Tag: GOP OK with Trump corruption

Trump casts himself as pandemic patron, personalizing the government’s spread of cash and supplies

Washington Post logoPresident Trump often speaks of federal payments coming to many Americans as an act of his own benevolence, calling the bipartisan stimulus legislation “a Trump administration initiative” and reportedly musing about printing his thick-and-jagged signature on the government checks.

Trump touts the deployment of the USS Comfort to New York Harbor in personal terms, saying it was his choice to allow the hulking Navy hospital ship to be used to for coronavirus patients — and even traveling to “kiss it goodbye” before its trek north.

And Trump talks about the Strategic National Stockpile of ventilators and medical equipment being shipped to hard-hit states as if it were his own storage unit, with governors saying they recognize that in turn they are expected to tread gingerly with him or risk jeopardizing their supply chain. Continue reading.

Barr backs Trump on firing of intel IG, calls Russia investigation baseless

Speaking with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Barr also revealed some details of an ongoing investigation the attorney general ordered into the beginning of the Russia investigation.

Attorney General William Barr backed President Donald Trump on his firing of the intelligence community’s chief watchdog and dismissed the investigation into Trump’s ties to Russia as baseless in an interview aired Thursday night.

Speaking with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Barr also revealed some details of an ongoing investigation the attorney general ordered into the beginning of the Russia investigation.

Barr’s comments come after Trump expressed his intent to fire the intelligence community’s Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, last week. Atkinson was the first to inform Congress about an “urgent” complaint concerning Trump’s contacts with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Those contacts launched the House’s impeachment inquiry. Continue reading.

Donald Trump Has Stake In Hydroxychloroquine Drugmaker: Report

The president has repeatedly touted the anti-malaria drug as a coronavirus treatment despite a lack of medical evidence.

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.

Trump “has a small personal financial interest” in Sanofi, the French drugmaker that makes Plaquenil, the brand-name version of hydroxychloroquine, The New York Times reported Monday.

In addition, Sanofi’s largest shareholders include a mutual fund company run by major Republican donor Ken Fisher, the paper said. Trump’s three family trusts, as of last year, each had investments in a mutual fund whose largest holding was Sanofi, according to the Times. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also had ties to the drugmaker, the Times reported. Continue reading.

Trump Threatens Inspector General Who Reported Virus Test Shortages

Donald Trump is attacking a report released Monday that found hospitals are the country are “unable to keep up with COVID-19 testing demands” and experiencing “severe shortages.”

The Office of Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services conducted phone interviews with administrators from 323 hospitals across 46 States to prepare its report.

Asked about the report’s findings at his daily coronavirus press briefing, Trump immediately launched into an attack on report because it was prepared by an inspector general. Continue reading.

Inspector general who handled Ukraine whistleblower complaint says ‘it is hard not to think’ Trump fired him for doing his job

Washington Post logoMichael Atkinson, the inspector general removed by President Trump late Friday, said he believes he was fired for having properly handled a whistleblower complaint that became a centerpiece of the case for the president’s impeachment.

“I am disappointed and saddened that President Trump has decided to remove me as the inspector general of the intelligence community because I did not have his ‘fullest confidence,’ ” Atkinson said in a seven-paragraph statement issued Sunday. “It is hard not to think that the president’s loss of confidence in me derives from my having faithfully discharged my legal obligations as an independent and impartial inspector general.”

That Atkinson issued a statement at all is unusual — inspectors general usually stay silent when removed, but the circumstances leading to his firing are also highly unusual. Continue reading.

Is Kushner’s Covid-19 ‘Team’ Profiting From The Crisis?

Hot off of singlehandedly ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, America’s Son-In-Law-In-Chief has put himself in charge of handling half of the White House response to the coronavirus crisis.

Didn’t you know that? No? Oh, well, it seems the White House just decided that, ah, the people didn’t need to hear about this. Oh, and FYI, most of his team are from the private sector. That’s not a problem, Congressional Democrats, is it?

