US Politics in Trump era Public date: 02.10.2020 20:59:01

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

30 Sep 2020

Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750. He had paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — largely because he reported losing much more money than he made.
Donald J. Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House,...
18 Jul 2020

Lawmakers press SBA, Treasury officials on Cares Act transparency and loan forgiveness

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested Friday that the government should consider forgiving all taxpayer-backed small loans under the federal Paycheck Protection Program without verifying how the funds were used, a decision that could wipe away debt for millions of small businesses but would also substantially increase the risk of fraud.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin suggested Friday that the government should consider forgiving all taxpayer-backed...
16 Jul 2020

Small-business borrowers and bankers say Trump administration’s job data is riddled with inaccuracies

A trove of data on $517 billion in emergency small-business loans contains numerous errors that cast doubt on the Trump administration’s jobs claims and obscure the real economic impact of the program, according to a Washington Post analysis and interviews with bankers and borrowers.
A trove of data on $517 billion in emergency small-business loans contains numerous errors that cast doubt on the Trump...
11 Jul 2020

Trump commutes Stone sentence

President Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime confidant Roger Stone on Friday, using the extensive powers of the presidency to protect a felon and political ally while also lashing out against a years-long probe into Russia’s interference in the 2016 U.S. election.
President Trump commuted the sentence of his longtime confidant Roger Stone on Friday, using the extensive powers of the...
9 Jul 2020

Religious Organizations Receive $7.3 Billion in PPP Loans, Megachurches Amass Millions

Religious organizations across the U.S. have received at least $7.3 billion in federal rescue package loans, with evangelical leaders tied to President Donald Trump and megachurches tied to scandals pulling in some of the largest payouts.
Religious organizations across the U.S. have received at least $7.3 billion in federal rescue package loans, with...

Publisher: Time

Author:

28 Jun 2020

This Firm Settled a Federal Fraud Suit—Then Got a $45 Million Bailout

On April 15, the Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $41 million settlement with two Florida healthcare providers— and two of its former executives over fraudulent billing claims. This quartet, the government alleged, had for half a decade asked patients to undergo unnecessary urine drug tests solely for the purpose of getting reimbursements under Medicare and Medicaid.
On April 15, the Department of Justice announced that it had reached a $41 million settlement with two Florida...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

21 Jun 2020

Barr Tries to Fire Berman, S.D.N.Y. U.S. Attorney, but He Won’t Go

Attorney General William P. Barr on Friday night abruptly tried to fire the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Geoffrey S. Berman, who has investigated several of President Trump’s closest associates, but Mr. Berman said he would not leave.
Attorney General William P. Barr on Friday night abruptly tried to fire the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan,...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

20 Jun 2020

Bolton’s Book Says Trump Impeachment Inquiry Missed Other Troubling Actions

In his new book, John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, describes instances when the president sought to halt criminal inquiries. He also says President Trump’s loyalists mocked him behind his back.
In his new book, John R. Bolton, the former national security adviser, describes instances when the president sought to...
19 Jun 2020

John Bolton urged to elaborate on Trump-Erdoğan claims

The former US national security adviser John Bolton is facing calls to elaborate on a claim in his new book that Donald Trump agreed to help Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan by intervening in a federal investigation into a Turkish state-owned bank. The Turkish leader and his son-in-law and finance minister, Berat Albayrak, have both been linked to the Halkbank scandal by Turkish investigators.
The former US national security adviser John Bolton is facing calls to elaborate on a claim in his new book that Donald...
12 Jun 2020

Trump administration won’t say who got $511 billion in taxpayer-backed coronavirus loans

Federal officials responsible for spending $660 billion in taxpayer-backed small-business assistance said Wednesday that they will not disclose amounts or recipients of subsidized loans, backtracking on an earlier commitment to release individual loan data.
Federal officials responsible for spending $660 billion in taxpayer-backed small-business assistance said Wednesday that...

Publisher: Prospect

Author:

11 Jun 2020

Unsanitized: The Case of the Missing Bailout Oversight Panel Chair

So if we’re going to get much oversight, particularly of the bailout aspects of the CARES Act it’s probably going to come from the Congressional Oversight Commission, which specifically was charged with monitoring the Federal Reserve’s $4.5 trillion money cannon. There are supposed to be five members on the commission; one chosen by each leader in the House and Senate, and a fifth, the chair, chosen by mutual agreement between Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell.
So if we’re going to get much oversight, particularly of the bailout aspects of the CARES Act it’s probably going to...
24 May 2020

Coronavirus and CDC: Test Counting Error Leaves Epidemiologists ‘Really Baffled’

The Centers for Disease Control has been lumping together tests for active coronavirus with tests for recovered patients, boosting testing totals but muddying the pandemic’s course.
The Centers for Disease Control has been lumping together tests for active coronavirus with tests for recovered...
19 May 2020

Trump fired watchdog who was probing Saudi arms sales, Democrats say

President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S. military sales to Saudi Arabia, Democratic lawmakers said on Monday, although Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he sought Linick’s removal because his work was undermining the department.
President Donald Trump may have fired State Department Inspector General Steve Linick because he was investigating U.S....

