Tag Archives: Matt Whitaker

CNN reports: Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker warned Russia is “trying to interfere in 2020” during remarks at the Oxford Union in the UK on Friday, remarks that came after it was revealed that a Capitol Hill briefing on Russia’s continued election interference had angered President Donald Trump. CNN has obtained a recording of Whitaker’s remarks. Whitaker, who replaced …

Politico reports: A federal judge has turned down the Justice Department’s bid to keep secret several financial disclosure forms ex-acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker submitted before his filings were formally accepted by ethics officials. Acting on a Freedom of Information Act suit brought by BuzzFeed, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor McFadden ruled Wednesday that the draft financial disclosures are not …

The Hill reports: The head of the House Judiciary Committee says former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker “did not deny” that President Trump had called to talk to him about “personnel decisions” involving a federal investigation into hush money payments made to two women. “Mr. Whitaker did not deny that the president called him to discuss the Michael Cohen case …

NBC News reports:  Former acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker left his position at the Justice Department on Saturday, a department spokeswoman said. Whitaker had been serving as a senior counselor at the Justice Department since Attorney General William Barr was sworn in last month. His next career move is unknown, but Whitaker has told friends that he will remain in …

The New York Times reports: As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Saturday ripped congressional Democrats after a tense House hearing with Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker the previous day. Whitaker appeared in front of the Judiciary Committee for nearly six hours on Friday, where he was grilled by Democrats about special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and other topics. He repeatedly refused to discuss his conversations …

Axios reports: Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker put on a performance today that’s likely to leave plenty of top Trump officials even less excited about the prospect of their day on Capitol Hill. After two years of being left alone by Republicans, Trumpworld is staring down the barrel at two grueling years of no-win situations before House committees. If you …

“I do find it kind of rich that Republicans are so outraged that there would be this kind of a hearing of the other party’s president and administration. It’s not like Republicans sat on their hands when Barack Obama was president. They investigated Benghazi, they investigated Fast & Furious, they investigated the IRS, and those were all legitimate issues to …

The Associated Press reports: Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker is testifying before Congress for the first time Friday, with Democrats eager to press him on his interactions with President Donald Trump and his oversight of the special counsel’s Russia investigation. Whitaker’s highly anticipated testimony was in limbo for much of the day Thursday after the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee approved …

The Associated Press reports: The Justice Department told the House Judiciary Committee Thursday afternoon that acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker will not appear at Friday’s closely-watched oversight hearing unless he receives a written assurance by 6 p.m. ET Thursday that he will not be served with the subpoena the committee pre-emptively authorized to use if he avoids questions. The House …

The Washington Post reports: The head of the Justice Department said Monday that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation is nearing an end — the first official acknowledgment that the probe that has ensnared President Trump may soon reach a conclusion. Acting attorney general Matthew G. Whitaker made the comment during a news conference about an unrelated subject …

The Wall Street Journal reports: Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. Attorney General, has incorrectly claimed on his résumé and in government documents to have been named an Academic All-American while playing football at the University of Iowa, according to the documents and the organization that awards that honor. Mr. Whitaker, who was a tight end on the Iowa team from …

CNN reports: Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker has consulted with ethics officials at the Justice Department and they have advised him he does not need to recuse himself from overseeing special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, a source familiar with the process told CNN Thursday. The source added Whitaker has been in ongoing discussions with ethics officials since taking the …

The New York Times reports: As Federal Trade Commission lawyers investigated a Miami company accused of defrauding thousands of customers, they were stunned to learn last year about a new job for a figure in their inquiry, Matthew G. Whitaker: He had been named chief of staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. “You’re not going to believe this… Matt Whitaker …

The Washington Post reports: Months after joining the advisory board of a Miami-based patent company in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker began fielding angry complaints from customers that they were being defrauded, including from a client who showed up at his Iowa office to appeal to him personally for help, records show. Yet Whitaker, now the acting attorney general, remained an …

Open Secrets reports: A single six-figure donor accounted for 100 percent of funding raised by a nonprofit run by acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker before he became Jeff Sessions’ chief of staff last year, new tax documents obtained by the Center for Responsive Politics reveal. President Trump tapped Whitaker to become acting Attorney General earlier in November after Jeff Sessions …

The Washington Post reports: In the three years after he arrived in Washington in 2014, Matthew G. Whitaker received more than $1.2 million as the leader of a charity that reported having no other employees, some of the best pay of his career. The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust described itself as a new watchdog nonprofit dedicated to exposing …

Politico reports: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) sent a letter Tuesday requesting that the Justice Department inspector general investigate communications between Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker and the White House. In his letter, Schumer cited news reports of Whitaker’s close relationship with President Donald Trump during his previous role as chief of staff to former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. …

The Daily Beast reports: A group of Senate Democrats is suing to block Matt Whitaker from serving as acting attorney general on grounds that his placement in the post was unconstitutional. The suit, which is being filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, is …

Politico reports: Senate Republicans are urging President Donald Trump to quickly nominate a permanent attorney general, hoping a new top law enforcement officer will blunt bipartisan concern over the future of special counsel Robert Mueller and boost the GOP ahead of tough government funding talks. “If we had some confidence that there is somebody nominated that would be confirmed in …