Tag: Trump sleaze

Tracking 30 Investigations Related to Trump

New York Times logoFederal, state and congressional authorities are scrutinizing many aspects of Donald J. Trump’s life through investigations related to his businesses, campaign, inauguration and presidency. We’ll be tracking them here. According to reporting by The New York Times, there are currently at least:

•  12 Congressional Investigations
•  10 Federal Criminal Investigation
•  8 State and Local Investigations

Congressional Investigations

In the months since Democrats took control of the House, several committees have opened inquiries that could turn up politically damaging or embarrassing material or lead to impeachment proceedings. Select an investigation to see more.

1.  Possible abuse of power by using foreign policy for political ends
House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight Committees presidency

The committees opened an investigation in early September after the White House delayed a package of military assistance to Ukraine, which is fighting a war with Russian-backed separatists. The delay, which was later lifted amid bipartisan pressure from lawmakers, came on top of concerns about efforts by Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to press the Ukrainian government to pursue investigations into two matters that date from the previous government and could be politically beneficial to Mr. Trump.

View the complete September 25 article by Larry BUchanan and Karen Yourish on The New York Times website here.

‘Unbelievable!’: Fox News show bursts into chaos when Juan Williams accuses co-hosts of using Trump talking points

AlterNet logoFox News show “The Five” devolved into outrage and shouting on Wednesday afternoon when host Juan Williams — the token liberal on the panel — not-so-subtly accused his co-hosts of spouting talking points from the White House.

Those talking points, meant to defend the president from the deluge of criticism he is facing amidst the ongoing Ukraine scandal, were revealed when they were inadvertently sent to Democrats in Washington D.C.

“Just listening here, I think, boy, those talking points, they’ve made the rounds! Because the reality is —” Williams said.

View the complete September 25 article by Cody Fenwick on the AlterNet website here.

From Bill Barr to Mike Pence: Here are all the people Trump could take down with him

AlterNet logoIt’s hard to recall anything that Donald Trump has touched which initially looked bad but eventually turned out to be nothing. With Trump, things are always worse than they appears. Throughout his recent career, that has usually ended up hurting those closest to Trump more than the president himself. If that pattern holds true in the growing Ukraine scandal, then several top members of Trump’s administration should be worried right now. This is likely to get real messy before it ends.

While attempting to defend himself from accusations that he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden in exchange for U.S. military aid during at least one phone call — a reconstructed transcript, or “memo” of which was released on Wednesday — Trump gratuitously dragged his vice president into the middle of his mess.

“I think you should ask for VP Pence’s conversation because he had a couple of conversations also,” Trump told reporters during a news conference on the sidelines of the United Nations summit. “I could save you a lot of time. They were all perfect. Nothing was mentioned of any import other than congratulations.”

View the complete September 26 article by Sophia Tesfaye from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Whistleblower describes White House trying to cover up Ukraine phone call

Official says complaint based on conversations with ‘more than half a dozen U.S. officials’ who had direct knowledge

An intelligence community whistleblower raised alarms that President Donald Trump used his office to pressure a foreign government to influence the 2020 U.S. election and his staff orchestrated a cover-up to keep details of a phone call with Ukraine’s president off normal channels.

The whistleblower’s nine-page complaint, released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday, describes White House officials intervening to “lock down” all records of  the president’s July 25 telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. In a sign of aides’ potential concerns — concerns Trump tried to brush aside by describing the call as “beautiful” and “perfect” — the records were moved to a system used for classified materials even though they “did not contain anything remotely sensitive,” the complaint says.

The intelligence official wrote to a top government inspector general about being “deeply concerned” that the president’s conversation with Zelenskiy amounted to “a serious or flagrant problem, abuse, or violation of law or executive order.” The official used wording directly from the United States criminal code to raise concerns about the commander in chief’s conduct.

View the complete September 26 article by John T. Bennett on The Roll Call website here.