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

17 May 2020

Trump Removes State Dept. Inspector General

President Trump continued his purge of inspectors general late Friday, moving to oust Steve A. Linick, who had served in that post at the State Department since 2013, and replacing him with an ambassador with close ties to Vice President Mike Pence. The decision to remove Mr. Linick, first reported Friday night by Politico, is the latest in a purge of inspectors general whom Mr. Trump has deemed insufficiently loyal to his administration, upending the traditional independence of the internal watchdog agencies whose missions are to conduct oversight of the nation’s sprawling bureaucracy.
President Trump continued his purge of inspectors general late Friday, moving to oust Steve A. Linick, who had served in...
13 May 2020

Watchdog Demands Probe After Energy Secretary Admits WH Pressed Fed to Give Oil Companies Access to Covid-19 Funds

A watchdog on the congressional committee tasked with overseeing the Trump administration's handling of Covid-19 bailout funds demanded an investigation Tuesday after Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette openly admitted in a television appearance that the White House pressed the Federal Reserve to alter one of its lending programs for the benefit of fossil fuel companies.
A watchdog on the congressional committee tasked with overseeing the Trump administration's handling of Covid-19 bailout...
10 May 2020

‘Heads we win, tails you lose’: how America’s rich have turned pandemic into profit

Some of the richest people in the US have been at the front of the queue as the government has handed out trillions of dollars to prop up an economy it shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, the billionaire class has added $308bn to its wealth in four weeks - even as a record 26 million people lost their jobs.
Some of the richest people in the US have been at the front of the queue as the government has handed out trillions of...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

9 May 2020

Using Coronavirus, GOP Wins Long-Desired Bank Deregulation

Republican lawmakers and finance industry lobbyists are using the coronavirus pandemic to press regulators into rapidly waiving financial safeguards for community banks. And so far, banking regulators have obliged, lifting rules imposed after the 2008 crisis that limit risk-taking and require banks to undergo more strenuous audits.
Republican lawmakers and finance industry lobbyists are using the coronavirus pandemic to press regulators into rapidly...
5 May 2020

Strategic National Stockpile chief Robert Kadlec focused on biodefense — and a former client, Emergent BioSolutions, benefited

After Robert Kadlec was confirmed as President Trump’s top official for public health preparedness in 2017, he began pressing to increase government stocks of a smallpox vaccine. His office ultimately made a deal to buy up to $2.8 billion of the vaccine from a company that once paid Kadlec as a consultant, a connection he did not disclose on a Senate questionnaire when he was nominated.
After Robert Kadlec was confirmed as President Trump’s top official for public health preparedness in 2017, he began...
2 May 2020

Small Business Administration funds to public companies top $1 billion

Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses from the federal government’s economic stimulus package, according to data from securities filings compiled by The Washington Post.
Publicly traded companies have received more than $1 billion in funds meant for small businesses from the federal...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

27 Apr 2020

Small Business Rescue Money Flows to Major Trump Donors

Major donors to President Donald Trump’s presidential reelection campaign have won coveted loans from the Paycheck Protection Program, the new government effort to provide a lifeline to small businesses under duress because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Major donors to President Donald Trump’s presidential reelection campaign have won coveted loans from the Paycheck...
23 Apr 2020

32 millionaire CEOs who scooped up taxpayer money meant for struggling small businesses

With the pandemic severely restricting economic activity, thousands of small businesses across the country are on the brink of collapse. Congress created the Paycheck Protection Program as a lifeline. The $350 billion fund was intended to rescue small businesses with forgivable loans to cover their payrolls for two months.
With the pandemic severely restricting economic activity, thousands of small businesses across the country are on the...
8 Apr 2020

Donald Trump Has Stake In Hydroxychloroquine Drugmaker

President Donald Trump reportedly owns a stake in a company that produces hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he has repeatedly touted as a coronavirus treatment even though his experts say there’s no strong evidence it works. 
President Donald Trump reportedly owns a stake in a company that produces hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug he...
8 Apr 2020

Trump removes Inspector General Glenn Fine, who was tasked to oversee coronavirus stimulus spending

President Trump has removed the chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administration's management of the $2 trillion stimulus package passed last month. Glenn Fine, who had been the acting Pentagon inspector general, was informed Monday that he was being replaced by Sean W. O’Donnell, currently the inspector general at the Environmental Protection Agency.
President Trump has removed the chairman of the federal panel Congress created to oversee his administration's...

Publisher: Bloomberg

Author:

21 Mar 2020

The Stocks Senators Unloaded Before the Coronavirus Crash

Senator Richard Burr has called for an ethics investigation into himself and three other senators who sold off stock. Burr—a North Carolina Republican who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee—sold up to $1.72 million in stock through Feb. 13, shortly before reassuring the public that the government had a handle on the coronavirus response.
Senator Richard Burr has called for an ethics investigation into himself and three other senators who sold off stock....

