I would not be surprised if the majority of the money raised for Trump's Inauguration wound up one way or another in Trump's businesses or coffers.
How's that for "Draining the Swamp"!
4
Beyond left or right, right or wrong, good or bad, this presidency has been giving me a non stop, weirdly profound headache. All I want is the prompt end of this presidency. Even not so great normalcy has been missed, dearly.
11
All this outrage from Dems on an allegation about foreign money donations to Trump's political campaign yet to be proven. And I'm sure we'll all hear a new fresh round of "impeachment" cries from the usual quarters. Too bad Dems weren't equally as outraged when the same sordid smell came out of the Clinton campaigns of the 1990s. Remember Chinagate? How soon they forget ... conveniently.
Of course in that case the Clinton's were luckier than Trump. Jeff Sessions recused himself allowing Rod Rosenstein to call for a special counsel; in the Clinton's case, despite the urging of the FBI to open a special counsel investigation, Bill and Hill's gal -- Janet Reno AG -- refused. And not a peep out of all the moral champions and GOP slayers we're hearing from today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_United_States_campaign_finance_controversy
1
What was Chinagate again? Because I vaguely remember an investigation, with much GOP ranting, that led to no indictments leading to the Clintons after much investigation.
Let it go...
Focus on now. This is real.
16
I love Propublica...give them $$$
https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-tom-barrack-colony-company-of-trump-inaugural-chair-sought-to-profit?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter
"The investment firm founded by the chairman of Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, Tom Barrack, developed a plan to profit off its connections to the incoming administration and foreign dignitaries, according to a confidential memo obtained by WNYC and ProPublica.
“The key is to strategically cultivate domestic and international relations while avoiding any appearance of lobbying,” the memo says. Colony, which primarily invests in real estate, sought to capitalize on its access to the White House to get an early lead on infrastructure investments and to attract assets from potential investors. "
3
How many swamps are there in Washington? Why do Russians keep popping up everywhere? Ms Butina and the NRA? Don, Jared and Paul, not a singing group but campaign operatives meeting with Russians.
13
Did Mr Trump HAVE to become POTUS... for either Party in order to be “unlikely” to face the Legal storm clouds which must have been visible to his Inner Family Circle for so long?
1
It is almost comical how Republicans are trying to wrap up Mueller's investigation for him by telling reports the expect him to wrap it up soon. Grasseley is "expecting it to be wound up within a month."
They've been trying to"wind it up" since the day it started.
If what they were doing weren't so damaging to our country and world, it would be rather funny to watch.
8
Wow there are a lot of criminals and criminal activity surrounding this President. Several guilty pleas, plenty of indictments, more people and Whitehouse staffers consulting attorneys and still unsealed indictments. The supeneas keep rolling in and Trump shrugs off as little nothing's. I just realized Trump is right for once...crime is up and we need to build a wall...around Trump that is true.
7
The Trump Organization is a Criminal entity that shall be prosecuted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. (RICO ). RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.
The Trump Inauguration Committee will be shown by the US Attorney for Southern District of New York (SDNY) to have (1)illegally taken money from foreign entities (2) illegally accounted for receiving and spending those donated dollars and (3) used a percentage of the funds as a "slush fund" to provide kickbacks to trump and others to line their pockets.
SDNY, thank you for caring about the safety and security of America. You will be heroes to many Americans and the world, if you convict the Trump Criminal Enterprise.
12
oh hum...another Trump probe for more illegal shenanigans. My fear is this man and his family will not be going away from the news cycle for years, possibly decades. Our unborn grandchildren will be hearing about the Trump family 's illegal activities and the administration's policies thru their school years. This is not an exaggeration, the impact on our country will be long, hard and sad.
4
Trump, by all reports, was as surprised he won as everyone else. And, on top of that, he was completely unprepared and remains so. What started out as a self financed marketing stunt conducted by a four times bankrupt real estate developer has turned into a national nightmare. So, no one will be surprised if the Southern District investigators find all kinds of graft and corruption surrounding the campaign committee. Trump and his "team" play fast and lose with all the rules, all the time. The game they play is called " catch me if you can". And, well, this time, we just might.
24
Thanks to all the gods (and to Mueller) for this ongoing investigation into President Grifter!
17
so what is the investigation now, that the russians crashed the inaugural party? the russians paid for the inaugural party? the inaugural party had russian caterers? the russians passed wind at the inaugural party? everyone passed wind at the inaugural party?
i am not russian; and believe putin is a criminal.
#45 is the most polarizing president in the history of the USA, but all these investigations are now reaching insane and inane levels. mueller needs to file his report within 30 days and all this nonsense needs to stop.
3
@jibaro
Exactly. The longer it takes the more dangerous Trump becomes. Enough already.
I favor emigration. This country has seen its best days and is now in a state of irreversible decay.
1
This not Mueller’s investigation. It belongs to the Southern District of the New York.
6
@jibaro you know Mueller is not leading this investigation don’t you? There had to be some evidence of wrong doing to start any investigation and the order for the Special Prosecutor not only is to investigate any possible links or coordination between Trump’s campaign and the Russian government, “and any matters that arose or arise directly from the investigation.” Mueller is ordered if He finds evidence of wrongdoings is to have it investigated. Maybe Donald(I only hire the best people)Trump shouldn’t have surrounded himself with crooks!
3
There is no way Dems. will impeach. Find me the Republican's to vote for that and I will be Thankful for Democracy.
Can't wait to hear more about the recorded conversation between Michael Cohen and the Inauguration's glorified event planner Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, and about the $23 million in pass through payments from her firm to 14 as yet unnamed persons.
13
Another day, another investigation. It is time for a change in plan.
While I generally agree that starting impeachment proceedings prematurely is imprudent, House investigations into Trump, the Trump campaign, the payoffs to porn stars and playmates, and now the inaugural committee should commence. If those investigations produce credible evidence of impeachable offenses, then an impeachment process should begin.
It is misguided to wait for Mueller to finish his investigation. Mueller is not charged with investigating Trump for impeachable offenses. He is charged with looking into campaign violations, Russian interference with the election, conspiracy in that regard, obstruction, and matters arising therefrom. That the fruits of his investigation may provide evidence of impeachable offense is beyond cavil.
Nevertheless, Mueller's reputation is that of a straight shooter. Rumors of his investigation soon wrapping up may be exaggerated. He'll finish when all persons who should be indicted are indicted and their cases finalized. That could be years, not months.
I have already read this social network sosyallift.com
It is time to appreciate and accept that the Special Counsel and the House have duties to investigate that cover similar territory with different objectives. They necessarily would operate on separate but parallel tracks.
3
There is no end to the level of Trump corruption.
20
On Monday, prosecutors issued a sweeping subpoena to the committee, requesting documents related to virtually every donor or donation, attendee at a committee event, piece of paperwork related to the legal requirements attached to donations and even "the possibility of" donations made by foreign nationals.
The subpoena, a copy of which was reviewed by CNN, also disclosed that prosecutors are investigating an array of potential crimes, including conspiracy against the US, false statements, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, inaugural committee disclosure violations, and violations of laws prohibiting contributions by foreign nations and contributions in the name of another person, also known as straw donors. - From CNN
6
F1Driver, your support of environmental deregulation leads me to believe that you are being influenced by capitalism, but I think you're really a Russian troll. If you believed in the Constitution of the United States, you would not/could not support the divisive and cruel policies promoted by this un-American president.
5
The most important thing to remember is that the United States Attorney who's Office is running this investigation was appointed by President Trump.
4
Unbelievable waste of money and when the next president is elected I believe he or she will get the same treatment. A sad situation for the country all these partisan investigations starting with Bill Clinton.
4
Trump is going to regret his stunt to be president once these New York investigation gets going. By putting himself in the limelight especially with his big mouth, many crimes will come out.
11
@Sydney KayeHis vanity has no bounds.
2
Not to worry. In a few hours, Trump will again distractingly regale us with the lurid stories of captive migrant women bound in duct tape by gang members in the desert while making left turns at the border in raked Lo-Riders.
6
If we are seeking truth, it would make more sense to investigate the Clinton Foundation. It was pulling in incredible sums of money, especially from foreigners looking to buy influence. Where there is smoke, there is fire.
2
@Jorge
Just like Trump the Clintons are invulnerable. The US government is bought and paid for. In essence it is an organized crime syndicate, ultimately swindling the public who are either intimidated or oblivious. And so it will
continue.
1
Where did all the big-donation money go. How much wound up in the manner of funds put into that phony charitable Trump Foundation that was nothing more than a personal slush fund for Donald? He's raked off many personal millions via shadowy bookkeeping.
6
The "For Sale" sign went up the first day and has stayed there ever since. You want something? Hey, freedom ain't free.
Bet one could simply audit the DC Trump Hotel for the last two years and get about as accurate a picture of this administration's corrupt practices as the results of the endless series of investigations, indictments and convictions.
Beginning with the inauguration.
8
You can buy a lot of balloons, bunting, and confetti with $107M. I wonder where it all went?
4
Sarah Sanders said the money raised for the inauguration has nothing to do with the White House. Whose inauguration were they raising money for if it wasn't Trump's?
20
@Linda when sanders speaks about any relevant issue, it has nothing to do with the White House, actually she is right, it has every thing to do with Trump though.
4
Why listen to the State of the Union when Donald J. Trump is going to contradict what he says with tweets following the speech?
After the speech, the reporters should not talk to Trump. They should talk to the people who wrote it.
17
Bought shares in a major paper-shredding company.
The shares rose a lot.
Someone is buying lots of paper shredders today!
8
Good. Overdue. Americans must know about any illegal donations or “ bad actors” putting money into the Trump machine. And we need to know the amounts if illegal. That includes Americans, foreign nationals and their agents funneling money through others, through LLC’s or off shore accounts and also representatives of the Saudis? Russia, the Chinese, Ukrainian, Eastern European nationalists, the NRA and associates, hate groups whether directly or again via people acting on their behalf with quid pro quo expectations, influence and White House access for their donation. The Mueller investigation must follow all the illegal and potentially illegal aspects of course. It’s numbing to keep up with all the illegal and criminal revelations. Criminals like Cohen bailed on Trump. Manafort has such terrible crimes it’s hard to follow the depth of the greed and entitlement. The country and the planet is in the worst zeitgeist ever. Mueller, Rosenstein, Comey all conservative Republicans except in 2016 Comey who left “because of Trumpian politics. We are suffering and the reactive new wave of Dems isn’t a promising lot. Because Trump hit the mark with illegal immigration which both parties ignored for 30 years the Democrats better tighten up on border security and deportation. Right now Dems are in course for “you get in you stay”. Can’t be that way. The demographics of America and social services has had been negatively impacted by illegals and their birther babies another issue.
@Here Come Da Judge
Beg to disagree. We needs millions more immigrants to dilute the nefarious influence of the white people and hasten their status as a minority.
Only then will authentic American values emerge. Ironic , no?
1
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Are you paying attention Donald ?
It’s RICO
They’ll take everything you have.
9
Another shocking development - an investigation into the grifter-in-chief’s inauguration committee.
You’d think with all of the money they raised they could have paid more people to attend the actual ceremony like they did when he took the golden escalator down to the lobby to announce his candidacy.
10
If Trump builds the wall, non-racist Americans will just tear it down, either way his edifice to racism is not going to be a modern day Civil War monument--you lost, get over it.
2
@Daniel
Actually though they lost militarily, the Confederate States of America has prevailed. Look at who is president and which party controls the Senate.
All CSA voted Trump. That's a lot of electoral votes.
The vast majority of the rest of the country voted Democrat.
4
This is what happens when someone thinks they are above the law because they have money.
One step closer to the downfall of a dynasty of crooks & criminals, ala Mafia.
Tonight's SOTU will be another brag session about how wonderful he is. Praise & worship session for the prez & his boot lickers.
8
Shouldn't every presiential inauguration funding be made made public and transparent?
14
President Trump tried to monetize his campaign by continuing negotiations on the hotel in Moscow (in case he didn't win), and now he's monetizing the presidency with his hotel in Washington, DC every time a foreign dignitary (friend or foe of the United States) visits.
12
Investigating Don the Con is easy: always, always, always follow the money. We need a national betting pool on how much of the $100+ million donated to the inaugural committee ended up in Trump's pocket. I will set the over/under at $25 million.
18
Let’s play “then what”!
Let’s say that the investigation finds cause for charges (Lordy, I hope there are charges!) and let’s say there are convictions of many.
If everything that has been revealed this far has not been enough to sway Trump’s core followers, where will we as a nation be?
If by way of common descency we cannot unite as a nation against the commander-in-crime now; where will we be then?
I am as fearful of the future as I am of the present.
5
Nothing is going to sway Trump followers. They are at the "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose any voters" stage. Remember, they are the real problem, Trump is just the symptom.
5
This sure doesn't look like Mueller investigation is wrapping up, does it? Whitaker should be charged with obstruction of justice.
8
How rich that Jared Kushner's brother Josh also profited. I can just see them all sitting around some gold-plated dinner table lamenting:"were we supposed to make nothing on this deal?" Yes dude. Exactly.
7
Trump vigorously disputes that any collusion took place. He’ll also deny corruption, incompetence, and laziness. But they are all on display for anyone willing to open their eyes.
13
@EW I still don't understand why anyone asks if he is guilty. Do they expect him to say he is?
1
His was the FYRE Festival of Inaugurations.
11
If foreigners contributed to Trump's campaign, those contributions were illegal. However, I'm still confused as to why Obama was able to accept them by just saying 'I didn't know, too many to investigate.'
1
Now I have mastered the concept of infinity. All these investigations will go on forever. Time itself will end and the inquiries will continue.
Just wait for 2020 and hope the American people come to their senses. So far we are a ship of fools. False hope and needless suffering.
4
trump continues to leave garbage for prosecutors to pick up. Taxpayers continue to pay for a lawless litterbug.
3
When and how will this all end? 37 indictments and 199 criminal charges, the most corrupt administration in history since the Teapot dome scandal....Make America Corrupt Again....trumpsters can spin this anyway they want but like the old cliché "Where there's smoke there is fire"...The truth has and is coming out!
7
Re: Tonight's' SOtU............Pelosi should tell him we'll give you 1.5MM IF and it's a big IF...he releases his 1099's unadulterated and the complete returns going back at least 10 years. See how that flies.
4
It all returns to those American voters whose motivations were so self-centered that they were willing to vote for an individual who would not release his financial information.
Did any one of them learn anything from this tragedy?
26
Yes. We learned that a terrible person could have a base based upon the devastating negative impact illegal immigration ignored had and has on our country. Not legal immigration which is great but illegal immigration through unsecured borders and the ensuing delusion that everyone should be able to come to the US. My fellow Democrats better come up with what so far is no concrete plan for border security. Yes we learned that there are people who think that it’s racist to be against illegals - it’s not at all.
