Tag: Trump Administration

Robert Mueller Subpoenas An Associate Of The Man Who Hired Michael Flynn As A Lobbyist

The following article by Isaac Arnsdorf was posted on the ProPublica website September 29, 2017:

The special counsel wanted to question a Turkish businessman with interests in Turkey, Russia and the U.S. — and ties to people with criminal records.

Then-national security adviser Michael Flynn at the White House in February. Credit:
Carolyn Kaster, AP

The special prosecutor investigating Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election has subpoenaed an associate of Gen. Michael Flynn’s Turkish lobbying client. The subpoena, a copy of which was obtained by ProPublica, ordered Sezgin Baran Korkmaz to testify before a grand jury in Washington on Sept. 22.

“The grand jury is conducting an investigation of possible violations of federal criminal laws involving the Foreign Agents Registration Act, among other offenses,” a letter accompanying the subpoena stated. The letter is signed by Robert Mueller and Zainab Ahmad, a senior assistant special counsel who specializes in prosecuting terrorism. Korkmaz did not respond to requests for comment. Continue reading “Robert Mueller Subpoenas An Associate Of The Man Who Hired Michael Flynn As A Lobbyist”

The Memo: Swamp proves sticky for Trump

The following article by Niall Stanage was posted on the Hill website September 30, 2017:

President Trump moved to drain a mini-swamp of his own administration’s making late Friday afternoon, accepting Tom Price’s resignation as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Price had been in the middle of a maelstrom all week over his use of private jets at taxpayer expense.

The cost reached around $400,000 for Price’s domestic flights, which included short jaunts between Washington and Philadelphia, as well as journeys on routes served by commercial airlines. Continue reading “The Memo: Swamp proves sticky for Trump”

Lost weekend: How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria

The following article by Abby Phillip, Ed O’Keefe, Nick Miroff and Damian Paletta was posted on the Washington Post website September 29, 2017:

Doctors in San Juan are worried that hospitals could run out of power, endangering patients. (Video: Ashleigh Joplin, Whitney Leaming/Photo: Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/The Washington Post)

At first, the Trump administration seemed to be doing all the right things to respond to the disaster in Puerto Rico.

As Hurricane Maria made landfall on Wednesday, Sept. 20, there was a frenzy of activity publicly and privately. The next day, President Trump called local officials on the island, issued an emergency declaration and pledged that all federal resources would be directed to help. Continue reading “Lost weekend: How Trump’s time at his golf club hurt the response to Maria”

San Juan Mayor Rebukes Trump Administration for Rosy Comments on Relief Effort

The following article by Richard Fausset, Michael D. Shear, Ron Nixon and Frances Robles was posted on the New York Times website September 29, 2017:

Angela Ontivero, 83, walked through the wreckage of her San Juan neighborhood, Barriada Figueroa, on Friday. Credit Victor J. Blue for The New York Times

SAN JUAN, P.R. — In the storm-battered neighborhood of Barriada Figueroa on Friday, neighbors greeted visitors with a now-familiar question, one that was inevitably followed by a disappointing answer: “Are you FEMA?”

Hurricane Maria had ripped walls and metal roofs from the brightly colored homes in this working-class neighborhood in central San Juan. Nine days after the storm hit, putrid water still lay stagnant in the streets. Continue reading “San Juan Mayor Rebukes Trump Administration for Rosy Comments on Relief Effort”

VA chief took in Wimbledon, river cruise on European work trip; wife’s expenses covered by taxpayers

The following article by Jack Gillum, Alex Horton, Drew Harwell and Lisa Rein was posted on the Washington Post website September 29, 2017:

Members of President Trump’s Cabinet have been taking noncommercial flights at the expense of taxpayers, and Trump says he’s “not happy.” (Monica Akhtar/TWP)

Nearly three days into a trip to Europe this past July, Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin had attended a Wimbledon championship tennis match, toured Westminster Abbey and taken a cruise on the Thames.