Publisher: Fortune

Author:

20 Mar 2020

Coronavirus in the U.S.: Trump told governors to buy own pandemic supplies, then outbid them

President Donald Trump’s directive for governors to buy their own medical supplies to fight the coronavirus has run into a big problem—the federal government. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker told Trump during a video conference on Thursday that his state three times lost out to the federal government on purchases of critical supplies, creating an awkward moment during the made-for-TV event at Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington.
President Donald Trump’s directive for governors to buy their own medical supplies to fight the coronavirus has run...
19 Mar 2020

Barr DOJ Dismisses Case Against Russian Hackers Just In Time For 2020 Election

Once again, the Russians out-trolled us, but this time they turned their sites on America’s judicial system. Yesterday the Justice Department moved to dismiss charges against “Putin’s Chef” Yevgeny Prigozhin, who funded a squad of Russian hackers that flooded social media with divisive, anti-Clinton propaganda during the 2016 election.
Once again, the Russians out-trolled us, but this time they turned their sites on America’s judicial system. Yesterday...
18 Mar 2020

DHS Inspector General’s office nearly dormant under Trump as reports and audits plummet

The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog division has been so weakened under the Trump administration that it is failing to provide basic oversight of the government’s third-largest federal agency, according to whistleblowers and lawmakers from both parties.
The Department of Homeland Security’s internal watchdog division has been so weakened under the Trump administration...
6 Mar 2020

How much the Secret Service has spent at Trump’s properties

President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms it uses while protecting Trump at his properties. The charges have been as high as $650 per night for a Mar-a-Lago Club hotel room, or $17,000 a month for a cottage at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster.
President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms it uses while protecting Trump at his properties....
8 Feb 2020

Secret Service spending at Trump hotels: Rooms for agents cost up to $650 per night

President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury properties — billing U.S. taxpayers at rates as high as $650 per night, according to federal records and people who have seen receipts.Those charges, compiled here for the first time, show that Trump has an unprecedented — and largely hidden — business relationship with his own government.
President Trump’s company charges the Secret Service for the rooms agents use while protecting him at his luxury...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

27 Jan 2020

Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says

President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton.
President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

17 Jan 2020

Lev Parnas, Key Player in Ukraine Affair, Completes Break With Trump and Giuliani

Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate political rivals of President Trump, completed his break with the White House on Wednesday, asserting for the first time in public that the president was fully aware of the efforts to dig up damaging information on his behalf.
Lev Parnas, the Soviet-born businessman who played a central role in the campaign to pressure Ukraine to investigate...
3 Dec 2019

As Nation Transfixed by Impeachment, Trump Quietly Provides Offshore Drilling Industry ‘Sweetheart Giveaway’

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was condemned Monday for a proposed policy shift on offshore drilling panned as a "sweetheart giveaway" for a former client.  The new extraction-encouraging proposal was announced last month in a report by the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), two agencies within the Interior Department and occurred, according to transparency group Western Values Project, "under the cloud of impeachment."
Interior Secretary David Bernhardt was condemned Monday for a proposed policy shift on offshore drilling panned as a...
22 Nov 2019

Secret Service spent quarter of a million dollars at Trump’s properties in first five months of his term, records show

The U.S. Secret Service paid more than $250,000 to President Trump’s private businesses in just the first five months of his presidency - paying Trump’s company an average of nearly $2,000 per day, according to Secret Service records.
The U.S. Secret Service paid more than $250,000 to President Trump’s private businesses in just the first five months...
14 Nov 2019

New testimony ties Trump more directly to Ukraine pressure campaign

A top diplomat on Wednesday tied President Trump more directly to the effort to pressure Ukraine to probe his political opponents, describing a phone call in which Trump sought information about the status of the investigations he had asked Ukraine to launch one day earlier.
A top diplomat on Wednesday tied President Trump more directly to the effort to pressure Ukraine to probe his political...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

12 Nov 2019

How Russia Meddles Abroad for Profit: Cash, Trolls and a Cult Leader

The Russians were hard to miss. They appeared suddenly last year in Madagascar’s traffic-snarled capital, carrying backpacks stuffed with cash and campaign swag decorated with the name of Madagascar’s president.It was one of Russia’s most overt attempts at election interference to date.
The Russians were hard to miss. They appeared suddenly last year in Madagascar’s traffic-snarled capital, carrying...

Publisher: Newsweek

Author:

1 Nov 2019

Trump Is Committing ‘Felony Bribery’ by Giving Fundraising Cash to GOP Senators Ahead of Impeachment Trial: Ex-Bush Ethics Lawyer

Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, warned on Thursday that President Donald Trump appeared to be committing "felony bribery" by giving Republican senators fundraising cash ahead of an increasingly likely impeachment trial in the Senate.
Attorney Richard Painter, who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, warned...
30 Oct 2019

$16.8 Million In Campaign Funds Went To Trump Businesses, Latest Records Reveal

Not only have the U.S. and foreign governments spent money at properties owned by Donald Trump, but the president’s own political campaign and affiliated political committees have also spent about $16.8 million at his businesses since he launched his 2016 bid for the presidency, according to an analysis of federal election spending records.
Not only have the U.S. and foreign governments spent money at properties owned by Donald Trump, but the president’s...
23 Oct 2019