Whistleblower complaint says Trump sought to enlist Ukraine’s help in 2020

The Hill logoA whistleblower complaint released by the House Intelligence Committee on Thursday alleges that President Trump sought to enlist Ukraine’s help in the 2020 election by mounting a corruption investigation against former Vice President Joe Biden.

The declassified version of the whistleblower complaint details the government insider’s worries about Trump’s contacts with Ukraine’s leader, revelations of which on Tuesday triggered a formal impeachment inquiry against the president.

The complainant said “multiple White House officials with direct knowledge” described to the whistleblower the details of the July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including that “the President used the remainder of the call to advance his personal interests. Namely, he sought to pressure the Ukrainian leader to take actions to help the President’s 2020 reelection bid.”

View the complete September 26 article by Olivia Beavers and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Five Questions for Minnesota Republicans

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Since the formal launch of an impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Minnesota Republican elected officials and candidates have denounced the inquiry. Their statements are often vague, fail to address the substance of the allegations being investigated, and make sweeping claims about the aims of Democratic lawmakers.

We encourage members of the Minnesota press to ask the following questions of Republican elected officials and candidates in order to clarify their positions on this incredibly important topic:

1: Is it acceptable for a foreign government to interfere in U.S. elections? Continue reading “Five Questions for Minnesota Republicans”

In Trump Phone Call With Zelensky, The Voice Of A Gangster

To anyone familiar with the life and times of Donald Trump, there was nothing surprising in the tone of his July 25 conversation with the new president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump spoke in the oblique yet perfectly clear language of a Mafia don who knows what he wants and how to enforce his will.

The dialogue between the two presidents, as seen in a transcript released this week, sounds like a scene from ‘The Godfather” or a wiretap of the office of Trump’s late attorney Roy M. Cohn, who represented the infamous mob bosses Carmine Galante, Anthony “Fat Tony” Salerno, and John Gotti. (For details, see the excellent new film Where’s My Roy Cohn? whose title is a Trump quote.)

The transcript opens with Zelensky flattering Trump obsequiously and at great length — as every head of state is now instructed to do — before hinting that he is “almost ready” to receive new Javelin missiles to defend his country from Russian invaders.

View the complete September 25 article by Joe Conason on the National Memo website here.

Lawmakers express concern after reading whistleblower report

Members urge patience, even public release of the complaint so the American people can see it for themselves

Some lawmakers expressed concerns Wednesday evening after reading a divisive whistleblower report that House and Senate Intelligence committee members were allowed to review in secure Capitol rooms.

Democratic lawmakers and even a Republican said the complaint raised concerns, but many urged patience and called for public release of the complaint so the American people could see it for themselves. The complaint was delivered to the Intelligence panels before the House voted 421-0 Wednesday evening to adopt a nonbinding resolution urging the administration to make the complaint itself available to Congress.

Sen. Ben Sasse told NBC News, “there’s obviously some really troubling things here.” But the Nebraska Republican urged caution and careful deliberation, saying both parties should “slow down” before Democrats begin using the word impeach, or Republicans begin to “circle the wagons.”

View the complete September 25 article by Chris Cioffi on The Roll Call website here.

Barr’s relationship with Trump called into question again by Ukraine call

Analysis: Trump’s call with Ukraine’s leader raises questions about whether he thinks the attorney general’s job includes advocating for him personally.

The Trump administration’s release of notes documenting President Donald Trump’s conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has raised questions about Trump’s relationship with Attorney General William Barr and whether he views Barr as someone whose job includes advocating for him on personal matters.

Repeatedly over the course of the call, Trump told Zelenskiy that his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and Barr will be contacting Ukrainian prosecutors on two investigations: one related to an email server tied to Trump’s former political rival, Hillary Clinton, and the other related to his potential future political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden.

“I would like to have the attorney general call you or your people and I would like you to get to the bottom of it,” Trump told Zelenskiy about an investigation he wanted into CrowdStrike, a California-based company that investigated the Russian hacking of emails belonging to the Democratic National Committee in 2016.

View the complete September 25 article by Julia Ainsley on the NBC News website here.