3
No it doesn’t. It was an electoral win propelled by Hillary not only not reaching out to the Trump states but describing them all in dreadful divisive insulting words.
2
Presidential inaugurals are relics of a time when Americans had to travel to the nation’s capital to hear and see a president take up temporary residence at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Now we have television and the Internet. Let us hope the next president puts an end to these grotesque and hideously expensive extravaganzas that serve no purpose accept to make rich donors feel like movers and shakers. We should replace inaugurals with YouTube videos of moving vans pulling up to the White House to offload the new first family’s household belongings.
20
According to my daily diaries, Trump obtained over 100 millions for his inaugural funds. Not a few Russian oligarchs, spies and Trump's business partners purchased the seats.
Emolument clause? Or, bribery? Or, komrades?
11
The investigation is just the continuation of the U.S. Southern District of New York's vendetta against the Trump administration and campaign. The New York Times noted that the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to interfere in the 2016 election "have spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life: his business, his campaign, his inauguration and his presidency." This search for indictable offenses fits the definition of a witch hunt.
As the article points out, "no one who worked for the committee has been accused of wrongdoing." Committee members would be at fault only if they knowingly accepted foreign contributions. That foreign nations and foreign nationals uses U.S. intermediaries to make donations to inaugural committees and purchase inaugural tickets has been an open secret for several administrations. It is also obvious for a long time that inaugural committees carefully advoid "knowing."
2
@William Case
Nope.
When you spend your entire adult life performing criminal acts don't be surprised when your entire adult life is investigated.
You want to believe that a widening investigation means nothing has been found. The opposite is far more likely. The uncovering of one crime led to another and another and so on.
11
I for one encourage investigations by anyone who has knowledge of illegal actions by our and I quote “ the best president ever in our history “. And with him all the little thieves he brought along with him. I my family, my friends, all worked hard, work hard and pay our stinking taxes. Much more than that band of thieves. We are all sick and tired of being sick and tired. Let the truth be told. Let the criminals finally pay for their crimes. Amen.
7
If they come across illegal activities for something different than the original investigation was for, why would they look away? Are you suggesting that officers of the law ignore the crimes of the president because it will look bad to go after him? So your issue isn’t the crimes he’s committed? Your issue is that he’s being caught and investigated by people you believe dislike him. What a load of absolute nonsense. Truly you trumpanzees really and truly haven’t got any concern for your own country. You are far more concerned with the wellbeing of the man destroying it. Maybe move to Russia if you hate America so much.
3
OK, now my head is starting to spin. This is the best Presidency ever.
4
Prediction: If not tonight, Donald J. Trump, following in the footsteps of Julius Ceasar, will break norms (yet again) by announcing that a new coin will be minted bearing his portrait.
Notably, however, and unlike the coin bearing Julius Caesar's portrait, the one bearing Trump's will be made of hair, and will be worth nothing--except as a memento. The point will be to give his base something tangible to hold onto, while their scaredy-cat leader goes right down the toilet.
9
He never expected or wanted to win the presidency. He views the presidency as a giant unfair obstacle to his normal empire of slime. So he views all of these opportunities to sell influence to private individuals and foreign governments as a partial repayment for the giant inconvenience that has been thrust on him. This is a person who never in his life wanted to do anything to help society or anyone but himself. He can’t even think about his own daughter without daydreaming about what he’d like to get out of her.
22
@Baldwin That's right- he hates hates hates this job and since he's stuck with it until he can figure a clean getaway he is going to wring every dollar, ruble, shekel, rial and dinar out of it he can.
4
@Horatio
He could simply resign tonight . Viola!
Everything Trump touches reeks of crime and corruption. From real estate to his foundation to his university and now to his presidency.
What I am curious about is the Ivanka brand that shut down at about the same time the CFO of the Trump Organization cooperated with Mueller investigation—this with neither invitations nor indictments from the feds.
What does Ivanka know and when did she know it.
Curiouser and curiouser.
10
We still don't know why a top Russian spy attended the convention, plus other Russians nor why the Republican platform was changed in Russia's favor...
11
I've been wondering for a while, those who vehemently decry the ongoing investigations into Trump's business as an overreach to the mandate given to Mueller and the Special Counsel investigation, what exactly do these people suggest?
That when investigators find reasonable evidence that crimes have been committed they should ignore these findings, bury these stories, look the other way?
I know that partisanship is not a new development in politics and that we are living in times of entrenched tribalism, but one would think there's a limit as to how much a politician, even if he's the POTUS, should be allowed to get away with, no?
19
What could $107 millions of dollars have provided in the way of healthcare and infrastructure? What could half that amount provided for care to those addicted to opioids by the now filthy rich purveyors of unneeded pharmaceuticals?
8
Floating over Thomas J. Barrack's inaugural committee and his Trump super PAC—
Is the stench and evil of "Citizens United", perhaps the worst and most far-reaching Supreme Court mistake of modern times.
Somehow it must be re-visited and rectified.
14
Since this event has been telegraphed well in advance I can't help but wonder how much related information has simply vanished in the meantime.
"Documents? What documents?" - Inaugural Committee
"Inauguration? What inauguration? There were just a few friends. And I'll tell you, I hardly knew them. Believe me." - DJT
6
You gotta love it. Trump's big State of the Union night--and Mueller drops a blanket on the whole bunch of them.
8
The so-called president craves ratings.
Keep your tv turned off, at least until the rebuttal begins.
7
Trump, his family and associates are grifters. This was well known in the New York world of property management and development since the 1970’s. Look it up. Speaking of definitions, here is what Merriam-Webster shows for “grifter”:
“Grift was born in the argot of the underworld, a realm in which a "grifter" might be a pickpocket, a crooked gambler, or a confidence man-any criminal who relied on skill and wits rather than physical violence-and to be "on the grift" was to make a living by stings and clever thefts. "Grift" may have evolved from "graft," a slightly older word meaning "to acquire dishonestly," but its exact origins are uncertain. We do know that the verb "grift" first finagled its way into print in 1915 in George Bronson-Howard's God's Man: "Grifting ain't what it used to be. Fourteenth Street's got protection down to a system-a regular underworld tariff on larceny."
4
Is there any endeavor this guy was involved in, or numerous current deals he and his boys are working that isn't of a suspicious nature?
AND he's the POTUS!
4
The GOP campaign slogan should have been "President for Sale."
In Russia, it probably was.
11
Is there anything this man has ever done that is not a con? I ask in earnest: can anyone name one single thing?
8
John McCain said about Trump, "A centipede with many more shoes to drop". Soon "The People" will have their say in federal court.
2
I weed the Times, WaPo and other news outlets every morning ( retired) and I am not satisfied that our press, specifically the New York Times — Washington Post is doing the job it states it is.
What is the deal with our top news media organizations kneeling at the alter of ambiguity?
Dear New York Times, It's just the facts lady. What the heck is going on? The Times front page is derelict in it's duty to inform.
3
Donald, be very afraid of SDNY. Your friend Chris Christie said so.
2
I have no problem with Dems investigating Trump ad nauseam. He is not a good president and I do not particularly care.
I do have a problem with the irrational giddy character of the comment section, WaPo, NYT, etc about this. Cheering when that happens to Trump or Kavanaugh but bemoaning the "conspiracy" of Northam's yearbook.
Dems should have just realized in Virginia that the same tool can be applied to a Democrat that was first used against a Republican.
I am looking forward to cries about witch hunts and prosecutorial abuse and democracy dying in darkness when the next Democractic Administration, different aides and contractors get investigated into oblivion.
15
@Dakota T Last time I checked, the people demanding Trump's and Northam's heads on a platter are both Democrats. So your argument falls apart. Completely.
28
@Dakota T "Cheering when that happens to Trump or Kavanaugh but bemoaning the "conspiracy" of Northam's yearbook. "
Both political parties are made up of individuals with differing opinions.
2
I’ll fix that for you. “You look forward to the next Democrat administration being investigated ad nauseam - (this is the part you left off) IF there is something to investigate them for”. There are reasons to investigate this man. Why do you have a problem with it? And so what if the comments are happy that he is finally getting what’s coming to him. Don’t you want criminals to get what’s due to them? Why are so many of you worried about criminals being investigated and going to jail? If you love criminals so much why wait for them to steal from you? Give the republicans your 401K now. Ridiculous.
10
It is very important to note that this subpoena was issued by the US Attorney’s Office and not Mueller. Mueller has been granted jurisdiction over the impeachment-related investigation. Presumably, that is exclusive jurisdiction. All US Attorneys are appointed by Trump and can be removed by him without cause. That is the very reason that we have a special counsel.
If the US Attorney’s office begins an impeachment-related investigation which has been delegated to Mueller, we have a conflict of interest issue that could cause great harm to the effort to uncover the truth as to Trump’s misconduct. Normally, you would assume that this subpoena is not related to an impeachment issue. But these days, the Justice Department seems to play by different rules.
5
@michjas
Mistake! Campaign financing or Inauguration Committee finances will never rise beyond the penalty of fine.
2
@michjas, what "impeachment-related investigation" are you talking about? Do you mean the Special Counsel's investigation into coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russian government? There's nothing specifically "impeachment-related" about it. Your reliance on erroneous assumptions is leading to confusion.
2
Nobody said this was an impeachment related issue, which the justice department doesn’t decide anyway, the House of Reps does. They DA is simply looking for crimes committed.
4
All the minutiae parsing fails to acknowledge the one simple thing that is clear to anyone who has been paying attention -- this person has no place in the WH or as POTUS. It simply doesn't matter whether there was premeditated criminal wrongdoing, or if untoward things happened as a result of a moron stumbling into unfamiliar waters. There is a record now and it's one of abject failure. Regardless of party affiliation, there is someone else infinitely more suited to this job and anyone who cares about this country even in the smallest way should be identifying and championing those individuals. A 2nd term should only ever go to someone who has risen to the occasion and proven they are worthy of the office. This person has done neither and should be ushered out holding a pink slip.
35
@Michael
>>> one simple thing that is clear to anyone...this person has no place in the WH or as POTUS.
How is that clear from the context of this article?
President Trump will easily win the Republican Party nomination and then win the 2020 election.
I don't think he will be able to run a successful campaign from jail.
Editor’s note: This comment has been anonymized in accordance with applicable law(s).
2
He will. And it’s horrible that he will. He’s vile. He’s a cheater and a liar. He has no values or loyalties. He cares for nothing but himself and potentially his oldest daughter. But it’s great to see “Americans” take such pride in sending him to the WH. A racist, liar, serial adulterer, cheater in all his businesses and an overall disgusting piece of humanity. That’s the best the republicans have? Pathetic. What exactly are you so proud of? What is wrong with you ppl?
Whitaker will most definitely block the release of The Mueller Report which is why the New York investigation is far more interesting.
That is the investigation the draft dodger should be worried about.
The koch-owned gop will never vote to convict when the House Impeaches president bone-spurs.
So the New York Investigation is The American People's only chance to see justice done.
In the end trump will never see the inside of a jail cell because roberts, thomas, alito, gorsuch* and kavanaugh will never allow a republican to go to jail.
But when the juicy details finally come out in the New York investigation, I can't wait for the mental gymnastics of the mentally inferior rightist trumpet to justify their support of such a filthy, spineless treasonous "man".
19
@Victorious Yankee
>>>the New York Investigation is The American People's only chance to see justice done.
The most New York Investigation will result in is frowns upon the Prosecuters' faces.
Everyone wants a piece of the dirty Trump. I sincerely hope they all do, from the federal prosecutors to Mueller.
17
@DENOTE MORDANT
What would getting "a piece of the (President) Trump" mean?
Maybe we'll find out how much of that inaugural money was spent at the Trump Hotel.
13
Sure sounds like the investigation is close to wrapping up, doesn't it? My guess is, the president will be given the option of stepping down in exchange for clemency. This might save the taxpayers money, and spare us from decades of conspiracy theories. Think of it like a company that has committed a crime, making a settlement while admitting no wrongdoing.
One thing I can't figure is why, with so much easy cash being passed around, Trump doesn't have higher quality lawyers. There are attorneys who could make Individual #1 look like Mother Theresa but Rudy isn't one of them.
8
According to the article, the investigation into inaugural corruption is just getting started, not wrapping up.
2
The very volume of investigations may convince some that this is piling on, by a group concerned about losing the last presidential election. Another take is that the multiple accusations are due to Trump's relaxed attitude toward the law and long history of getting away with things illegal. The house has been advised to go slow on investigations to prevent his base from rallying to protect the poor victim. Its now starting to look as if SDNY, Mueller, the state AGs and House committees may have to choose which investigations to prioritize. Otherwise no one will get anything else done.
1
This explains the bragging about the size of the crowd. He was justifying the expense to someone, like saying, "Here's where all the money went, and it was the biggest coronation in history." (But don't audit the books. Mar A Vacation in Office ain't cheap.)
4
I can't help but wonder what the Trump saga tells us about corporate America, the degeneracy of the rich and famous, and the deep corruption in NYC. None of this is new, and is only getting attention because Trump foolishly went into public life exposing himself and his cronies to scrutiny. Why is no one asking the questions: Is business in America deeply unethical and populated by people who have no respect for the law? Awful as Trump is, the story isn't all about him.
23
I don't know folks , but one really wonders.
Does El Chapo Guzman narco cartel has as much as Trump administration's level investigation , indictments and conviction.
Supposedly , US Presidency is a legal service.
3
This is great news - now all that is left to be done, is to investigate the Obama, G. W. Bush, Clinton, and Reagan inaugural committees. When we are done, we will be well on the way to cleaning up our totally corrupt political system.
As we saw in the case of Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam of Virginia, the same attacks that have been used on Republicans, work just as well on Democrats.
Let's sanitize the whole mess. We should all be wearing MACA hats: "Make America Clean Again".
4
Difference being the Democrats call out their own, the Republicans try to cover up.
10
when is the obama inaugural committee being asked to turn over their records. What the corrupt deep state is doing is outrageous, and will only result in trouble for the deep state, and the corrupt establishment DC swamp dwellers.
3
Wait, the "corrupt deep state"? Are you saying that the existence of a "deep state" by itself is unobjectionable? If you're going to blame Trump's corruption on a fantasy, at least make it plausible.
5
@bob
Maybe because the Obama inauguration didn't involve illegal foreign contributions, and there was no indication of donors being asked to pay inauguration costs off the books, which raises the possibility of skimming. The heavy presence of Russians at the inaugural events is also of concern given the extraordinary presence of Russians in all things Trump.
Funny how all these investigations are coming agencies run by Trump-appointed officials. Maybe they know something?