Giuliani’s U.S. Attorney Legacy Is Coming Back to Haunt Him

Giuliani sought help for a Turkish-backed client accused of violating Iranian sanctions from a president who has a one-word policy for dealing with Tehran: sanctions. In the end, Zarrab pleaded guilty.
Giuliani sought help for a Turkish-backed client accused of violating Iranian sanctions from a president who has a...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

18 Oct 2019

Mulvaney Says Trump Held Back Ukraine Aid Pending Investigation of Democrats

Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said Thursday that the Trump administration withheld nearly $400 million in military aid to pressure Ukraine to investigate what the president has long insisted was Kiev’s assistance to Democrats during the 2016 election.
Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, said Thursday that the Trump administration withheld nearly $400...
18 Oct 2019

“There Is Definite Hanky-Panky Going On”: The Fantastically Profitable Mystery of the Trump Chaos Trade

In the last 10 minutes of trading on Friday, August 23, as the markets were roiling in the face of more bad trade news, someone bought 386,000 September e-minis. Three days later, Trump lied about getting a call from China to restart the trade talks, and the S&P 500 index shot up nearly 80 points. The potential profit on the trade was more than $1.5 billion.
In the last 10 minutes of trading on Friday, August 23, as the markets were roiling in the face of more bad trade news,...
12 Oct 2019

Trump Had Ukraine Envoy Removed on ‘False Claims,’ She Tells House Inquiry

Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was recalled as the American ambassador to Ukraine in May, testified to impeachment investigators on Friday that a top State Department official told her that President Trump had pushed for her removal for months even though the department believed she had “done nothing wrong.”
Marie L. Yovanovitch, who was recalled as the American ambassador to Ukraine in May, testified to impeachment...

Publisher: Newsweek

Author:

11 Oct 2019

Deutsche Bank Might Have Destroyed Physical Copies of Trump’s Tax Returns, Cleansed Servers, Claims Former Executive

A former Deutsche Bank executive who reviewed President Donald Trump's tax returns reportedly said it is "not normal" that the institution no longer holds copies of those records.Trump for many years relied on Deutsche Bank for loans to sustain his real estate business when many other institutions would not lend to him because of his rocky financial history.The president is accused by some, including his former attorney Michael Cohen, of manipulating the value of his assets to either secure finance or reduce his tax bill.
A former Deutsche Bank executive who reviewed President Donald Trump's tax returns reportedly said it is "not normal"...

Publisher: Newsweek

Author:

8 Oct 2019

Ivanka Tweet Thanking Turkey’s Erdogan for Attending Istanbul Trump Towers Launch Re-Emerges Amid Syria Controversy

As the world reacted to America's sudden abandonment of its most trusted and effective local allies, a tweet from Trump's daughter Ivanka resurfaced, detailing a relevant conflict of interest regarding relations with Turkey."Thank you Prime Minister Erdogan for joining us yesterday to celebrate the launch of #TrumpTowers Istanbul!" Ivanka wrote in April 2012. The construction—made up of two conjoined towers—is one of seven current Trump Towers locations.
As the world reacted to America's sudden abandonment of its most trusted and effective local allies, a tweet from...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

2 Oct 2019

Trump Pressed Australian Leader to Help Barr Investigate Mueller Inquiry’s Origins

President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P. Barr gather information for a Justice Department inquiry that Mr. Trump hopes will discredit the Mueller investigation, according to two American officials with knowledge of the call.
President Trump pushed the Australian prime minister during a recent telephone call to help Attorney General William P....
1 Oct 2019

I Wrote About the Bidens and Ukraine Years Ago

It’s strange to see my journalism twisted, perverted, and turned into lies and poisonous propaganda by Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and their enablers. But that’s what has happened to a news story I wrote four years ago.
It’s strange to see my journalism twisted, perverted, and turned into lies and poisonous propaganda by Donald Trump,...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

27 Sep 2019

Trump Attacks Whistle-Blower’s Sources and Alludes to Punishment for Spies

President Trump told a crowd of staff from the United States Mission to the United Nations on Thursday morning that he wants to know who provided information to a whistle-blower about his phone call with the president of Ukraine, saying that whoever did so was “close to a spy” and that “in the old days,” spies were dealt with differently.
President Trump told a crowd of staff from the United States Mission to the United Nations on Thursday morning that he...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

27 Sep 2019

White House Tried to ‘Lock Down’ Ukraine Call Records, Whistle-Blower Says

After hearing that President Trump tried to persuade Ukraine to investigate a 2020 campaign rival, senior officials at the White House scrambled to “lock down” records of the call, a whistle-blower alleged in an explosive complaint released Thursday.
After hearing that President Trump tried to persuade Ukraine to investigate a 2020 campaign rival, senior officials at...