Thanks to some thorough reporting by Politico, we now know that Jared Kushner is running a shadow COVID-19 response team alongside the official task force led by Mike Pence. Pence once characterized his group as an “all-of-government response,” but Kushner’s team is an “all-of-private-sector response” full of private equity executives and health care profiteers. That “all-of-private-sector” line isn’t me being snide: it’s how some of the anonymous White House officials in the report characterized their own colleagues. Continue reading.

Trump Proceeds With Post-Impeachment Purge Amid Pandemic

New York Times logoThe president’s decision to fire the intelligence community’s inspector general under cover of darkness indicated that his hunt for those he considers disloyal continues.

WASHINGTON — Remember the impeachment? President Trump does. Even in the middle of a deadly pandemic, he made clear on Saturday that he remained fixated on purging the government of those he believes betrayed him during the inquiry that led to his Senate trial.

The president’s under-cover-of-darkness decision late the night before to fire Michael K. Atkinson, the intelligence community’s inspector general who insisted last year on forwarding a whistle-blower complaint to Congress, swept away one more official deemed insufficiently loyal as part of a larger purge that has already rid the administration of many key figures in the impeachment drama.

Mr. Trump made no effort at a news briefing on Saturday to pretend that the dismissal was anything other than retribution for Mr. Atkinson’s action under a law requiring such complaints be disclosed to lawmakers. “I thought he did a terrible job, absolutely terrible,” Mr. Trump said. “He took a fake report and he brought it to Congress.” Capping a long, angry denunciation of the impeachment, he added, “The man is a disgrace to I.G.s. He’s a total disgrace.” Continue reading.

Trump defends firing of intel watchdog, calling him a ‘disgrace’

The Hill logoPresident Trump on Saturday defended his decision to fire Intelligence Community Inspector General (ICIG) Michael Atkinson and called him a “disgrace” to inspectors general.

Trump, responding to a reporter’s question about the late Friday decision, tore into Atkinson for what he described as his unfair handling of a whistleblower complaint that eventually triggered the president’s impeachment last fall.

Trump complained that the ICIG didn’t call him before alerting Congress to the complaint about his dealings with Ukraine. Continue reading.

Trump to Fire Intelligence Watchdog Who Had Key Role in Ukraine Complaint

New York Times logoThe president notified lawmakers late on Friday, saying he had lost confidence in the inspector general for the intelligence community.

President Trump is firing the intelligence community inspector general whose insistence on telling lawmakers about a whistle-blower complaint about his dealings with Ukraine triggered impeachment proceedings last fall, the president told lawmakers in a letter late Friday.

The move came as Mr. Trump announced his intent to name a White House aide as the independent watchdog for $500 billion in corporate pandemic aid and notified Congress of other nominees to inspector general positions, including one that would effectively oust the newly named chairman of a panel to oversee how the government spends $2 trillion in coronavirus relief.

The slew of late-night announcements, coming as the world’s attention is gripped by the coronavirus pandemic, raised the specter of a White House power play over the community of inspectors general, independent officials whose mission is to root out waste, fraud and abuse within the government. Continue reading.

Trump fires intelligence community watchdog who flagged Ukraine whistleblower complaint

The Hill logoPresident Trump has fired the inspector general for the intelligence community, saying he “no longer” has confidence in the key government watchdog.

Michael Atkinson, who had served as the intelligence community inspector general since May 2018, was the first to alert Congress last year of an “urgent” whistleblower complaint he obtained from an intelligence official regarding Trump’s dealings with Ukraine. His firing will take effect 30 days from Friday, the day Trump sent a notice informing Congress of Atkinson’s dismissal.

“This is to advise that I am exercising my power as President to remove from office the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community, effective 30 days from today,” Trump wrote to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Intelligence committees in a letter obtained by The Hill. Continue reading.