11
If the “deep state” is going to harm itself, why do you care?
If there is a deep state, why hasn’t Trump “drained the swamp?”
If there is a deep state, and Trump couldn’t drain it on his own, why didn’t he recruit the others in the GOP to help?
2
Where did the money come from?
Where did the money go ?
8
Everything Mr. Trump touches is corrupt. Everything that his associates touch. His Republican White House. His McConnell Republican enablers and co-conspirators. Trump was never a real businessman, only a "born with a silver spoon in his mouth" grifter who kept going bankrupt.
The investigations have now spread far beyond Mr. Mueller and his team. The states are doing them (where Trump pardons are useless). The Manhattan prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. The United States attorney’s office in Brooklyn. That puts the investigations beyond the reach of the Trump White House which continues to obstruct justice, tamper with witnesses, etc. These folks will publish what they find. You can count on it.
The focus, however, remains largely the same and entirely within Mueller's original mandate: campaign finance law violations, illegal donations by foreigners, money laundering, election fraud, campaign donations going directly into Kushner pockets via Stripe, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission, the use of straw donors.
And throughout it all the unhinged and untethered, white nationalist Trumpies will dishonestly claim that no crimes have been committed, that these are politically motivated investigations, that these are process crimes, that these crimes are not within Mueller's mandate, that these are perjury traps, that the deep state is undoing the election.
10
Trump is running the country like it is just part of his corrupt family business. Trump started breaking the law when he took the oath of office without having divested his personal business interests that receive funding from both foreign and domestic sources in violation of the Constitution's emolument clauses. These laws are are very clear-cut and need to be enforced. He changed his ideas about China policy once the Chinese agreed to grant him 38 new trademarks worth untold millions or even billions.
Trump has spent his entire life immersed in lies and deception. It is all justifiable to an extreme narcissist like Trump. It is a means to an end: more self-entitled wealth and more public recognition. The Birther lies, the Trump U fraud, the Flynn lies, Sessions perjury before Congress, the refusal to divest his business interests before taking the oath of office, the false claims of Obama wiretapping, his criminal abuse of his Trump Foundation, his thousands and thousands of unending lies ...it is all of a piece, it is all part of the distorted and unethical world that Donald Trump lives in.
Trump has no knowledge or regard for the Constitution, nor the rule of law. He is joined in his total disrespect for the American people by his cabinet, advisers and the Republican Party leaders.
17
I hope something positive comes from this action,and I am not holding my breath, but one never knows. I would think the individuals donating money, if foreign, would be savvy enough to know that is not acceptable, but that they can donate to the NRA, or an arm of the Koch Brother's octopus, or other nefarious organization made legal by the Supreme Court, thank you Citizen's United, which in turn can donate to the Inaugural Committee. So these G-men have their work cut out for them. And I am sure the G-men are savvy enough and like that stupid Farmer's Insurance ad says "We know a thing or two becasue we've seen a thing or two." BRING IT ON!
5
Wethink: It is too late ... requesting records that no longer exist, have been corrupted, were never accurate to begin with, is a wishful request. Rampant corruption in your "presidente's" party (in his entire world) means that no valid information will be revealed.
2
Oh joy, oh joy! At last. I recall Gov. Christie stating after his firing from commitee hired to organize Trump's hiring for White House, that the DONALD wanted to keep all the extra money for himself from Inauguration "" surplus ". Trump considered it " His Money"for himself. Yet another accounting nightmare. Go team, SDNY Attorney General"s' office !
13
Endless open-ended investigation. Now involving "... Imaad Zuberi, a former fund-raiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton".
That says a lot. Would there have been equally scrutiny of President Obama or Hillary Clinton?
2
This is what I imagine a criminal empire would look like. Fraudulent not for profit foundation, fraudulent online university, a long list of lawsuits, and criminals found in every organization he involves himself with.
I respect myself too much to sit and let him lie to me tonight. I will wait for the Democratic comments for a hint of truth and intelligence. Everyone should deny him the ratings he wants and just skip the lies.
12
Mueller has done us a great disservice. The goal was to find out if Trump colluded with Putin. Not finding anything there, he expands to anyone in the campaign. Papadopoulos after, who knows how many millions were spent on his conviction, gets 14 days, out in 12. Flynn is indicated for talking to the Russian ambassador two times. The first, to ask then not to vote against Israel in a coming U.N resolution. The second was not to overreact to some sanction. Even some FBI agents there did not think he knew he was lying. What he was doing was to serve our country's interest. That had nothing to do with fixing the election. Mueller has also indicted a bunch of Russians not even in the U.S. He gone after Manafort for business dealings with the Ukraine over a decade ago and they had been looked at by the justice department who concluded it did not need to be prosecuted. Obama was president then, not Trump. He sent in a machine gun wielding SWAT team to arrest Stone. He was trying to find out what Wikileaks was going to publish. I can’t figure ho that a crime. Now Mueller wants to know who was at the inauguration (thousands) and who were the donners. That had nothing to do with Trump - Putin collusion.At least one of his prime agents wrote earlier that he would never let Trump be elected. Mueller should put up or shut down. I’m sure this cloud over Trump suits the Trump haters just fine. But it has come down to just vengeance on Trump and supporters, for winning the election.
1
@Ron, what the heck does this investigation into inaugural corruption have to do with Mueller? Can you explain?
6
@Dubious Here is what the article says: "they showed that the investigations surrounding Mr. Trump, once centered on potential ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential election, have spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life: his business, his campaign, his inauguration and his presidency."
And we see that the Trump crime family can’t even throw a party without laundering money, taking emoluments from foreign powers, and paying ridiculous payoffs to cronies. I’m still amazed that he wasn’t put in jail a long time ago. It’s sad because it means that it takes Presidential scrutiny for the system to move at all against white collar crime. It means that many wiser criminals are out there bilking us honest taxpayers out of billions and going scot free. And it’s still not even certain that, Trump, possibly the most arrogant, ignorant, and bumbling crime figure of all time, will see anything resembling the justice he deserves.
18
Donald Trump stated to Maggie Haberman in her NYT interview that he didn't know where the Southern District Court of New York was regarding his activities. Well, now he does!
11
I want everything out in the light - I want to see investifgative reporting, disclosed tax returns, documentaries, I want to see sections of book stores devoted to unravelling the Trump Crime Syndicate and all the shady dealings.
7
Well this explains how the Elvis impersonator got 11 mill for a days work.
6
Is there anything honest about this administration? I know the answer. No.
10
Rachel Maddow was reporting on this within days of the inauguration. The numbers just didn't add up. This has been a long-simmering story, and I'm glad to see that there has been legal investigation...just the latest investigation of an administration that will eventually be known as the most corrupt in history.
15
It seems to me that this is a classic "Witch hunt", which is a campaign directed against a person with unpopular views as perceived by the left, where the investigators, everyone on the left as well as the SC, have chosen a target and are now looking at his entire life to see if they can find a crime. "And they showed that the investigations surrounding Mr. Trump, once centered on potential ties to Russia during the 2016 presidential election, have spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life: his business, his campaign, his inauguration and his presidency."
This is not what we would expect in a free America but something we might find in a dictatorship.
1
@NYChap
The SC is a Republican.
The reason all aspects of Trump's life are under investigation is that each crime leads to another, the man is thoroughly corrupt and has operated this ways for decades.
You seem open-minded in how you phrase your comment - which I appreciate - so please try to look at the facts objectively.
16
@NYChap - "Witch hunt", which is a campaign directed against a person with unpopular views as perceived by the left,
A witch hunt is where people, almost all women not powerful men, died because they stood accused by the religious conservatives of the time of working with the devil.
When Mr. Trump is sentenced to death based on false accusations of being the devil you can get back to us on the "witch hunt" which even that the men want usurp and change the meaning of.
2
@NYChap, a "witch hunt" is not defined as a campaign against someone with unpopular views "as perceived by the left." Witch hunts are not specifically connected with either side of the spectrum; indeed the most famous recent witch hunt was carried out by the Republican McCarthy.
1
The wheels of Justice grind way too slow for my taste. I'm glad the sdny is looking into this finally - Rachel Maddow put a spotlight on it ages ago - but I'm not sure if it will affect the Trumps beyond more embarrassment and DT has proven himself immune to that. Money laundering is no doubt part of the Trump modus operandi, but like any good mob boss DT is always one or two steps removed from actual culpability. It will be interesting to see where this goes but I'm afraid we'll have to wait for him to be out of office to see him personally held accountable for anything.
6
While Robert Mueller's investigation continues ,Donald Trump may or may not be aware that he has already been "checkmated " by Robert Mueller. Throughout this investigation, Mr. Mueller has been forwarding information to the Southern District of New York, to federal prosecutors in New York. This is to ensure that if Donald Trump resigns in the hope of a pardon from Mike Pence, he cannot be pardoned for a state crime. Also, if he is defeated in 2020, and there is enough evidence against Donald Trump, he will surely be indicted and possibly convicted by the Southern District of New York for his crimes.
The one thing that Nancy Pelosi and the House of Representatives need to make sure of is that Robert Mueller's findings are made available to the American public. We have a right to know and confirm what our intuition senses about Donald Trump.
This is not an issue in which the American people need to be protected for the sake of "national security."
4
When it comes to the Trump organization, where there is money, there is inevitably graft. Not one aspect of his business life and governing life doesn't involve some level of corruption and dishonesty. The investigations and indictments will go on long long after he's gone.
4
"...making false statements...." That potential accusation is nothing new. Trump has already made well over 4,000 false statements since his inauguration. What makes anyone think that he and his inaugural committee weren't making false statements before he put his hand on the Bible?
When Sarah Sanders declares that these subpoenas have nothing to do with the president, she may be right. But, they may have everything to do with the President-Elect.
4
By the way, the single funniest phrase in this article is, “Ms. Winston Wolkoff.”
I swear that she visited the Howells in this one episode of “Gilligan’s Island.”
3
At this point, the real question wouyld seem to be: Is there ANY aspect of Trump's campaign, business dealings, or (mis) "administration," that's NOT riddled with blatant corruption?
To update Churchill's famous phrase: "Never before have so few stolen so much from so many"!
6
Strange that $107 million was spent on an event that resembled something you would have seen at your standard county fair.
11
This is a “gateway” subpoena, similar to a gateway drug, that leads to more damaging charges and outcomes in the very near future.
This provides the grounds for greater inquiry into everything associated with DJT and his closest allies (family).
Are his tax returns next?
Or, is it donald jr - his namesake?
Whatever comes next will just go deeper into DJT’s life and “financial” dealings.
The discussion of a border wall will slip away with each passing week and the perilous investigations will only increase.
6
Big deal. When do we get the really important news showing that Trump personally asked for and received help from the Russians to get elected? Where are the leaks from reliable but secret sources?
2
Were you reading the news during the 2016 campaign? Trump asked Russia for help on live television: "Rusher, if you're listening..."
2
What an amazing story to break on the eve of a State of the Union address. It would have doomed any other president.
5
Everything this guy Trump touches is rife with crime or criminal intent. By all accounts he was busy committing crimes during the campaign, and certainly after being inaugurated. Now the SDNY strongly suspects that crimes were committed leading up to and during the inauguration as well. Is there no end to the nefarious motivation of the Trump crime syndicate?
3
Interesting that a large percentage of corporate stocks are owned by foreigners and then those corporations turn around and make direct donations to politicians. Sounds like something that should be made illegal.
5
"...have spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life..." In other words, we're getting the vetting that should've be done before the election.
6
I am less interested in where the money came from and more interested in where it went, because it wasn't spent on the inauguration.
13
I can understand why it's illegal for foreigners to donate to federal campaigns and political action committees. I'm not quite sure I understand why it's illegal for them to donate to inaugural funds. Is it because that can be construed as attempting to influence the president in some way? At that point he's been elected. I'm quite alarmed at the idea that any campaign would accept funds from any foreigner because that means that the president may feel obliged to push for legislation and regulations favorable to foreign corporations and/or countries whether or not their interests align with ours.
Trump has not released his tax returns. We have no real idea about his holdings or the state of those holdings. What we do know is what we've seen and that is that he and his merry little band of corrupt cabinet secretaries have their own agenda which does not align with the best interests of most of us. I still believe that electing Trump was the equivalent of using a cannon to swat a fly.
6
@hen3ry,
And I can't understand how we can turn over control of The Senate to a man from a southern state that has NEVER been able to pay its own bills.
Socialist red-state kentucky gets 34.8% of its yearly operating budget by leeching it off of real blue states that can and do pay their own bills.
Oh great, mitch mcconnell is bringing all that parasitic southern wisdom to the Senate.
What could go right?
11
Don't you think that the best time to bribe a president would be after he's elected, rather than before?
2
While Mr.Trump rants and wails about the Mueller "witch hunt" in Washington , the Federal Court for the Southern District of New York is busy getting information and handing out sentences.Trump does not have a name for their effort but he should fear it. They are likely to uncover very damaging evidence against him and there is no doubt- they will reveal what they have found.
359
@Janet Michael Trump has done enough things in NYC along to warrant a conviction, let alone the other states - Charity Fraud, illegal payments, not paying bills, obstruction - list goes on
30
@Janet Michael
And Trump can’t escape SDNY!
25
@Janet Michael
As the article points out, the investigation has "spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life: his business, his campaign, his inauguration and his presidency." Art should have noted it has also spread to persons in "Trump's orbit." This search for an indictable offense fits the defamation of a witch hunt.
9
The fact that investigations into Mr. Trump “have spread far beyond the special counsel’s office to include virtually all aspects of his adult life: his business, his campaign, his inauguration and his presidency” shows the risks that nefarious schemers take when their greed for power sets them on the world stage. If Mr. Trump had been content to keep running his businesses out of New York instead of the White House, he might have avoided federal investigations that could eventually send him to prison.
698
@Patricia Lay-Dorsey
I agree. . . . it just seems like the investigation, frustrated by their inability to find anything related to what they set out to find, just keeps on investigating. Presidnet Trump is now well into the 2nd half of his first term and the ongoing investigation has tended to absolve, rather than indict, him. I'm afraid the investigation is going to be one of the greatest assets to his upcoming campaign.
5
“Tended to absolve rather than indict...”
The Muller investigation has resulted in 34 indictments—and that’s just the ones we know about.
209
@Courtney
"frustrated by their inability to find anything related to what they set out to find"? Let's just wait until Mueller completes his investigation before making such presumptive statements. Mueller has wisely chosen to keep his findings within his team, rather than feed the media beast.
109
I'm interested in the money laundering, the quid pro quos, and above all, the guest list and how much each gave.
To think such potential corruption in plain sight marked the beginning of this president's "reign." Does he take us all for fools?
