hired Christopher Steele to look into President Donald Trump’s connections with Russia. The president’s son retweeted …

Courthouse News Service reports: They may not be able to prove racketeering, but victims of a purported multilevel-marketing scheme can sue President Donald Trump for luring them in without disclosing that he was being paid millions to do so. Four anonymous Americans brought the suit at issue last year, seeking to hold the Trump Corp., the president himself and three …

The Associated Press reports: Seeking to discredit Robert Mueller — and make some campaign money from the effort — President Donald Trump falsely claimed exoneration Wednesday even as the former special counsel was testifying to Congress about his investigation. TRUMP to his critics, in a fundraising letter from his 2020 campaign: “How many times do I have to be exonerated …

Vox reports: During Robert Mueller’s testimony in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) asked Mueller if he could indict the president on obstruction charges. The former special counsel’s answer was simple: “Yes.” It was a rare striking moment in a hearing that has, so far, been largely unenlightening. Mueller’s position is that he didn’t …

Just when you think you’re through with her lies for awhile: Former White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed Wednesday that Robert Mueller’s testimony vindicated President Trump, even as the former special counsel testified that his investigation did not exonerate the president. Sanders tweeted a clip in which Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Ga.) asked Mueller if he could think of …