Publisher: Rolling Stone

Author:

18 Sep 2019

Mitch McConnell: The Man Who Sold America

McConnell has been unpopular in his home state for years, but his approval rating plunged in one poll to a rock-bottom 18 percent — with a re-election campaign looming in 2020. In January, he had raised red flags among Republicans and -Democrats alike when he took a key role in lifting sanctions on Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, a Putin ally under FBI investigation for his involvement in 2016 election-meddling; three months later, Deripaska’s aluminum company, Rusal, announced a $200 million investment in Kentucky.
McConnell has been unpopular in his home state for years, but his approval rating plunged in one poll to a rock-bottom...
16 Sep 2019

Citing Previous ‘Misstatements of Fact’ and Corruption Allegations, House Democrats Open Ethics Probe into Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao

U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is the target of a new investigation by House Democrats who are trying to determine whether the powerful member of Trump's cabinet, and the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, has abused her position in order to provide financial or other benefits to members of her family and herself.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao is the target of a new investigation by House Democrats who are trying to...
12 Sep 2019

A Mystery $325,000 To A Pro-Trump Super PAC Confounds Experts

How the hunt to find out who donated $325k to a pro-Trump Super PAC leads to Florida, Giuliani, and Ukraine. The story introduces a cast of characters from the intersection of Trumpworld, Giulianiworld, and Ukraineworld that provide a backdrop to the mystery of how the $325,000 wound up in GOP coffers.
How the hunt to find out who donated $325k to a pro-Trump Super PAC leads to Florida, Giuliani, and Ukraine. The story...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

10 Sep 2019

Koch Data Mining Sent Anti-Immigrant Ads to Targeted Voters

Last year, when many GOP candidates across the country turned to vicious anti-immigrant advertisements to turn out voters in the midterm elections, some turned to i360, Koch’s state-of-the-art data analytics company. The company is one of the several appendages of the Koch political machine — one that includes a suite of voter outreach organization, lobbying, and campaign messaging tools.
Last year, when many GOP candidates across the country turned to vicious anti-immigrant advertisements to turn out...

Publisher: DCReport

Author:

21 Aug 2019

How Moscow Mitch Won a New Russian Plant in Kentucky.

Critics of a Kremlin-linked industrial giant investing $200 million in a new aluminum plant in Kentucky say it gives Moscow political influence that could undermine national security. Pointing to Moscow’s use of economic leverage to sway European politics, they warn the deal is a stalking horse for a new kind of Russian meddling in America, one that exploits the U.S. free-market system instead of its elections.
Critics of a Kremlin-linked industrial giant investing $200 million in a new aluminum plant in Kentucky say it gives...

Publisher: Mother Jones

Author:

14 Aug 2019

Donald Trump Jr. Apparently Has No Idea What a Conflict of Interest Is

Donald Trump Jr. flew to Indonesia this week to help cut the ribbon on two new Trump-branded resorts. When he was there, he told reporters that the idea that the president’s business interests in the country would affect American policy was “totally asinine.” But even as Trump Jr. dismissed the potential for a conflict of interest, his father’s business partner, Indonesian billionaire and political impresario Hary Tanoesoedibjo, explicitly promoted the event as a visit from the US president’s son.
Donald Trump Jr. flew to Indonesia this week to help cut the ribbon on two new Trump-branded resorts. When he was...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

14 Aug 2019

How a Trump Ally Tested the Boundaries of Washington’s Influence Game

Elliott Broidy had the kind of past that might have given a more traditional White House reason to keep him at a distance: A wealthy businessman, he had pleaded guilty in 2009 to giving nearly $1 million in illegal gifts to New York State officials to help land a $250 million investment from the state’s pension fund.
Elliott Broidy had the kind of past that might have given a more traditional White House reason to keep him at a...
10 Aug 2019

‘She was shaking’: Court filings describe system Jeffrey Epstein allegedly used to procure girls

He demanded sex three times a day. A parade of powerful figures visited his private estates, which were adorned with pictures of naked girls and stocked with sex toys. And the schedules of teenagers on call to give him massages at his Palm Beach, Fla., mansion were documented in phone messages from his assistants.
He demanded sex three times a day. A parade of powerful figures visited his private estates, which were adorned with...

Publisher: Newsweek

Author:

27 Jul 2019

Mitch McConnell Received Donations from Voting Machine Lobbyists Before Blocking Election Security Bills

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell squashed two bills intended to ensure voting security on Thursday, just one day after former special counsel Robert Mueller warned that Russians were attempting to sabotage the 2020 presidential elections "as we sit here."McConnell said he wouldn't allow a vote on the bills because they were "so partisan," but, as previously reported, earlier this year McConnell received a slew of donations from four of the top voting machine lobbyists in the country.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell squashed two bills intended to ensure voting security on Thursday, just one day...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

24 Jul 2019

Emails Show DeVos Aides Pulled Strings for Failing For-Profit Colleges

Dream Center Education Holdings, a subsidiary of a Los Angeles-based megachurch, had no experience in higher education when it petitioned the federal Education Department to let it take over a troubled chain of for-profit trade schools.But the organization’s chairman, Randall K. Barton, told the education secretary, Betsy DeVos, that the foundation wanted to “help people live better lives.”
Dream Center Education Holdings, a subsidiary of a Los Angeles-based megachurch, had no experience in higher education...