Robert Mueller is a genius for spreading around the many pieces of this investigation. How I love the fact this particular investigation into presidential grifting is based in New York, far from the president's ability to shut it down.
I hope the American people gets a full and documented picture of Trumpian corruption, including the role of the NRA in this whole Russian mess.
Assuming the SDNY can--like the botched horror of child separation, this inaugural committee graft is a combination of freewheeling corruption, zero accountability, incomplete record keeping, and lack of interest at the top.
1173
@ChristineMcM
So much took place in plain sight because that's how Trump was used to operating in private business where he could just do whatever he wanted. Someone probably had to explain to him that as a alleged "public servant" he was supposed to be more discreet.
92
@ChristineMcM
Does he take us all for fools?
Of course he does. So does the political establishment in D.C. We, as Americans, sit still as the profusion of money in our political system delivers mundane and ridiculous candidates at all levels in election after election - with all-too-rare exceptions (AOC).
The problems that we face are fundamental. So are the solutions. The only silver lining I see is that trump may shine enough light on the failings of our current system as to actually enable a solution. We'll see...
118
@ChristineMcM
I just hope the prosecutor in the southern district, NY doesn't settle the case. It wouldn't be beyond normal practices, and Trump has essentially prevailed in past cases by wearing down the legal opposition and settling, and keeping the matter sealed up.
But, this isn't a normal civil infraction of the rules; it's criminal, if I understand the case correctly; so maybe the southern district will prove helpful, or useful, for revealing the slimy underside of this president's inner workings.
59
Finally. Something of substance to be revealed in this non transparent group of people occupying the White House. It is not even close to transparent; for that matter, oblique. It is a black wall of secrecy. This reminds me of some other people in power in some not very nice countries...
8
Ever since the psychiatric world diagnosed Trump with a narcissistic personality disorder, the press and the media have done nothing but feed his ego with coverage.
Why haven’t we followed common sense and denied Trump the life blood of his divisive existence, uncontrolled attention?
20
Apparently Russians and Ukrainians were present big time during his inauguration, no wonder they all contributed lavishly to this abomination of nature.
All the dirty blood money of the world got there, just like vultures attracted to deadly stench.
17
I wonder when they’ll subpoena Trump’s, Kushner’s and the rest of the pack’s taxes and bank accounts. Trump was never a president for the people. He’s president for himself. It’s been all about forging ties to further his wealth. All those bankruptcies and bail-outs including the one via Russia, probably gave him an insecurity complex: he may have inherited Daddy’s money, but he isn’t made of the same stuff as Trump senior. He left a path of ruin and destruction in his wake. Look what he did to Atlantic City and it’s people. He’s shown himself to be a crook, a liar, and a thief. If this was the Middle Ages they’d be calling for his head. Thankfully we don’t have to resort to pitchforks and stake-burning now that we have Mueller to render a modicum of decorum amidst this farsical joke of a presidency, While Trump ignores the will of the people and gilds the bowls of his toilets, and those of his children, we the people suffer this idiocy, instead of making demands. We should subpoena Trump’s and Kushner’s taxes and bank accounts for the last 4 years! We’ve already seen violations of campaign finance with Cohen implicating Trump. What are we waiting for? Bowing to a tax and financial audit is easier than losing one’s head!
8
I've noticed that the New York Times has become nothing but the Donald Trump Publication Machine. What's up with that. Is there really nothing else going on in the world?
@Grunchy
I believe You are from Canada.
I am Naturalized US Citizen from Europe.
I can state one fact is that American Media , all type is full of themselves. Meaning world is Washington (like Rome) beyond that barbarians are living like.
For example for Tuning in to World , I have to watch BBC World, France 24, NHK world, Reading Guardian or Deutche Welle , Haaretz .
There is no way American Media doesn't put one single news to headline if US is not in it.
So WE are here living in America but not world.
2
This was in the phase when Trump and his family saw the Presidential office of just another opportunity to make money. Could be interesting.
11
That was a phase? It's a very LONG phase then!
President Trump spent lavishly for his presidential inauguration it's the story. Really? The man specs gold plated bathroom hardware for his buildings (faucets, handles, shower heads, etc.) Ewww
"Prosecutors also requested all documents related to vendors and contractors with the inaugural committee, which raised a record $107 million and spent lavishly."
What we need to know is how the Hillary Campaign blew a 1 Billion dollar budget to lose the Presidential election. Heck, with one billion, I would have won the U.S. Presidential election, and I am a naturalized citizen.
2
How’d her campaign do it?
Legally.
Anything else I can help with?
8
(Psst! Hillary isn't President! Also, SHE'S not under investigation!)
8
@Kathy She should be under investigation.
The point is, judicial standards are not being applied equally.
True, she is not the President, but neither is Manaffort and the violation for which he is in jail took place in 2005!
I would suggest that Trump as a politician has taken his cues from many before him... unfortunately the wrong ones. Nixon for the cloud of cheating and corruption over the campaign, and Clinton of course with sex scandals. But James Buchanan (highly divisive rhetoric), Warren Harding also for the womanizing (and they say poker, rather than golf) and lack if interest in doing the daily work (lazy). What is exceptional though, with Trump is aversion to the democratic process, the balance of power, and his obsession with autonomous rulers.
10
Has spending information ever been “requested” for prior inaugurations or prior similar events? If not, why not?
1
I genuinely want to know: is this NORMAL for so much heat to be on a president or is it just me and I never really looked that closely before or even cared? Is this normal? Because it doesn't seem normal and I just want to make sure it's not that I am seeing it for the first time in my life because I don't care for him? Did this go on (the indictments, the suspicion, the lies, etc, etc, etc) with other presidents like Obama and Bush, etc???? I really want to know.
1
No, this is unprecedented. There was never any need for this before!
47
Aimee S
When there’s billowing smoke, investigators naturally want to find the source of a potential fire. The Russians attacked our democracy and Trump is either a useful idiot or wiling collaborator.
Everyone in the Trump campaign or transition who had contact with Russians lied about it. Why?
Trump commands very little loyalty from those who work with him, and countless stories, if not entire books, emerge that need further investigation.
There are daily news reports of Trump’s incompetence or potential corruption. His foundation, his inauguration, his pandering to Putin, his anger at security briefings that contradict his worldview, his love for autocrats, and his constant lying about EVERYTHING demand investigation.
Trump is the worst president and greatest security threat the country has ever faced. We have to get to the bottom of it, and quickly.
111
Well, you could start by reminding yourself that our current President was a loud and cynical leader of a propaganda campaign falsely pegging Barack Obama as being a foreigner.
109
Which federal office? SDNY? The article dances around on this issue. Can federal prosecutors go roving around into matters not specifically related to their own district? Did
Mueller farm it out to them?
Ziberi was the only person subpoenaed, but he also was a fundraiser for Obama and Hillary. Why no curiosity about that? The sources for the story are two anonymous leakers. who evidently are partisans in the Strzok mold. They think they have a mission, but they can’t even wait for the process itself to take its own course without their interference. This is prosecution and news investigation run amok.
1
"Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who was a top official on the inaugural committee. was fired as an adviser to the first lady, Melania Trump, in early 2018, after the committee released its financial disclosures showing that entities controlled by Ms. Winston Wolkoff were paid $26 million."
"Ms. Winston Wolkoff’s company made a $1.6 million commission from that $26 million, which officials have previously said went to pay 14 people."
Between Cohen and Gates, I'm sure the SDNY has a treasure trove of evidence.
10
Coming into office amidst organized chanting of "drain the swamp," from the very first moment the new Trump administration demonstrated the falsity of the slogan. A fish rots from the head, so they say; so, too, with this particular band of grifters.
8
It’s reassuring to know that Trump will be in court or in jail for the rest of his life ... and broke, because he’ll run out of people to loan him money when he’s no longer able to repay with treason.
10
When is Rudy Giuliani going to go on Fox News and explain to everyone that accepting millions of dollars in campaign contributions from agents of a hostile foreign government in exchange for more favorable treatment, "never happened, and, even if it did, it wouldn't be illegal"?
Within 24 hours? Or will he wait until the new indictments come?
Then again, he himself suggested that we should add "hypothetically" to everything he says. As in, "It wouldn't be illegal - hypothetically". Which says a lot about his grasp of the law, let alone the reality.
9
None of this will make him go away. What will it take to make him go away?!
13
Put all of this furor and corruption to the Supreme Court's approval of the invitation-to-corruption Citizens United debacle.
7
Where's all that donated inauguration money overage that's unaccounted for? Wasn't some $45-50mil supposed to be donated after the final tally of the inauguration costs?
Yeah, sounds like every ofter Trump nonprofit that had/has to be forced by a court decision to actually do what they raised the money for.
Maybe he's putting up a $45million dollar flagpole on behalf of veterans - located in St. Petersburg . . . . . Russian.
7
“...a former fund-raiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who was seeking inroads with Mr. Trump,” aka, one lacking any convictions or core beliefs.
2
With the Organization and its Divisions, shell corporations, alleged NfPs and PACs, following Trump money is difficult...
...For he seems to treat it all as One Gold Pot most of the time, a series of isolated compartments, when having money in the left pocket can prevent a bankruptcy judge from ordering the empty right one with the big hole be refilled.
Or when foreign money goes through a Division, into the big gold pot and an equal amount of good Genuine All American cash is donated/loaned the campaign by PAC or candidate.
Say a Russian or a member of the House of Saud wished to make a campaign contribution. The money comes in as loan/payment for work to a specific project, disappears into the Organization, is awarded to CEO Donald, who then “loans” that amount, more or less, to presidential campaign, or a donation is made from an Organization PAC.
The foreign money comes in, and with very little laundering, comes out ‘American’.
Meanwhile, what is happening to the Organization subcorporation left partially or completely unfunded?
Corporations were never meant to protect individual business owners from responsibility - of building $1million/daily profit to survive casinos no responsible business owner would ever build.
But an alleged billionaire was able to walk away from the Taj Majal wreckage without paying his debts.
Similarly, Trump had millions to ‘loan’ his own campaign, while Organization businesses were suffering.
This is all very ugly, and suspiciously illegal.
9
In real time, we are witnessing history:
We saw the Russian influence (how many friends got emails spreading the Hillary Hate?);
We saw Marina Butina ask him a 'an open floor question'-how did he know to call on her? and was she really a second amendment advocate in Russia?)
The Trump Tower meeting;
the Shayschels meeting;
We saw the shady deals (the lot sold to a Russian four times its value in Palm Beach);
The record money, but not records crowds at the inauguration;
The renting of his hotel rooms;
The Secret Service in Trump Tower;
The press statements for Flynn and Manafort, communicating without calling him, witness tampering (why are so many people lying for him, and to what end);
The list is endless, as is his greed and grifting. How much money off our country can this man make?
And when can we say enough is enough? Diyanu
Thank you to all the professionals, the press and the dedicated civil servants, who are doing their jobs.
14
Sure, they'll hand over the subpoena'd documents . . . except for the incriminating ones.
1
There's no reason to think that the shady characters in Trump's orbit that worked on his inauguration would have kept any incriminating records. They've had 2 years to purge anything that could implicate anyone. The millions that were collected for the event disappeared into the Trump void where so many other millions have gone over the years. The inauguration itself was a less than spectacular event, especially by Trump standards. So, where did all those millions go? I have a strong suspicion that we'll never know.
9
We have to hope that President Trump’s business acumen will contribute to his 2016 campaign surpassing President Obama’s meager $375K in violations from 2008. Perhaps President Trump can wave a magic wand and make it happen.
Where did the money go? The simplest and most likely location of that money right now is in Trump's pocket (so to speak). How did it get there? He took it. Is that illegal? Federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York apparently think so. Anybody else (other than Trump) would likely go to jail for something like this.
10
For those crying “witch hunt” please remember that this story broke over two years ago in the Post; that no other campaign had funded an inaugural with anything like the money pouring in to said committee; that foreign cash was prominent, begging the question of legality; and finally, that only about half was actually spent and the rest disappeared.
13
The longer these investigations go on and the more in depth they become, the more I agree with Trump that Mueller the DOJ are on a witch hunt. This latest subpoena has nothing to do with collusion. These investigators are trying to justify their existence to the point that they are looking for anything. If neither Mueller nor the FBI have been able to find proof at this point that Trump is working on behalf of Russia, then it’s a sure bet they’re not going to find any. If they had discovered the evidence, they would have already come out with it. This process has gotten out of hand and it needs to be terminated. It can only damage the country now.
1
@FreedomisPriceless: I guess you don't think freedom from corruption is priceless. Trump and his family are utterly corrupt and this should not be allowed to continue. Do you think that the people who are investigating him should just pretend not to see all his criminality? Shame on you.
3
There is a certain ironic symmetry if we find out that Trump was violating his oath of office even as he took it.
But can anyone really claim to be surprised?
10
This is good news - and I hope they also find out how much of the funds raised went directly into the maniac's pocket. I would assume it would be very substantial since trump cannot touch anything without swindling and stealing.
8
Mind boggling. That's what I say to myself everyday.
Mind boggling that he's President of the United States. And mind boggling that he still has so much support.
20
This isn't a presidency, this is a criminal enterprise through and through. People often call him The Don, as if he's a mafioso. The mob is clean as a whistle compared to this guy. He's using the presidency to extract every penny of financial gain he can. You don't think the Saudis are funneling money to this guy somehow? Now it seems the answer is yes, and his own government knows it.
The day his personal lawyer's office was raided by the FBI would have been the end of any other American presidency in history. In the story of the Trump presidency, it was Tuesday. This whole thing is absolutely shocking.
13
Considering that Trump, is more or less, on record saying he will not release the results of the Mueller investigation to the public, it doe snot matter what is turned over; it is all going to be suppressed. Just like Trump's tax returns. The only way, any of this will become public, is if Trump is impeached. Or, New York State, under its investigation, releases its report on Trump, the Trump Foundation and evading New York State taxes.
3
Always thought about how stupid Trump was for running for office. There were obvious reasons at first but now we see how colossally bad that idea was. He might have been able to keep up all of his shady practices under wraps indefinitely, though that "IRS audit" might have scored some hits at some point.
You might use the opening Pandoras Box analogy here but I think in this case were taking about Pandoras Cargo Container.
31
@Bill Of course, nothing ever prevented Trump from releasing his tax returns. Even the IRS confirmed that an ongoing audit is not a bar to releasing one's on tax returns. But, Trump's supporters latched onto Trump's excuses and ignored the truth.
4
"'Choosing Greatness' his SOTU Theme...
so hilarious, that is more scary then funny,
the dangers of living in alternate universe:
complete moral and mental degradation.
