Trump Lies

CNN reports: President Donald Trump said on Thursday he did not know about a $130,000 payment made to the adult film actress Stormy Daniels for her silence, his first public acknowledgment of the scandal surrounding an alleged sexual affair that has plagued him for months. “No,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One when questioned about his knowledge of the …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has taken the unusual step of questioning Russian oligarchs who traveled into the US, stopping at least one and searching his electronic devices when his private jet landed at a New York area airport, according to multiple sources familiar with the inquiry. A second Russian oligarch was stopped during a recent trip to …

The Hill reports: A CNN analyst on Wednesday mocked President Trump, saying he has been “reduced to LegalZoom” to find lawyers to represent him. “What the president needs is a lawyer with experience in criminal law. He still doesn’t have one,” Jeffrey Toobin, CNN chief legal analyst, said during a panel on CNN. “It is an extraordinary spectacle to see …

Patch reports: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders will be hosting a press conference Wednesday afternoon. Likely topics include a looming trade war with China, and whether President Trump will meet with Robert Mueller after reportedly being told he is not a “target” in the Russia collusion investigation yet. Beijing has announced a $50 billion list of U.S. goods …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Tuesday argued he has been tougher on Russia than any of his predecessors, despite frequent criticisms from lawmakers over his relationship with Russia and Vladimir Putin. “Ideally we want to get along with Russia. Getting along with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Maybe we will maybe we won’t,” Trump told …

Business Insider reports: President Donald Trump celebrated a poll that showed an upswing in his job approval rating by bashing his predecessor as “Cheatin’ Obama” on Twitter on Tuesday. Trump frequently cites Rasmussen, a right-leaning polling firm that consistently ranks Trump’s approval higher than other polling firms. Based on Rasmussen’s historical numbers, Trump now sits ahead of Obama, who was …

Law & Crime reports: A judge for the New York Supreme Court ruled that Summer Zervos‘s defamation lawsuit against Donald Trump will continue, but POTUS’s legal team isn’t going to accept that. Court records obtained by Law&Crime show that they filed a notice of appeal on Sunday. The attorneys want to take the ruling to the Appellate Division of the …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The special counsel investigating alleged links between Trump campaign associates and Russians is looking into longtime adviser Roger Stone’s 2016 claim that he had met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, according to a person familiar with the matter. WikiLeaks, an antisecrecy website, later released a trove of material on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton that U.S. …

Reuters reports: Shares of Amazon.com Inc fell 3 percent on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump again attacked the online retailer over the pricing of its deliveries through the U.S. postal system and promised unspecified changes. Trump on Thursday accused Amazon of not paying enough tax, making the postal system lose money and putting small retailers out of business. But …

Politico reports: Former Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin on Sunday denied he resigned his position. In an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the ousted VA chief again argued he was undermined by elements of the Trump administration seeking to privatize services for veterans and said his potential successor, Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, would need “a good team around him” …

Politico reports: The White House is now asserting that recently departed Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin resigned. Shulkin has made it clear in his public comments that he was forced out. While Washington often wraps firings in the verbal cloak of a resignation, the distinction this time could have far-reaching implications that could throw the Department of Veterans Affairs, the …

The New York Daily News reports: President Trump is getting a jump start on April Fools’ Day. Without a hint of irony, Trump announced Friday that next month will be dedicated to “sexual assault awareness and prevention.” Trump, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by nearly two dozen women, said in a presidential proclamation that sex crimes remain “tragically …

The Palm Beach Post reports: Good morning. It is party cloudy and 70 degrees in Palm Beach, with a high of 79 degrees and no rain expected today. The president arrived at Palm Beach International Airport last night and went directly to Mar-a-Lago to join his family for the Easter weekend. It’s his 16th presidential visit to Palm Beach. UPDATE …

The Hill reports: Two watchdog groups on Thursday filed a criminal complaint alleging that the Trump campaign and a super PAC controlled by President Trump’s new national security adviser John Bolton worked with the consulting firm Cambridge Analytica to violate a law preventing foreign nations from participating in U.S. elections. In the complaint, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington …

CNN reports: Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team last year made clear it wanted former Trump campaign deputy Rick Gates’ help, not so much against his former business partner Paul Manafort, but with its central mission: investigating the Trump campaign’s contact with the Russians. New information disclosed in court filings and to CNN this week begin to show how they’re getting …

Politico reports: The deposition of President Donald Trump and his personal lawyer Michael Cohen in the case over Stormy Daniels’ nondisclosure agreement is “absolutely not going to happen,” Cohen’s attorney said on Thursday. David Schwartz, the lawyer who represents Trump’s longtime personal attorney, told NBC host Megyn Kelly that a motion filed by Daniels’ legal team seeking permission to question …

The New York Times reports: A lawyer for President Trump broached the idea of Mr. Trump pardoning two of his former top advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Paul Manafort, with their lawyers last year, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. The discussions came as the special counsel was building cases against both men, and they raise questions …

CNN reports: A federal judge said Wednesday that a lawsuit alleging foreign gifts made to President Donald Trump may be illegal can proceed. But the ruling from Judge Peter Messitte of the US District Court of Maryland says the Maryland and District of Columbia attorneys general who brought the case will have to focus it on the Trump Organization’s operations …

How many lies will she tell today? White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is set to take questions from reporters on Wednesday afternoon. The briefing follows revelations from the special counsel’s office that former Trump deputy campaign manager Richard Gates communicated with an associate who was a known former Russian intelligence officer. The news briefing is set to begin …

The Daily Beast reports: Prosecutors working on the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election have linked Rick Gates, Donald Trump’s former deputy campaign chairman, to a person with ties to a Russian intelligence service. In a court filing released Tuesday night, prosecutors said Gates and the unnamed person, who had lived in Kiev and Moscow and …