Publisher: NYTimes

Author:

23 Jul 2019

Jeffrey Epstein’s Deep Ties to Top Wall Street Figures

Mr. Epstein, who was charged this month with sex trafficking of teenage girls, liked to portray himself as a financial wizard, someone whose business and investing acumen made him indispensable to corporate executives and other leaders. But there is little evidence to support that notion. The financial services that Mr. Epstein dispensed appear to have been mostly pedestrian, and his list of clients small.Mr. Epstein nonetheless managed to affix himself to a handful of prominent Wall Street veterans, including Mr. Staley, who is now chief executive of the British bank Barclays.
Mr. Epstein, who was charged this month with sex trafficking of teenage girls, liked to portray himself as a financial...

Did Pedophile Jeffrey Epstein Work for Mossad?

The extent of Israeli spying directed against the United States is a huge story that is only rarely addressed in the mainstream media. The Jewish state regularly tops the list for ostensibly friendly countries that aggressively conduct espionage against the U.S. and Jewish American Jonathan Pollard, who was imprisoned in 1987 for spying for Israel, is now regarded as the most damaging spy in the history of the United States.
The extent of Israeli spying directed against the United States is a huge story that is only rarely addressed in the...

Publisher: EcoWatch

Author:

29 Jun 2019

EPA Air Quality Chief Resigns Over Ethics Investigation

So little time, so much damage done. That's the legacy left by Bill Wehrum who spent only one and a half years as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) top air quality official before announcing that he will step down this weekend under the cloud of a federal ethics investigation over possible conflicts of interest. His resignation follows conflicting statement he made to Congress about his industry connections, according to Politico.
So little time, so much damage done. That's the legacy left by Bill Wehrum who spent only one and a half years as the...
28 Jun 2019

VA ordered fake appointments to cut waiting list, whistleblower says

The Department of Veterans Affairs moved to fire a whistleblowing psychologist, Aghevli, one day before her House testimony. Aghevli has made disclosures that she said led department officials to dismiss her, despite her Gold VA Pins for excellent customer service. Aghevli’s allegations are serious. They include phony-wait-list assertions of the type that have bedeviled VA since it was consumed by a scandal that broke in 2014. She also accused department officials of lying to Congress.
The Department of Veterans Affairs moved to fire a whistleblowing psychologist, Aghevli, one day before her House...

Publisher: The Independent

Author:

22 Jun 2019

How government money follows Trump on presidential visits to his clubs

When Donald Trump finished the first official rally of his re-election campaign this week, he got on Air Force One. But he didn't go home to Washington. Instead, he flew 190 miles in the opposite direction – to visit his own Doral golf resort, outside Miami. It would be his 126th visit to one of his properties since taking office. And this visit – like more than a dozen before it – would bring paying customers, allowing Mr Trump to play a double role.
When Donald Trump finished the first official rally of his re-election campaign this week, he got on Air Force One. But...
17 Jun 2019

How Donald Trump silenced the people who could expose his business failures

How did Donald Trump, a self-serving promoter who lost billions of dollars for his investors, convince the world that he is a financial genius? It wasn’t just by fabricating tales of his success. It was also by bullying and silencing people who could have stopped those deceits — particularly reporters and Wall Street analysts — forcing all but a very few into a conspiracy of silence.
How did Donald Trump, a self-serving promoter who lost billions of dollars for his investors, convince the world that he...

Publisher: The Guardian

Author:

11 Jun 2019

Company part-owned by Jared Kushner got $90m from unknown offshore investors since 2017

A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle since he entered the White House as a senior adviser to his father-in-law Donald Trump. Investment has flowed from overseas to the company, Cadre, while Kushner works as an international envoy for the US, according to corporate filings and interviews. The money came through a vehicle run by Goldman Sachs in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven that guarantees corporate secrecy.
A real estate company part-owned by Jared Kushner has received $90m in foreign funding from an opaque offshore vehicle...
11 Jun 2019

Homeland Security watchdog retires early after his office was forced to retract ‘feel-good’ audits of disaster response

John V. Kelly, the acting inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, announced his retirement Monday following revelations that he directed his staff to whitewash audits of the agency’s performance after federal disasters.
John V. Kelly, the acting inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, announced his retirement Monday...
30 May 2019

Bannon described Trump Organization as ‘criminal enterprise’, Michael Wolff book claims

The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization as a criminal entity and predicted that investigations into the president’s finances will lead to his political downfall, when he is revealed to be “not the billionaire he said he was, just another scumbag”.
The former White House adviser Steve Bannon has described the Trump Organization as a criminal entity and predicted that...