16
Hmm - In today's NY Times, there are at least 5 negative stories about President Trump. And that would be OK, if there were at least one or two positive ones. There are some positive things going on now that are not being reported - the economy is doing well, jobs creation is up, trade deals have been updated making things more fair for all. If the NY Times wants to lose the label of biased reporting, then it should publish the good with the bad. Since it does not do this, it certainly looks like bias is impacting news reporting.
5
@G G
When it comes to Trump and his administration there is no good to report on. OK, they are managing well the veterans' affair dossier. And that was duly reported and acknowledged a few days ago. The things you mention are either not a result of this adminstration's policies (economy) or far from concluded (trade).
13
Every single one of those things that you see as “positive,” was extensively reported in the last three days. You didn’t see it, because you were told it wasn’t there.
Otherwise, want better better press? Good place to start would be acting like an adult.
9
@GG: Did you miss all of the reporting about jobs and the economy the day the jobs report came out? I didn't! It looks like you are looking for bias in the Times in order to confirm your own bias against the Times. If the president would quit engaging in criminal activity, the reporting might be more favorable. After all, the Times just reports the news. It doesn't invent it, as Fox, Breitbart, and InfoWars do.
11
With Trump everything is corruption. Everywhere you look. I guess it is simply a way of life.
20
Great!!! It's about time.
Finally will get the picture of the immense scope of corruption of this bottomless swamp that is trump's administration.
We will never reinstate any moral credibility as a country, if we're unable to discuss honestly and openly the genesises of our State of Disunion.
13
More hate Trump reporting while there is no reporting on the fact that the joint committee has met only once on the border wall agreement. Sad
2
What does Trump's wall fantasy have to do with the investigation into the corruption of his inauguration?
3
The family business' main ploy was intimidation. One would get a job from trump, you would bill for the work and thug lawyers would knock on your door. Ultimately, you would be threatened and would have to sue. That lawsuit would go on for years, you would go out of business meanwhile, trump would take what he wanted from his next victim. Who puts casinos out of business then brags that 'I took a lot of money out of there'? A thief. A professional thief. Who says 'Use other peoples' money'? A con man. trump has put him self in a corner. His schedule shows he works, maybe, 40% of the time and the rest is 'executive' time. Executive time is spending tax payer dollars on luxury. Those who defend him better get a grip. You voted for a reality show faker. Including the 'good genes and a little powder'.
20
No aspect of this creep and his family is above board. It is not a presidency, it is a crime spree.
24
This is what the dems do... That is why i will never vote for a democrat ever....... They obstruct, destruct and impede.
2
@Jeff b . You don't need to go further than the headline to get the information you need. These documents were requested by federal prosecutors, not the Democrats. They requested them because there was evidence of illegal activity, not because they wanted to obstruct, destruct and impede.
12
GOP said what to Obama?
4
@Jeff b
Ha-ha!!!!
As opposed to the Republicans during the Obama presidency, right? "Obstruct, destruct and impede" was exactly what McConnell and co. did all those years, and nothing but.
11
45 hit the ground with invisible shackles.
Special Counselor Robert S. Mueller is working on making them visible.
9
It’s a weird “fascist dictatorship” where only the “Dictator’s” friends and associates get investigated and prosecuted, but none of his opponents.
1
@JQGalt: Yeah, it's weird how fascists frequently turn out to be greed-driven criminals willing to destroy democracy, law enforcement, and the courts in order to enrich themselves and their cronies, isn't it?
10
Trump is a disgrace to the USA and its democracy.
22
Is that, emanating from yonder prosecutorial team, the sound of a noose tightening...dare say it just might be.
10
Follow the money! It’s Russia, Russia, Russia— contacts, deals, and the real “golden shower” of rubles. Followed by denials and lies.
9
When you put a crime family in the White House all folks around them will be of questionable morals if not outright criminals as we see most top aides on Trump campaign have been indicted or convicted. Even Trump was suspected of being a Russian asset by the FBI. Trump's cabinet was filled with secretary's convicted of fraud or self dealing. Roy Cohn a mob lawyer was Trump's mentor then his personal lawyer of ten years was convicted of felonies involving Trump paying off porn stars. Trump brought his family into the White HOUSE to cash in, Jared got 1 billion for his family real estate biz and Ivanka Trump just picked the head of the World Bank a conflict of interests seen in 3rd world dictatorships. This is all what we know from open source media and Mueller and the House will expose even more shady details and now even his inauguration is suspected of fraud. Corruption every where you look with this crime family.
8
Graft and corruption as far as the eye can see, in every single aspect of this manchild's life.
It's been 2 years and I still can't believe millions of people voted for this absolute nincompoop with zero experience and obvious mental health problems.
22
One thing to focus on tonight is any other thing in the universe besides the criminal buffoon who calls himself president. Then read what the Dems have to say tomorrow.
5
The prosecutor's job includes investigation. Always has.
https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/criminal/criminal-law-basics/keeping-law-and-order-the-prosecutor.html
Prosecutors are lawyers who investigate, charge, and prosecute (take to trial) people whom they think have committed a crime
4
I LOVE NY!❤️
15
America is being auctioned off to foreign richniks. But America doesn't care because the Republican Party, NRA, Fox News, evangelical churches, nascar and the NFL are in on it.
17
So meuller's got nothing.
2
@Brian: No. He's got a lot, and he's sharing it with the state of New York, which has been investigating the Trump charity and has so far banned most of the Trumps from serving on the boards of any charities, owing to their criminal diversion of donations, which they wound up using for their own personal benefit. But I suppose right-wing news doesn't report anything they don't want Trump fans to know.
9
@Brian Keep telling yourself that. How many indictments already? How many convictions? How many guilty pleas? Individual #1 is sweating.
9
Har har! Mueller's not even running these investigations -- they're out of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Trump seems to lard himself enough corruption to occupy a significant portion of the Department of Justice.
6
"The buck stops here."
Harry Truman
"The ruble laundered here."
Donald Trump
22
Corrupt right out of the gate. Amazing.
No. Not amazing. Par.
15
I know it is very hard t remember all the promises/ lies Trump proclaimed while running for the White House. But did he not brag that he was "so rich" he would not need anyone`s money; and how he could/would fund most of his campaign himself! Of all the lies from this serial liar; this may have been the biggest falsehood of all. Trump`s whole life has been one of getting other people to spend their fortunes on him; and then take the money and run. Everything this charlatain has done his whole life has been ought and paid for by someone else; starting with dear old dad.
14
This looks bad, but keep in mind that Zuberi was a top fundraiser for the Presidential candidates for the democrats too. According to his wiki page he "was a top fundraiser for President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign and in 2015 was listed as a “Hillblazer,” as those who raised at least $100,000 for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign were known."
The keys of course are finding out where that money was funneled in from. This is probably the tip of a very large iceberg. We can only "thank" the SCOTUS and their ruling on Citizens United for all of this. Total corruption.
5
I wonder if President Pelosi will pardon Trump and Pence?
14
Great so far after 2 years nothing has ever been proven a crime! Just more BIAS attacks...
2
@David M How many indictments of Trump's closest aides and fixers? How many guilty pleas.
Hmm, Individual 1 may just get his time in the hot seat too.
4
@David M You could say this was a typical Mob shake-down, but Michael Corleone would never have been so obvious.
3
Too bad there isn't a parallel investigation on Hillary's 'glass ceiling ' fiasco.
2
@Lane Clinton has been thoroughly investigated by Republican congressional committees. Too bad they haven't spent ANY time looking into Trump.
6
I can't wait for the next president to be a Democrat. Now watching what the Republicans will do to them in return for Trump will make what they did to Obama look like a get out of jail free card. Only a sucker would fall for that line about loving thy enemy as thyself. These investigations have become like an irrational obsession serving no real purpose other than legal and moral self-indulgence. It totally reveals our insecurity that we have to invent ways to appear to have power.
2
Corruption on a grand scale, with no shame.
Drain the swamp? Trump IS the swamp.
9
It is becoming obvious to all we are now ruled by a faction of Organized Crime, in hand with Putin and Russian Intelligence. Only Putin has won in the changes by the hateful Trump.
What else do we need to remove this traitor?
8
@George Kamburoff
To be honest, I believe at this moment all over the world giant Organized crime syndicates are seriously inve4stigating , how Trump pull out this presidency issue, They need to learn a lot from Trump.
What would Freud say about trump's tie?
5
@Technic Ally
Compensating something small , I suppose.
2
None of this is surprising; he is a middle school bully. This is the fate of middle school bullies... someone stands up to the bully and everyone sees that the bluster is a facade.
Given his lifetime of mistreatment of women, one has to love that the final unmasking has been done by Rep. Pelosi.
9
Trump is the funny money President. The Inaugural Committee paying out huge sums for routine work projects. The Deutsche Bank having issues with his credit worthiness. Saudi money. Russian money. Money laundering. Payoffs to mistresses for silence. And then there's the tax cut -- really, Mr McConnell, are we still calling that trickle-down tax scam a "Middle Class Tax Cut"? More like Middle Class tax haircut. If there's a dollar to be made, a Trump will be nearby.
13
Additionally, why are foreign delegations with embassies and housing in town paying outrageous fees for suites and parties at Trump Pennsylvania Avenue?
Can we say Emoluments Clause?
Why are so many foreign investors from autocracies interested in (over?)costly Trump projects (or in Russia, loans but no Trump Moscow Tower).
Can we hear that clause again?
Divide the nation, but make the President somewhere between almost solvent and extremely wealthy.
It will take teams of forensic accountants years to determine the route of these illegal campaign contributions.
Shame on those who voted for Trump because he spoke as rudely as they do, had a similar skin tone, and promised them the moon when he was (obviously) only looking for the ultimate means of collecting bribes.
SHRDLU - who has a bad portfolio, because he believes it ethical to risk lending a company money with a bond, but NOT to own a piece of a company, traded 100 times since the company’s creator sold 49% of it as stock - to people who would continue to drain money away from the people working hard to keep it running.
Is it such a radical idea that corporate builders and their employees should benefit from their work, that’s capitalism - but not people who handed money to the builder in return for the right to an eternal dividend spigot?
That’s theft.
Is it ethical to allow a “billionaire” to turn a nation of too many states filled with trusting fools into a source of personal wealth?
That's too much money for the Trump Crime Family to ignore and too much too hide for a single event. No under the Trump Org CFO cut a deal.
3
Have not seen or heard Elliot Broidy (Cohen’s other client) lately. George Nasser turned on Broidy with his dealings with UAE. Broidy was also a co-finance chair with Cohen and Wynn of National Republican Committee. Wonder if Broidy is now turned on Trump and has implicated Zuberi with his dealings with UAE.
Will Broidy also come clean on the Playboy model payoff that Cohen negotiated? Did he give Trump cover in order to get the lucrative defense contracts with UAE?
7
Raise your hands if you are sick of seeing signs of corruption plaguing the Executive Branch of our government on top of seemingly every department run by people whose function is to tear down the department they are charged with overseeing. Did the Russians plan for this or were they just lucky? The time cannot come soon enough to be rid of this whole band of malcontents/incompetents so that we can make America great again!
8
It certainly is not lost on me how quiet Ivanka, Don jr., Jared, and Eric have been for the past several months. No doubt in a room feverishly shredding decades of incriminating evidence. It might be possible that this is the first time any of them have broken a sweat.
12
If the collusion route is a dead end, try to get Trump on questionable inauguration funding. When that doesn't yield any evidence for prosecution, make up some other crime and spend more taxpayer money looking for criminality. The process never ends for Democrats, liberals and progressives who hate Trump so intensely that they refuse to stop hounding him. What a sad state of affairs. But remember, what goes around, comes around. Your turn will come when your chosen one is in the White House.
2
@Paul: You must have forgotten the eight years Republicans spent blocking Barack Obama's every move and the twenty-five years they spent harassing Hillary Clinton with multiple fruitless investigations after she tried to get a healthcare bill for Americans passed in 1994. Yeah, you poor innocent Republicans are always the victims of the big, bad Democrats. Enjoy your crocodile tears.
16
@paul If their activities weren't "questionable", there wouldn't be an investigation in the first place. There's never been a full accounting of all the money that was raised. Enough information has come out that committee transactions with Trump companies may not have been at "arm's length" and we already know that the committee tried to get some vendors to accept payments directly from donors instead of being properly recorded through the committee books. Just those facts alone justify an investigation.
5
I liked it that you build this entire sand castle on the notion that there’s no evidence of collusion, for which you have no proof whatsoever.
3
It would seem that bad smell from the White House actually did start on inaugural day.
5
"…interest in whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee, as well as whether committee staff members knew that such donations were illegal, asking for documents laying out legal requirements for donations. Federal law prohibits foreign contributions to federal campaigns, political action committees and inaugural funds."
Seriously? "…whether committee staff members knew that such donations were illegal…" Of course they knew – Trump had been lying about how Hillary Clinton would have allowed foreign governments to do the same if she had won the election. Fake ignorance should not be allowed as a factor in any case relating to the Trump criminal enterprise. Trump's daughter uses the same excuse with her private emails, it's disgusting.
6
@Lilly-Belle;
Is "Fake Ignorance" the best way to summarize 45*'s "innocence."
Fake Ignorance may be the best defense 45* and his administration will use, even though ignorance of the law generally is no excuse.
It was very clear from the beginning - for those who were paying attention - that Trump saw running for President as a way to cash in and grab some of the millions of dollars that get spent during a run.
He’s been using the presidency to shove money to his businesses all along. Is it really surprising to find that the inauguration was seen as a chance to sell access and shake the money tree some more?
Give the Romans credit. At least they didn’t throw their gates wide open for the barbarians. But then they didn’t have the Republican Party.
10
I actually think we can fit in one or two more scandals before the speech tonight. The house of cards is starting to wobble.
8
When one of his first acts in the White House was a private meeting with the Russians, I don't think there's any doubt that there were major illegal contributions made to the inaugural committee from at least one foreign power.
Tick tock.
12
Most unfortunately ,this is the extent of Democrats work for the American people during the last few years and it is work that most Americans are not interested at all. That ,my friends is how elections are lost and the next will only be another loss for the lost and very losing Democrat party.
2
@Alan Einstoss If you think this is the extent of the Democrats work for the American people during the last few years you don't keep up with the news.
8
@Panthiest Just the facts , Maam
Don't worry. The Supreme Court, with Kavanaugh providing the swing vote as a thank you, will give Trump, Pence, and their cronies a pass. Mitch McConnell (with help from Paul Ryan) has created an environment where Trump will sail off into the sunset laughing all the way to the bank.
History will not be kind to the GOP.
7
Let us suppose that all the investigations into the Trump election, his family businesses, his family members, and his administration document and confirm lies, collusion with foreign governments, money laundering, etc. What will happen next?