The 10-day trip was not entirely a vacation. Shulkin was in Europe for meetings with Danish and British officials about veterans’ health issues, so taxpayers picked up part of the tab. Continue reading “VA chief took in Wimbledon, river cruise on European work trip; wife’s expenses covered by taxpayers”

Price Resigns as HHS Secretary, Trump Accepts

The following article by John T. Bennet was posted on the Roll Call website September 29, 2017:

‘I certainly don’t like the optics,’ president said Friday

President Donald Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price arrive in the Capitol to meet with House Republicans on March 21. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Updated at 5:33 p.m. | Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price resigned Friday afternoon amid a scandal stemming from his use of taxpayer funds for private charter flights, according to the White House press secretary.

Price reportedly spent as much as $400,000 of taxpayer monies on chartered flights, including one to the tune of $25,000 to fly between Washington and Philadelphia. Continue reading “Price Resigns as HHS Secretary, Trump Accepts”

Trump aides sell tax plan with Pinocchio-laden claims

The following article by Glenn Kessler was posted on the Washington Post website September 29, 2017:

The wealthiest Americans pay the largest proportion of taxes. Consequently, any tax cut, unless very carefully tailored, will benefit them. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post)

“The wealthy are not getting a tax cut under our plan.”
— Gary Cohn, director of the White House Economic Council, in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” Sept. 28, 2017

“The numbers are about a trillion and a half to the baseline. But more importantly, it’s a trillion dollars to policy, which is the right way of looking at it. We think there will be $2 trillion of growth. So we think this tax plan will cut down the deficits by a trillion dollars.”
— Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, in an interview on Fox News, Sept. 28 Continue reading “Trump aides sell tax plan with Pinocchio-laden claims”

EPA’s Pruitt took charter, military flights that cost taxpayers more than $58,000

The following article by Brady Dennis and Juliet Eilperin was posted on the Washington Post website September 27, 2017:

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt (second from left) join President Trump during an event in Cincinnati on June 7. Afterward, Pruitt flew by military jet to New York. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has taken at least four noncommercial and military flights since mid-February, costing taxpayers more than $58,000 to fly him to various parts of the country, according to records provided to a congressional oversight committee and obtained by The Washington Post.

“When the administrator travels, he takes commercial flights,” EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said Wednesday, explaining that the one charter flight and three government flights were due to particular circumstances.

The EPA provided documents that outlined how its Office of General Counsel had given legal authorization for each trip. “The administrator, and any Cabinet secretary, is the face of that agency. They’re very outward facing, and we have an obligation to get out throughout the country,” Bowman said. Continue reading “EPA’s Pruitt took charter, military flights that cost taxpayers more than $58,000”

Zinke says his workers are disloyal. They say his personnel moves break the law.

The following article by Darryl Fears was posted on the Washington Post website September 27, 2017:

Two murals on the walls outside the Bureau of Land Management at the Interior Department in Washington. (Doug Kapustin for The Washington Post)

As Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke blasted many within his department for being disloyal to the Trump administration’s agenda this week, the agency’s inspector general’s office continued a probe into whether officials acted inappropriately when they abruptly reassigned dozens of senior workers.

Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall is working “to determine if the U.S. Department of the Interior followed appropriate guidelines and best practices in the reassignment of Senior Executive Service employees,” according to spokeswoman Gillian Carroll. Continue reading “Zinke says his workers are disloyal. They say his personnel moves break the law.”

Gorsuch’s speeches raise questions of independence, critics say

The following article by Robert Barnes was posted on the Washington Post website September 27, 2017:

President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court, Colorado appeals judge Neil Gorsuch, honored the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in 2016. “All of his colleagues on the bench cherished his wisdom and his humor,” Gorsuch said. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)

LEXINGTON, Ky. — No member of Congress was more essential to Neil M. Gorsuch’s ascent to the Supreme Court than Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who blocked President Barack Obama’s nominee for the job and then spearheaded the confirmation process for Gorsuch.

Last week found McConnell (R-Ky.) and Gorsuch traveling the Bluegrass State together for a tour of the senator’s alma maters. “President Trump simply could not have made a better nominee,” McConnell said in introducing Gorsuch before a packed-house lecture at the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville. Continue reading “Gorsuch’s speeches raise questions of independence, critics say”