Publisher: CNBC

Author:

30 May 2019

Transportation Secretary Chao reportedly retained construction co. stake she pledged to divest

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held onto her shares of Vulcan Materials, a construction company she promised to divest from more than a year ago, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Vulcan, the U.S.′ largest supplier of sand and gravel used in paving and building, has seen its stock price rise more than 12% since April 2018, when Chao said she would cash out her shares, according to a 2017 government ethics agreement.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has held onto her shares of Vulcan Materials, a construction company she promised...
24 May 2019

Chicago bank CEO Stephen Calk accused of bribing Manafort for administration job

Stephen Calk, a former economic adviser to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was indicted Thursday for allegedly approving $16 million in loans to former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort in exchange for his help seeking a top post in the administration.
Stephen Calk, a former economic adviser to President Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was indicted Thursday for...
24 May 2019

Kushner Cos. Gets $800 Million Federally Backed Apartment Loan

Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has received about $800 million in federally backed debt to buy apartments in Maryland and Virginia -- the company’s biggest purchase in a decade.
Kushner Cos., the real estate firm owned by the family of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, has...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

14 May 2019

Congressional Staff Hosted at Anti-Medicare For All Retreat

At a luxury resort just outside of the nation’s capital last month, around four dozen senior congressional staffers decamped for a weekend of relaxation and discussion at Salamander Resort & Spa. It was an opportunity for Democrats and Republicans to come together and listen to live music from the Trailer Grass Orchestra, sip surprisingly impressive glasses of Virginia wine — and hear from health care lobbyists focused on defeating Medicare for All.
At a luxury resort just outside of the nation’s capital last month, around four dozen senior...

Publisher: NBC News

Author:

3 May 2019

State Dept. allowed foreign govts to lease luxury condos at Trump World Tower without Congress OK

The U.S. State Department allowed at least seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump World Tower in 2017 without approval from Congress, according to documents and people familiar with the leases, a potential violation of the U.S. Constitution's emoluments clause.
The U.S. State Department allowed at least seven foreign governments to rent luxury condominiums in New York's Trump...
2 May 2019

Mueller complained that Barr’s letter did not capture ‘context’ of Trump probe

Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wrote a letter in late March complaining to Attorney General William P. Barr that a four-page memo to Congress describing the principal conclusions of the investigation into President Trump “did not fully capture the context, nature, and substance” of Mueller’s work, according to a copy of the letter reviewed Tuesday by The Washington Post.
Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III wrote a letter in late March complaining to Attorney General William P. Barr that...
22 Apr 2019

Things Didn’t Go Well When Betsy DeVos Was Confronted With Her Department’s Charter School Fraud

During a series of recent congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had to respond to a recent report finding the U.S. Department of Education has been scammed for hundreds of millions of dollars by fraudulent or mismanaged charter schools. Her responses reveal not only her inability to counter legitimate concerns over the spread of charter schools but also the charter school industry’s resistance to honestly address a chronic problem with its schools.
During a series of recent congressional hearings in Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos had to...

Publisher: Newsweek

Author:

20 Apr 2019

Sanctioned Russian Oligarch’s Company to Invest Millions in New Aluminum Plant in Mitch McConnell’s State

Rusal, the aluminum company partially owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, announced plans to invest around $200 million to build a new aluminum plant in Kentucky just months after the Trump administration removed it from the U.S. sanctions list.
Rusal, the aluminum company partially owned by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, announced plans to invest around $200...

Publisher: EcoWatch

Author:

13 Apr 2019

A Former Oil Lobbyist Is Now Officially in Charge of America’s Public Lands

The Senate voted to confirm former oil-and-gas lobbyist David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior Thursday, despite calls from Democrats and government watchdogs to investigate his past conduct. ​The confirmation vote was 56-to-41, making Bernhardt the least popular Interior Secretary in 40 years,
The Senate voted to confirm former oil-and-gas lobbyist David Bernhardt as Secretary of the Interior Thursday, despite...
12 Apr 2019

Insurance Industry Whistleblower Gives Glimpse of Effort to Crush Medicare for All

In an effort to inform the public about the corporate forces working to crush Medicare for All, an employee at the insurance giant UnitedHealthcare leaked a video of his boss bragging about the company's campaign to preserve America's for-profit healthcare system.
In an effort to inform the public about the corporate forces working to crush Medicare for All, an employee at the...
11 Apr 2019

Trump hotels exempted from ban on foreign payments under new stance

The Department of Justice has adopted a narrow interpretation of a law meant to bar foreign interests from corrupting federal officials, giving Saudi Arabia, China and other countries leeway to curry favor with Donald Trump via deals with his hotels, condos, trademarks and golf courses, legal and national security experts say.
The Department of Justice has adopted a narrow interpretation of a law meant to bar foreign interests from corrupting...

Publisher: Forbes

Author:

1 Apr 2019

Report: The Department Of Education Has Spent $1 Billion On Charter School Waste And Fraud

In 1994, the Charter School Fund was added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); in 1995 it began dispersing federal funds to states so that states could use the money to pilot charter schools. Since then, the CSP has handed over about $4 billion to support charter schools, and there are supposed to be some federal guidelines attached to the process. But a new report from the Network for Public Education charges that roughly $1 billion of that has been lost to fraud and waste in the charter school sector.
In 1994, the Charter School Fund was added to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA); in 1995 it began...