I anticipate Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, the Fox supports, the appologists, the birthers, and Putin will stick by Trump and claim he is being unfairly persecuted. They have a longterm political, economic and social agenda to which they are committed at all cost. That group includes Mike Pence, who I am sure would claim Jesus made him do it for the good of the country and as a means to become president.
I have no idea what these investigations will find, but I do know that members of the Trump administration and Congress should not have the ability to review, edit, or redact any of its contents. We, the American people, need to read the unfiltered truth.
But back to my original question. What will happen next?
2
@Greg Hopefully, they will at least have to pay their fair share of taxes.
Trump is clean. he works in a laundry. the Inauguration was just one department there. smell the freshness!
Investigating the inaugural issues IS investigating Russian interference, if it's found that the suspected straw-buyers are Russian, or other foreign people seeking influence in the trump presidency.
I, for one, am happy Mueller turned this part of the investigation over to New York - no pardons here. And they cannot be fired by trump. We will hopefully get an unimpeded investigation with the results made public and (hopefully) the consequences fairly given, as would be given to any criminal.
3
Not one GOP member of Congress is upholding their oath of office. Why do we bother requiring them to lie the first day they take office?
4
And yes, and while we're at it, let's have a nice look into the last president's money matters. Who donated to his inaugural commitee? But, of course, it never will be looked into. And that's because we now have a two tier justice system.
1
One wonders at the effect of this fixation by the Southern District U.S. Attorney's office on the President. Its permanent "gotcha" effort, and that of the local FBI office, must be diverting resources from the search for and prosecution of Federal crimes which the typical citizen would consider more significant.
2
The typical citizen finds the national security of the U.S. pretty significant, I'd wager. Trump or his associates have been under investigation by federal counterintelligence officers since before he took office.
2
The President, in his faults, is the perfect foil for the message to anyone else who may want to correct the statist path of our federal government. That message is to not stand in the way of the permanent government, or they will investigate you, your family, your associates, your business partners, your businesses, and anything else that can be found to destroy not only you, but the political movement who thinks that they actually still own the federal establishment. The shame of this is that so many, because they don't like the President, are cheering on this domineering impulse, not aware that in due time, they will also be in the crosshairs.
1
@David Godinez, you must be pretty creative to find a message about "statism" in the corruption of Trump and the existence of the corresponding federal investigations. If anything, "the permanent government" deserves blame for taking so long to do its duty.
1
My guess is that the largest donors to the inaugural committee were among the largest donors to various Republican political action committees in 2016. I would start with Sheldon Adelson and his wife. Our election process at the federal level was made more corrupt by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in 2010. Our politicians are for sale, even if they are not as obvious about it as the former Illinois governor who tried to "sell" Obama's former US Senate seat.
6
In August, I was appalled to see the White House Gift Shop was offering the pre-order of a Trump Presidential coin. It read "Genius Makes Its Own Rules." Someone thought this was both true and a good thing to brag about.
Yes, Trump has lived 72 years making his own rules based on family wealth, lies and manipulating a flawed legal system. Perhaps the SDNY can rein in his unfettered hubris and criminality.
By the way, the coin, #7 in a series, no longer brags that "Genius Makes Its Own Rules."
7
We can only hope that all current politicians, and all who run for office, will have such a complete investigation of what they did and what others have done for them during their lives. Already we have seen some progress such as Al Franken’s sexual assault, Kavanaugh’s probable sexual assault, Kamala Harris’s affair with a high ranking Democrat to further her career, and the past misdeeds of the current Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Virginia.
1
It speaks volumes about this shambolic Presidency that Trump didn't even make it to Inauguration Day without succumbing to corruption (if indeed his campaign wasn't irreparably tainted by that point, which it in all likelihood was).
History will not be kind to this maladministration.
8
It seems we are seeing a reprise of the story of Peter Pan, with the Muller team and SDNY posing as the crocodile, and Donald Trump taking the part of Captain Hook. That crocodile was relentless.
2
It has already been documented that the "President" spends 60% of his time watching tv. Now, with inquiries under way in NY State and subpoenas coming in from Congressional committees, how much actual time do you imagine he will be spending on the weighty affairs of the office that the Russians helped him steal?
3
Inaugural shenanigans? Well, of course. Trump set the tone right from the start just by being who he is. He has never been open, honest and above board in his life. Trump has shown himself to be the type of person who would palm every dollar, squash every opponent, and silence every critic if he but could. Even people who support him know this, but instead of being appalled by these characteristics, they admire them, they excuse them, they even ordain them. He's their "strongman."
There would be no dictators if not for willing minions.
3
“Imaad Zuberi, a former fund-raiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.”
Why aren’t they being investigated? The prosecution apparently found nothing on Russian collusion but is now spreading to everything else possibly Trump-related, yet there’s very little interest in broadening it to the Democrats.
1
@Edward: Because they donated to Trump’s inauguration. Why in the world - outside conspiracy hideouts with its bizarre alternative facts - would this trigger a Clinton investigation?
1
Right from the nomination and campaign to the inauguration the Trump presidency presents a saga of corruption and money for office and patronage.
30
Good Job, Rachel Maddow (MSNBC 9 pm ET weeknights) for continually asking "where the money went" and for all the media that followed up.
This is not part of the Mueller investigation. This is OUR United States attorney’s office in Manhattan.
Go Get 'Em boys and girls.
The Con Don and his Robber Baron brethren are putting a stink into OUR white house and OUR government that will need serious eradicating once WE THE PEOPLE force their removal.
NOW is the time.
51
Yes! I was wondering when we, her fans, would give her credit! She was wondering about his very sizable inaugural budget! Bravo Rachel!
Nice to meet another one of her fans. Good day!
7
I’ve always wondered how the $107 million was spent. My lasting memory of the inauguration is of Mr. Trump and family members going to the reviewing stand when night had already fallen, and the surrounding stands were sparsely filled, and sympathizing with the bands and tractors which passed in the cold. The entire ceremony seemed somewhat shabby rather than the best that sort of money could buy.
It’s questions like these — so many of them — which makes it imperative that the full results of the special counsel’s investigation is released to the public, as well as other findings. Mr. Trump could be exonerated. If so, I will accept that. But America will be irreparably splintered if secrecy prevails and ramped-up positions harden. We will be a weaker nation, where neighbors view one another as enemies, and domination supplants democracy.
560
@Alan Tonite in the State of the Union speech I think he said he wanted to bring people together. Not sure what people he's talking about as the people I see are pretty united in one thing - getting rid of trump.
285
@Mike--What are you talking about? The SOTU hasn't been given yet. How do you know what he'll say?
@Alan
I live in NJ and WE knew what he was like because he regularly screwed hard working people out of their money.
The people that voted for this guy didn't do their homeork and refused to listen to anythiny of substance about him. Welcome to the age of Facebook and Twitter; no one thinks for themselves anymore and if you do and you speak up, you are branded a "liberal".
59
Trump was elected because he was different. But people had no idea how a businessman like Trump never really had the country's Interests at heart, it was all about rewarding those who advanced his candidacy and forging further business connections (international and domestic) while he was President, his sons daughter and son in law including.
It’s really sad and definitely not what our founding fathers ever had in mind for a democracy that was both an experiment as well as revolutionary (as opposed to being ruled by the British monarchy).
What are we left with? Should Trump be implicated in various corrupt schemes, Mike Pence too should be included in aiding and abetting not just the campaign but also since the elections. Which would leave us with the first woman President, speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. I can live with that.
800
@petey tonei
Thank goodness Nancy Pelosi is Speaker of the House again. She is strong, experienced, ethical, and she cares about America. Yes, if need be, Speaker Pelosi would be a great President, a leader who can pull together a coalition from both parties and get things done.
64
@petey tonei “Fraud artist” is a much more apt descriptor. “Businessman” is another thing entirely, most businessmen have a shred of integrity.
57
@petey tonei:
Were Nancy Pelosi to be elevated to the Presidency, there would be a militant Right Wing uprising in this country. Fox / Putin / NRA have already wired that in.
7
The problem in responding to any Trump related subpoena is the existence of so much other evidence seized from Manafort, Cohen and Stone, as well as extensive cooperation by Gates, Flynn, Cohen and others. Prosecutors are presumably asking many questions to which they already know the answers.
Its hard to keep track but so far, there have been investigations and indictments of the Trump Foundation, campaign, transition team, inaugural committee and his businesses profiting from the Presidency, as well as forced resignations from the RNC Finance Committee.
And that is all in addition to the original central theme of the Special Prosecutor, which is Trump team engagement with the Russian government, intelligence and oligarchs during and after the campaign.
And there is so much more anticipated, including indictments of the most central characters. What I find surprising is how far Republicans in Congress have been willing to go to protect the President, risking implication in obstruction.
675
@Look Ahead
Good point, never thought of it that way. The GOP is guilty of obstructing or avoiding justice just by not questioning WHY all of Trump's associates are corrupt. You didn't even mention the $25 million FINE in Settlement of his Trump University student ripoff. Pam Bondi sat on TV this weekend acting like her opinion means something. She sold out for $25k campaign contribution from Trump when AG in Florida. Her payment from Trump for not helping the Floridian's who were ripped off by Trump University. She's one of those tainted GOP members.
250
@Look Ahead "Prosecutors are presumably asking many questions to which they already know the answers."
A good lawyer never asks a question to which he doesn't already know the answer.
46
@Look Ahead You hit it straight. There is a line between the campaign, the Russians, money laundering, the inaugural activities, the NRA and its sudden $30M windfall, Mrs. McConnell, and the GOP.
They’re all in it together, and to unravel all of it would put a lot of them in jail.
71
The investigations of Trump are now all-encompassing, his personal, professional, financial and political life. Wrongdoing should be investigated, but this obsession with investigating Trump may reveal something more. The two party system has controlled our country for 150 years, and had an iron grip since the early 20th Century. That control over everything from Justices of the Peace to Presidents has given the parties power over a $16 trillion economy and literally life and death. Those two parties have one common goal: to preserve the two party oligopoly on power. Trump may be a buffoon and ignorant of the job responsibilities, but he is something else as well, a threat to traditional party politics. The effort to discredit, lampoon and threaten Trump might be as much about sending a message to billionaires and celebrities to "stay in your lane bro!" as really caring about anything Trump has done or might do. The nation is not collapsing. The economy is booming. Peace is more prevalent now than before the election. So the Trump hatred is not based on results. It's based on process and the inability of either entrenched party to control the presidency. Trump is not doing himself any favors by lying, bragging and insulting his way through every controversy, but what should concern is as much as Trump's personality disorder is the obsession with the destruction of the only "independent" candidate to win the presidency since Teddy Roosevelt.
6
@Michael Shore “Peace is more prevalent now than before the election” - tell that to Iran, tell it to our NATO allies, tell it to Canada. Delusion about the utter fraud that Trump is has become more prevalent. That’s about it.
“Trump hate”. Please. Trump fraud.
3
It’s not an obsession. There are just many many crimes to investigate.
And there is nothing “independent” about his far-right policies. They are utterly predictable and in line with Republican goals.
2
How is Trump a threat to the two party system? He governs as a far right politician. He is trying to shore up his 2020 run against primary challenges.
It is quite plain that Trump is an enemy of democracy, recklessly incompetent, corrupt and tainted by foreign money and influence. There isn't any mystery or secret subtext to the opposition.
3
Look forward to the words Madam Speaker President of the US and we get from the horses mouth what the state of the Union is. Will Trump try to make our country and himself look good? Of course he will; I understand he is practicing to do just that.
All these federal investigations are just to give the Democrats hope that they will find something for one of the dozen or 3 dozen democratic presidential candidates to run on. Mueller futzing around seems out of steam after leaving no Stone unturned with a ridiculous raid on Stone's house all for trying to find the truth of the dirty business of the DNC. The electoral college is not made up of fools. They can see through the dirty politics as usual.
5
@Girish Kotwal He'll say all the right things that his speechwriters wrote for him, as soon as he goes off script it's all down hill from there. One thing is certain, he will not disappoint.
3
@Girish Kotwal While searching for fools, which state keeps electing the current Senate Majority leader?
“Futzing around” or not, Mueller has delivered a convincing string of indictments and convictions, underlining the criminality that surrounds the fraudulent Trump Organization. Watch as the steam you believe lacking causes Donald Trump, Jr. and Kushner become the next indictments.
3
Uh...the State of the Union address isn’t there, “to make the country look good.” It’s not there to make trump look good, either.
It’s there to tell the truth about the state of the nation. All of it.
As for unifying anybody, yeah, sure, just like that grotesque inaugural address.
4
The Fake President, in his corrupt ignorance, likely believed that by firing former U. S. Attorney Preet Bharara his potential criminal Investigation problems with federal prosecutors in Manhattan would be solved. Wrong Donald! He and his conspirators are now, and probably will be for some time, doggedly in the sights of what could be characterized as "Mueller 2.0". The metaphor of the respective sides engaging in "checkers vs. three dimensional chess" could not be more apt as the New York phase of the Trump Investigations ramp up.
15
The Trump Foundation was a fraud, Trump University was a fraud, unexplained money moving through the Trump inaugural committee, undocumented people employed at his resorts, opposition to 'chain migration' except for Melania's parents, witness tampering, illegal campaign contributions, a work schedule with no work hours - just television and tweets, mental illness that a psych major could diagnose and on and on. Who needs the Mueller report. There's already enough to remove him from office 5 times over. What are the Dems waiting for?
20
@KL Well they could be "waiting" to have the votes in the Senate to actually remove him. The attempt to remove Bill Clinton failed and ended up strengthening him.
Since when are bizarre explanations, differing views on policy, and a stupid schedule impeachable? And since when is there a point in impeaching, with a Senate that’ll never even take up the trial?
@KL Pointless at the moment. With Republicans in charge of the Senate there's no possibility of the Senate voting to remove him. The only way it could happen would be if Mueller's report comes out and has such damning evidence that even McConnell can't ignore it. Until then, if that happens, it's probably best to bide time rather than prematurely whip up a storm. Just my opinion.
And the plot thickens.
6
if it gets any thicker, it will pop like a tick.
The old adage "FOLLOW THE MONEY" always rules. It's not really about the money but about all of the Holier than Thou attitude of Trump and his followers who simply reflect the muck and manure that Trump brought with him from his New York real 'estate business' to the Washington "Swamp". Not only were Trump and his minions not about to drain the Washington Swamp, but they instead were intending on overflowing that swamp from the very day of his inauguration. Those Dems and Republicans who watched Trump's run up to the 2016 election and had followed any of his prior "business" dealings knew that the sleazy baggage he carried with him would never be left behind.
12
Why would there be any records left to demand. Surely this mafiosi regime took care of deleting, shredding and generally not retaining any incriminating evidence long long ago if not at the very time. We are dealing with a mafia here, a criminal organization, why would such records still exist?
7
@Randé Because they are legally required to be retained. Mueller's team has obtained lots of records.
1
@Randé You'd think, but I question whether they are that smart :-) So far Mueller seems to have been following quite a few easy to follow trails.
I read 40 million dollars went missing from the inaugural events.
If they can get through the convoluted way this was hidden, the Trump family will be the beneficiary, in one way or another.
10
They raised over $100M. If they SPENT $40M of that it would approach a record. There is likely $50-$70M unaccounted for at this point.
1
The foreign entities have so many ways to pay the US politicians. Every country has a retained lobbyists, their own citizens, corporations registered in the US, advocacy groups and much more. Investigation is good to have and may make a good news story but getting indictments on intent of foreign entities is tough. I think this is the SDNY investigation, they love him.
Where are the Republicans that believe in making ethical choices? Unfortunately when the Clintons put Hilary, as First Lady, in charge of the health care issue they revealed unethical fuzzy thinking. That choice undid a lot of good that could have come from those years. Overstepping the democratic process is a temptation that Trump clearly embraces, while the GOP organization just whistles away saying,"Collusion, what collusion?" I just can't believe how clueless people get when they are granted power. To be a good leader you need to know what a moral compass looks like. We have no-one instructing on this lesson at the moment. I am losing a very crucial level of hope required to live this life. I am not alone.
3
One clue would be that patent amateur Matt sez the investigation is wrapping up. Nope. He's about as good at hiding nervousness in public speech as is his boss.
There is a perfect storm brewing that will being together Democrat committees, sticker shock middle class tax returns, Trump's inevitably inartful SOTU speech, Mueller's expanded questions and a faux national emergency.
I wager he'll be wishing for the good old days of 39% approval (which Kellyanne told us this morning is just a matter of poor poll questions - he's double-digits underwater with even Rasmussen).
4
July of 2016 the FBI launched a counterintelligence into the possible links between the Russian government and Trump campaign officials. One would have to suspend disbelief to think that any and all incriminating evidence has not already been disposed of.
Mueller and his team may have just hit a Wolkoff home run to win the contest.
4
My heart just goes pitter patter every time I see the words money laundering and trump in the same sentence.
12
I was wondering the same things as Christy. I thought there were millions left over and never accounted for. Why is this not part of the subpoena? Nothing about this is mentioned in several articles that I have seen.
4
So this week we learn 60 percent of Trump's "executive time" goes unscheduled. I suspect the breakdown of activities is as follows:
1. 5 percent, tanning booth.
2. 10 percent, tweet while binge watching Fox and eating KFC. Check portfolio.
3. 5 percent, preening in front of a mirror.
4. 5 percent, reading books (just kidding).
5. 25 percent, talk to legal counsel.
6. 10 percent, think of new ways to destroy the world's environment, damage democracy.
7. 0 percent, thinking about solutions to America's problems.
22
@Troutwhisperer
“Everything is less than Zero.”
And yet there is still no investigation of Hillary and company for their open and even admitted felonies including actual, documented collusion with Russians to smear Trump. Nor has there been any investigation of Obama's election committees and the numerous felonies committed by the Obamanites while in power.
No matter what Mueller produces it will be distrusted and scorned by more then half of the nationion. The hypocrisy and double standard is clear, unequivocal and apparent and defies American expectations for one law for everyone, investigating crime and not people and non-political jurisprudence. It will only accomplish further deeping of the growing divisions of this nation and greater disrespect for the rule of law and our institutions.
3
I heard this whole argument verbatim on the Hannity show every day last week. Less then half the country approves of Trump in this moment.
Hillary was investigated EIGHT times and proceedings are on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. She is innocent. It is unclear at this time if Trump is or not.
Talk show hosts are not a legitimate news source. Especially when they are personal friends of the person in question.
5
I know...the system is rigged against our long suffering president. Sigh.
@antonio gomez Just keep making up phony stories. No investigations of Hillary? That's a real knee slapper. I lost count of how many investigations the Republicans conducted of her.
And no, more than than half the nation scorns people like you. We like Mueller.
5
Now I cannot claim I am an expert in criminal investigation or know what is going on with the day-to-day operations but it seems to me that Mueller, knowing that he cannot indict a sitting president, is working hand-in-hand with other federal and state prosecutors who will have the power to charge Trump with multiple criminal complaints after he is impeached or his term is over. Trump’ supporters can make this a fake political witch hunt all they want, but somewhere deep down, even they have got to know all of these investigations that are being conducted by multiple agencies revolving around so many different areas would not be done unless they had quite a great deal of circumstantial evidence of criminal activity. They would not be wasting their time if it wasn’t so. Trump is dirty and they will eventually prove it. Just look at Kwame Kilpatrick from Detroit and the investigation into his mayorship as an example. So many of his supporters claimed the same witch hunt slogan that trump has infected his supporter’s minds with, but they proved years of criminal activity by a wannabe gangster using political office to continue his criminal activity. Trump and his family’s criminal activity is just on a much larger scale with many more years of crimes starting with his father and extending to trump and his siblings to trump’s own children. I’m sure trump’s criminal life started well before his illegal draft dodging during Vietnam. The wealthy cannot continue to avoid the law.
10
Everything connected to Trump seems to be illegal. I don't understand why people support him. He has put health care at risk for millions of Americans, relaxed environmental regulations which are causing problems with drinking water in the mid west, pulled out of treaties that make the world a safer place, started trade wars with countries which are hurting farmers and factory worker, etc. Do people supprt Trump because they found Hillary so distasteful?
7
Follow the rubles!
If a prosecutor lies as a basis for using a subpoena (i.e., here "... prosecutors do not suspect the inaugural committee of such violations. The prosecutors cited those crimes in the subpoena simply as justification...") her license to practice law will soon be in the trash bin. Would you risk all the hard work to become a lawyer to issue such a subpoena? No I didn't think so.
PROSECUTE RUSSIAGATE!
3
I am interested in why the big important people rarely go to prison for stealing huge amounts of money and breaking lots of laws that would put regular people away for a long time.
Why do they get to cut deals that are forbidden to us. And why if they do get caught and have to go, mostly briefly, to prison do they get a spa like prisons? Money does talk even if it is illegally gotten.
And Trump and family will never do time even in the spa. The lesson may be is that it is only smart to steal and beak the law for huge amounts of money. So somehow this nation still worships money so much that it lets the biggest criminals off the hook. Think of the bankers who got corporate welfare after they destroyed regular people with the housing disaster. A win and win more situation for them.
Gee, did they go to prison? Shame on Obama for letting these crooks walk free and even richer.
Really do you believe no matter how incriminating the Mueller investigation is that Trump will ever have to pay any price? It is amazing how the elite protect their own. It would be bad form you see to let the rest of us think the ruling class is not above the law. And though the report may be leaked, it will never legally see the light of day. I hope I am very wrong.
8
Another day, another investigation. It is time for a change in plan.
While I generally agree that starting impeachment proceedings prematurely is imprudent, House investigations into Trump, the Trump campaign, the payoffs to porn stars and playmates, and now the inaugural committee should commence. If those investigations produce credible evidence of impeachable offenses, then an impeachment process should begin.
It is misguided to wait for Mueller to finish his investigation. Mueller is not charged with investigating Trump for impeachable offenses. He is charged with looking into campaign violations, Russian interference with the election, conspiracy in that regard, obstruction, and matters arising therefrom. That the fruits of his investigation may provide evidence of impeachable offense is beyond cavil.
Nevertheless, Mueller's reputation is that of a straight shooter. Rumors of his investigation soon wrapping up may be exaggerated. He'll finish when all persons who should be indicted are indicted and their cases finalized. That could be years, not months.
It is time to appreciate and accept that the Special Counsel and the House have duties to investigate that cover similar territory with different objectives. They necessarily would operate on separate but parallel tracks.
The House's failure aggressively to investigate this President starting immediately is a dereliction of its duty to the Constitution and to the American people.
117
@M.i. Estner They are starting. Adult Americans have only had control of the House for 4 weeks. It takes time to get committee assignments made, offices set up, and subpoenas written. They have started sending them in recent days.
11
@M.i. Estner We don't impeach because we don't like someone! We vote them out.
1
@David M you do if there are countless examples of corruption and blatant incompetence. Andrew Johnson was impeached, and I would argue that Trump's various firings, appointments, concessions to the Kremlin, etc. are equally egregious and far more dangerous.
5
In his own way, Trump did make America great again. Through the rampant and flagrant corruption of Trump and his surrounding cohorts, the people of this country woke up to all the corruption they have been subjected to for decades and the wheels of justice are finally turning in the right direction again. Trump himself is not the problem; he is a symptom. People of this country voted him into office when the signs of corruption were there for all to see and that is the strongest warning that our education system is in desperate need of improvement and correction
241
I couldn't agree more! The trajectory into corruption has been a downward slope for this Country since Nixon was pardon. We've had a string of pardons with the majority going for GOP operatives and some Democrats; this needs to end. When the top permits lawlessness there isn't a moral right to judge the lower classes.
12
@Wally Wolf
Bingo. Your last sentence is at the crux of the mess of an occupant in the Oval Office right now.
14
@Wally Wolf- I’m not religious, but I am highly pessimistic, which is close to being highly religious. Tell me one millennium, one century, one decade, one year, one day or one second where human behavior hasn’t displayed corruption to some degree. Humans want an edge, we want profit, we want happiness often by corrupting ourselves. Quite simply we are a failed species. Or deity messed up big time when it created us. I hope it does better in the next Olympian Games of the gods competion as to who can make the best species.
6
Two can play the media game. Can Robert Mueller's timing be coincidental? I think not. Too many announcements of indictments and pieces of the investigation have occurred neck-and-neck with Trump's power plays (here, The Propaganda of the Union Address). It's almost as if Robert Mueller is attempting to restrain the president. I wonder what Mueller knows that would drive such a strategy.
23
@Alan This is the Manhattan federal prosecutors office, not mueller.
5
@Alan The article failed to mention that this is an investigation of the prosecutors in New York. Mueller is not involved at all.
3
@Alan
Does Mueller have a strategy and if so isn't it clearly a political one?
And this is what it will all come down to in the end. Dollars and cents (along with rubles and kopeks) is what will bring down the Trump presidency. Prosecutors are patiently following the money. Compared to the Mueller investigation, it may look like a side show, but actually it's the main event.
37
@msd How true and Trump can't do a thing about it. Gates and Cohen will be the ones to bring down this whining , arrogant thug after all is said and done. This is going to be fun to watch...
1
I think Pence is beginning to feel sandwiched.
The trump presidential campaign is under criminal investigation. Now trump's inaugural activities are under investigation to potential criminal activities.
What is left for scrutiny are the activities, spending, receipts of cash, misdeeds and quid pro quos on the part of transition committee. The transition committee was led by Pence.
I think there may a good chance that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi could become the 1st female president. She's only 2 resignations away.
Back to back GOP Pres/V.P. resignations have happened before.
64
@RPM: let's hope it will be so, but I think it's too optimistic.
4
Robert Mueller and his team must be getting very full. How many trips to the "buffet of crimes" can one investigator take? Hopefully they will get some exercise when all this is over.
17
Not much luck with collusion, let's try another route!
9
@Joe I love this response. The investigation is still ongoing, nothing has been released, and people just assume that it hasn't found what it set out to do. I, for one, have no idea what it has found or not -- but I'd think it better to wait until its conclusion to draw any of your own.
63
@Joe Minus this is from the Manhattan federal prosecutors, not Mueller.
3
@Joe
Just because you find another crime while investigating another crime doesn't make the second crime legal. I bet you were a fervent fan of incriminating Hillary Clinton, and after years of investigation and 11 hours of being questioned by congress, they didn't even come close to finding a crime for which she has committed. Let alone someone around her. Just look at all the prison time already racked up by Trump associates.
10
This may be the beginning of the end for Trump & many indictments, or it once and for all clear him of collusion.All & all it will be the end of Mueller's probe.
4
Trump and his organization may have made some small mistakes with the use of funds over the years but whatever he or they did it will never be as bad as Whitewater, or Benghazi.. or how about Fast and Furious or Haircut Gate? Really.
7
@Carl, “small mistakes”, such as six bankruptcies, defrauding people of their life savings such as the Trump university, abusing money from the Trump foundation to pay legal fees, hiring undocumented workers, paying off women to silence them about sex affairs, a campaign finance violation crime...
9
@Carl Hultberg I don't think any of those situations you named handed the Russians everything they wanted. Plus, you might want to review your facts unless you prefer "alternative facts"
8
@Carl Hultberg Whitewater investigations found nothing, Benghazi hearings found nothing. The haircut? Really? Perhaps you think the Russian involvement with the Trump campaign and business finances is all "normal" stuff. Or that telling lies to Prosecutors and Congress indicates "strongly held principles". Those"small mistakes" my include tax fraud and god know what else. Trump's America is a sad and nasty place.
10
Why do I keep thinking that the shredders at the Trump Inaugural Committee must be working overtime.
An 'Inaugural Committee' would be the perfect vehicle for another of Trump's scams as it appears one way, but actually could cover up illicit money deals. Trump in his business dealings and in every part of his life has been a scam artist. Mafia figures have always called themselves business men, but this has always been part of the cover up their dark dealings and crimes.
42
@just Robert
"In the subpoena, investigators also showed interest in whether any foreigners illegally donated to the committee, as well as whether committee staff members knew that such donations were illegal, asking for documents laying out legal requirements for donations. Federal law prohibits foreign contributions to federal campaigns, political action committees and inaugural funds."
___
This seems akin to Clinton Foundation contributions and 33,000 deleted emails...
This is classic, "follow the money."
Trump's inaugural team is has no idea what they're up against. SDNY are pros that will follow every penny from every donor. Every. Last. Penny.
It is reassuring to see the corruption being flushed out. So, who's draining the swamp? SDNY.
70
While the inaugural committee raised a staggering $107 million very little of that was actually spent on the inauguration, which featured fewer events in lower-cost venues with cheaper entertainment than prior inaugurations. And, just like the never-ending "audit" of Trump's taxes, the committee's spending was supposed to be audited, but no one seems to know who conducted the "audit" nor seen the auditors' report.
95
"People familiar with the subpoena said prosecutors are interested in potential money laundering as well as election fraud, though it is possible that the prosecutors do not suspect the inaugural committee of such violations. The prosecutors cited those crimes in the subpoena simply as justification for their demand for documents, the people said." Was this "people" per chance Rudy Giuliani? Certainly seems like something he would say.
16
The most money raised for an inauguration ever
Where did the money go?
Who gave what and what have they gotten in return?