Bombshell New Allegations: Kushner Appears to be Extorting Qatari Government

While America’s attention has been focused primarily on the Mueller report, over the course of the last several weeks, a story that likely isn’t clearly captured in the Mueller report has been building steam. For well over a year now, there has been speculation about Jared Kushner’s security clearance, as well as his meetings and ties with various leaders within the Middle East. Now it appears as if this speculation is becoming a full-blown scandal.
While America’s attention has been focused primarily on the Mueller report, over the course of the last several weeks,...
29 Mar 2019

Three Lessons From ‘Failed’ Mueller Inquiry

The left never had a dog in this race. This was always an in-house squabble between different wings of the establishment. Late-stage capitalism is in terminal crisis, and the biggest problem facing our corporate elites is how to emerge from this crisis with their power intact. One wing wants to make sure the pig’s face remains painted, the other is happy simply getting its snout deeper into the trough while the food lasts.
The left never had a dog in this race. This was always an in-house squabble between different wings of the...
29 Mar 2019

Trump just gave a huge gift to an alleged billion dollar Medicare fraudster

The Trump administration informed a federal appeals court on Monday night that it would no longer defend the Affordable Care Act after a judge in Texas declared that the entire law must be struck down. The judge, Reed O’Connor, is a former Republican Senate staffer with a history of striking down policies opposed by conservatives. O’Connor’s opinion is widely viewed as ridiculous, even by conservative legal scholars and health policy experts.
The Trump administration informed a federal appeals court on Monday night that it would no longer defend the Affordable...
23 Mar 2019

Who paid for Chinese execs’ $50K photos with Trump?

Two guests of Cindy Yang didn’t pay for their own photos, priced at $50,000 each, with President Trump at a December 2017 RNC event. Selling tickets to campaign fundraisers without disclosing the buyer to the Federal Election Commission is illegal.
Two guests of Cindy Yang didn’t pay for their own photos, priced at $50,000 each, with President Trump at a December...
15 Mar 2019

Republicans Laugh Off Concerns About Corporations Putting Money In Trump’s Pocket

Republicans on the House antitrust panel laughed off Democrats’ questions over T-Mobile’s spending at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. immediately after the company announced a mega-merger with Sprint. One day after the merger announcement, nine T-Mobile executives checked in to Trump’s D.C. hotel, The Washington Post reported in January. The company ultimately spent $195,000 on 38 nights at the hotel as T-Mobile executives descended on Washington to meet with regulators about the proposed merger.
Republicans on the House antitrust panel laughed off Democrats’ questions over T-Mobile’s spending at the Trump...
14 Mar 2019

Paul Manafort is sentenced to a total of 7 1/2 years in prison for conspiracy and fraud

Once a globetrotting lobbyist and consultant to presidents, Paul Manafort on Wednesday was ordered to spend a total of 7 1 / 2 years in prison for his two federal cases after sentencing by a Washington judge. And soon after he left court in a wheelchair to return to the Virginia jail cell where he has begun serving his time, prosecutors in New York announced a 16-count grand jury indictment charging the former Trump campaign chairman with mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy.
Once a globetrotting lobbyist and consultant to presidents, Paul Manafort on Wednesday was ordered to spend a total of 7...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

13 Mar 2019

Intercept Investigation Leads to Record FEC Fines

It is illegal for foreign nationals to contribute money in connection with U.S. elections. However, APIC and Right to Rise USA attempted to use an odd loophole created by the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision to funnel overseas cash into American politics.
It is illegal for foreign nationals to contribute money in connection with U.S. elections. However, APIC and Right to...

Publisher: The Intercept

Author:

10 Mar 2019

Defense Tech Startup Founded by Trump’s Most Prominent Silicon Valley Supporters Wins Secretive Military AI Contract

A startup founded by a young and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump is among the latest tech companies to quietly win a contract with the Pentagon as part of Project Maven, the secretive initiative to rapidly leverage artificial intelligence technology from the private sector for military purposes.
A startup founded by a young and outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump is among the latest tech companies to...
6 Mar 2019

N.Y. regulators subpoena Trump’s insurance broker as probes of his campaign, White House and businesses multiply

New York state regulators have subpoenaed President Trump’s insurance broker, following testimony from former Trump attorney Michael Cohen that Trump exaggerated his wealth to insurance companies. That subpoena — acknowledged Tuesday by broker Aon PLC — signaled another line of inquiry into Trump’s private business, this time by New York’s Department of Financial Services.
New York state regulators have subpoenaed President Trump’s insurance broker, following testimony from former Trump...
6 Mar 2019

The Making of the Fox News White House

In January, during the longest government shutdown in America’s history, President Donald Trump rode in a motorcade through Hidalgo County, Texas, eventually stopping on a grassy bluff overlooking the Rio Grande. The White House wanted to dramatize what Trump was portraying as a national emergency: the need to build a wall along the Mexican border. The presence of armored vehicles, bales of confiscated marijuana, and federal agents in flak jackets underscored the message.
In January, during the longest government shutdown in America’s history, President Donald Trump rode in a motorcade...
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