For a party obsessed with Hillary’s speeches they should be obsessed with this pay for play scheme.
80
Follow the money. It is a slow and frustrating process of looking at deposits, dispersal's, contracts, phone records, bank records and hard drives. This data is complex and induces a sleep like state in most of us...But, this search for the truth, given the fast, loose and criminal antics of Paul Manafort and Michael Cohen is bound to bare fruit. Just follow the money. One step at a time.
33
Let the investigations begin! Trump's republican administration was corrupt long before the inauguration, but made their auction of our foreign policies public when they sold access to anyone interested in attending the party. It's karma time.
35
@MF How much money recovered from the crook Manafort?
Well so far the Prosecutors in Manhattan have proven that the Trump Foundation was a fraud. Trump was ordered to close it down and the Trump Family forbidden to serve on any Foundation Board ever. The Prosecutors figured this out in good time.
Here is hoping they have the same success in the investigation of the Trump Inauguration Committee, then on to the NRA.
Next will be Mike Pence and the Transition team.
This is just the tip of the iceberg regarding Trump and his Administration's corruption investigation.
And then there is the Mueller Investigation. They have also had much success. 35 Indictments and more to come.
Next should be the RNC.
When this is all over, there will be no room in Federal prison for all of these bad actors
90
For all celebrating, recall that these actions create a roadmap for the disruption of ANY administration in the future. And I'll bet HRC's shredders and fireplace are working overtime.
5
Yes Mike, a roadmap for prosecuting corrupt administrations. Other administrations need not worry.
You're darn right these state and federal criminal and counterintelligence investigations create a roadmap for the uncovering of criminality and treasonous activity committed by any future administration that is as corrupt and self-interested as Trump's.
@Mike Any administration that wallowed in criminal conduct.
You would lose that bet.
Even, I, who knows absolutely nothing about this stuff, was shocked to see in 2017 the amount of money "raised" for the inauguration compared to previous ones. I thought immediately that, well, somebody's found a way to launder money quietly into this country from overseas for Trump's benefit. Drain the swamp my eye!
46
I strongly suspect that if Mueller is following the money, then we are going to see money laundering in his report. This is like a bad version of the Netflix show “The Ozarks”.
22
The article states that the inaugural committee raised $107 million and "spent lavishly." Rachel Maddow has pointed out repeatedly that the Trump inauguration, despite a staggering amount of money raised, was actually on the cheap. Look at the low-rent entertainment they hired as an example. The question has always been, what did they actually spend, and where's the rest of the money?
141
The question is, how much of the 100 million was in roubles?
18
@Ed
Maddow was correct Obama raised $45 million for his whilst Clinton raised $107 million.
3
@Ed
I would not be surprised that much of that money went right back into trump's personal account. He bragged to the public that he would be paying for his election with his own money but he also spoke to his inner circle about public campaign money belonging to him.
8
The myriad of ongoing investigations while Trump sits high on his throne so far into his term, makes me wonder if a tree, or in this case a crime, falls in a forest - does anyone hear it?
23
Dow Chemical donated a million dollars to the inauguration. Shortly after a ban on dangerous chemical insecticide chlorpyrifos was lifted. Trump signed the executive order and gave Dow Chemical the pen for a souvenir. They can now make millions selling products that might be dangerous to our health and environment. Glad to see we are finally investigating this fund and I hope investigators get to the bottom of it quickly. Would also very much like to know what happened to the money they did NOT spend in that lame inauguration.
208
@Alk
Trump is no better than all of the senators, congresspeople and Department Heads when it comes to returning favours, in return for donations!
2
If accepting donations from foreign lobbyists is proven, we can add this to the long list of criminality surrounding this president. What did he know, and when did he know it? Not possible to believe yet again, that “This has nothing to do with me.”
50
@Christian Lee Hope that you'll take the time to read the following. There is vast evidence of Trump's collusion and criminality. There have been scores of guilty pleas, indictments, etc. Major aides repeatedly lied to federal investigators about their Russian contacts.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-advisers-lied-over-and-over-again-mueller-says-the-question-is-why/2019/01/26/e72454f6-20c5-11e9-8e21-59a09ff1e2a1_story.html?utm_term=.3a8a640bdd97
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/01/21/trumps-corruption-keeps-getting-more-obvious/?utm_term=.445448e6567d
AND MOST CRUCIAL:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/here-are-18-reasons-why-trump-could-be-a-russian-asset/2019/01/13/45b1b250-174f-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.0239436a0038
23
Interesting that this Imaad Zuberi seems to have contributed largely to Democratic parties in the past. His bio (what I could find on line) seems to be he is also a philanthropist. This begs the question - why contribute so heavily to the Trump inauguration. If Kushner is an investor in his company, I can't wait to see where this "follow the money" thread goes........
22
Surely it was a profitable event for the cavalcade of very good people involved - from planners to vendors, ticket purchasers, attendees.
2
@Bigsister
Yes, the selling of an American Presidency......just what a "profitable event" it should have been.
7
It's nice that federal prosecutors are investigating the inauguration funds.
While they're at it they should also investigate the tens of millions in CAMPAIGN funds, and Super PAC money.
Where did all of that money go?
Trump spent very little money on his campaign.
A little bit of cheap radio advertising.
A little bit of TV commercials, towards the end of the campaign.
No money for statewide campaign offices, or statewide grassroots campaign workers.
So where did all that money go?
I think that we all know the answer to that question.
It went into Trump's pocket.
"Follow The Money".
45
"Another entity that the subpoena seeks documents on is Stripe, which created technology to help process credit card transactions. According to published reports, the company counts Josh Kushner, the brother of Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, among its investors."
Let's see if this is what unravels the Kushner family empire.
27
"And the beat goes on."
Well, it sure doesn't appear as if Mueller's wrapping things up, does it?
And It's become obvious Trump's fifteen years of being the patriarch on The Apprentice continues to skew his understanding of how the President of the United States is expected to lead. Trump needs to stop running the country as if it's a Reality TV Show. Now.
Trump once said, Reality Television "was for the bottom feeders of society."Well, that statement sure seems to be a 'self fulfilling prophecy' if I've ever heard one.
But because of Trump's limited thinking and being psychologically incapable to competently discharge the duties of President of the United States, as a nation, we have to commit to placing our faith in the overseeing actions of The House of Representatives until the 2020 election cycle.
And in so doing, we will rely on the guidance of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to get us through these difficult times.
36
The Trump inaugural didn’t raise $107M because people were so thrilled about Trump. It did so because everyone in the world saw Trump as hungry for bribes and not particularly worried about getting caught. It’s the same reason why lobbying foreign governments begin their supplication with renting a block of rooms at the Trump property in DC. It’s why Trump got Chinese investment in a joint venture just as a Chinese company got a pass. It’s why Trump never did separate himself from business operations. They all saw it, so should we.
124
Yes, and let's talk about those Russian operatives who were invited and attended Trumpzilla's inaugural, including the Russian lawyer who was also at the Trump Tower meeting in 2016!
45
Maybe it is time to investigate the entire legislature for foreign campaign contributions. Why else would the Republicans remain silent on Trump's disruption of American democracy and the criminal element in his associates?
72
@Raye
Time for reform, and it will hit Dems as well.
1
If we have to wait until every criminal and corrupt act by this President has been investigated before we take action to remove him we will never act.
Obstruction of justice was clear to most when he fired the head of the FBI because he was investigating Trump; then, he continued to obstruct justice nearly every day for the next two years and is likely never going to stop.
His on-going conspiracy with the Russians is going to cause grave damage to the world if someone doesn't act soon to stop this regime.
29
@Ronny Trust in Mueller. He will provide. The panther does not become impatient when he is but a few feet from the prey.
26
@Me - Nice metaphor, but all Mueller can do is submit his report. The Justice Dept, is not bound to release it. When asked about it last weekend, Trump refused to commit to having the report released. Furthermore, the incoming AG wrote the following last summer in an unsolicited memo to Rod Rosenstein, which was also circulated to Trump's lawyers:
"The Constitution itself places no limit on the President's authority to act on matters that concern him or his own conduct. On the contrary, the Constitution's grant of law enforcement power to the President is plenary. Constitutionally, it is wrong to conceive of the President as simply the highest officer in the Executive branch hierarchy. He alone IS the Executive branch. As such, he is the sole repository of ALL EXECUTIVE POWERS conferred by the Constitution. Thus the full measure of law enforcement authority is placed in the President's hands, and no limit is placed on the kinds of cases subject to his control and supervision. While the President has subordinates--the Attorney General and the DOJ lawyers--who exercise prosecutorial discretion on his behalf, they are merely "his hand" . . . ."
Trump is a slippery eel. Despite all the controversy surrounding him so far, he's managed to stay in the clear. There's no guarantee he's going down.
4
My TV will be on mute or another channel while Trump recites his lies. I would like to hear Stacey Abrams.
61
Let's all forget our jobs and investigate EVERYTHING about PRESIDENT Trump. Starting from the Exact moment of Conception. We need a DAY TO DAY chronograph of his life, on a minute by minute basis. We need to keep investigating, forgetting everything else in the world until we can actually find a Crime. We already know he's guilty of something, but we don't know what. But that's ok. We have all these State & Fed paid lawyers and a Blank Check to spend all the Taxpayer Money we feel is necessary in order to find ANYTHING to justify our actions, and we won't stop until we find it, or run out of Taxpayer money, in which case we'll suspend until the next flood of money comes in.
4
GOP did the same thing to the Clintons, except no conviction of anyone who worked under previous administrations. Not so this text around, so keep digging
27
@Harry J Sounds like you're against justice and the rule of law, Harry.
were you so adamant about ending the Clintons many investigations? I'm guessing no.
Sorry, but this country will not allow blatant abuses of power, flaunting of ones clear violations and the complacency of an entire party. if that offends you, you're part of the problem.
11
@Harry J...what is so sad is that if this wasn’t trump you would be saying the exact opposite. If the investigation involved Hillary Clinton you and every other trump supporter would be all for it, cheering it on, and would say one word about taxpayer dollars or blank checks. Do you all live your lives with that same double-standard? With the mountains of questionable actions by trump (coupled with the charges and convictions of a number of his administration already) that if proven true would be paramount to treason in my eyes, you all close your eyes to it. Millions and millions of people across the country feel the same way I do, that trump is a criminal con artist, but even if he was convicted with indisputable evidence of criminal activity you supporters would still deny it.
15
This seems almost TOO simple - a man who has "sailed close to the wind" ["British" for certainly exploring how far the law and people like bankers were willing to let him go] all of his adult life ... gets elected President.
He probably has had lots of experience with "galas" where there's no way on earth that there's any resemblance between the money raised and the associated costs - food, space, entertainment, etc.
So, it's only a question of how - with "fixers" like Michael Cohen and the brainy guy at the RE operation - he and his family and their minions are going to make a buck (or several million) on a $100 MM party.
Nice to have a hotel or 2 where a "tip jar," in effect, exists for people smart enough to know that buying tickets creates both visibility and legal problems.
After the Access Hollywood tape, I guess everybody (among his supporters) knew they weren't voting for a "boy scout," but when do we hear stuck pig noises from working class people who have GOT to realize by now that they voted for an out and out grifter?! ... If your brother-in-law behaved remotely like Donald, you'd either want to have a sit-down ... or maybe just reduce your contact with him to an absolute minimum.
Oh yes, it might be nice for a man with impeccable morals - most people would give Mitt Romney at least that much - to start making noises that "NO, this man is not what the Republican Party is all about." It's what MSU should have done with Nassar or Penn State with Paterno.
25
And still no one seems to be concerned about the foreign entities that 'donated' to the Clinton Foundation while Hillary was Secretary of State.
8
@Jim In this forum, you should ignore the 2 billion dollars the Clintons raised and especially the millions of dollars from the Middle East.
3
@Jim:
If she were president you can be sure it would be investigated. Why should Trump be exempt?
11
@Jim
Is it illegal for a charitable foundation to accept foreign contributions? According to the article, it's illegal for a presidential inauguration committee to do so. Maybe that's the difference.
7
One thing you can bet on, Trump is worth more now than at the beginning of his presidency,
33
Trump didn't collude with the Russians; he colluded with everybody. He's an equal opportunity grifter.
33
@james
Since the election yes, before the election the Russians were the only ones who thought Trump had any chance to win.
7
I hear the feds are investigating whether anyone in the Administration has connections to the United States.
3
@Dubious
lol
The entire Trump presidency is nothing more than one huge family scam. Let's call it the ultimate grift. A grift so huge that it entails scamming an entire nation of peons in order to satisfy the wants of wealth mongers everywhere. There is not a genuine bone in these folks bodies. Every action has an ulterior motive designed solely to serve them. To serve them at the cost of everyone but them. Given that about three out of ten people still support these folks religiously I can only assume that for some strange reason they enjoy being taken advantage of in order to further grow the wealth of those in need of nothing.
60
Finally, some Trump news that's rightfully getting Ralph Northam's transgressions off the front pages.
Also, I just cannot tolerate the breathy "Mueller's investigation is getting close to the end" utterings that have been proven false time and again. Mueller's investigation will be over when it's over -- and, given the length of time it's taken Mueller to dig into this can of very smelly worms so far, people who think Trump is going to get nailed might want to be prepared for a disappointment.
I hope I'm wrong, but . . .
7
@ALB
Totally agree with you on the "it'll take as long as it needs" part of the investigation. However I gotta disagree on the length of time indicating there's no wrongdoing; he could be waiting until Trump leaves office, not wanting the additional legal fight of trying to indict a sitting president.
7
The frightening thing is Trump is so bizarre and dishonest that it seems everyone (so far) is letting him break the rules/laws and get away with it. It is a lousy message to send. I hope the hammer comes down sometime very soon!
49
FDR had "We have nothing to fear...but fear itself."
Truman: "The buck stops here."
Lincoln: "...our better angels."
Teddy Roosevelt: "the bully pulpit'"
Ike: "beware the Military-Industrial complex."
Trump: "Follow the money."
56
@Brian Barrett
JFK "Ask what you can do for your country"
Trump "Ask what's in it for me"
35
@Brian Barrett:
Clinton: "It depends upon what the meaning of the word 'is' is."
Carter: "Iran, because of the great leadership of the Shah, is an island of stability in one of the more troubled areas of the world."
@Brian Barrett:
Bush 1: "Voodoo economics"
Bush 2: “They misunderestimated me.”
The number of alleged criminal activity that surfaces on such a frequent basis regarding this corrupt “administration” is mind boggling. The fact the Republicans do nothing at all to investigate or acknowledge it is shocking. What a pitiful disgrace.
97
It's interesting to me as a non USA person that you guys think it's OK to interfere in another country's election, most recently that of Venezuela, but get all upset if another country interferes in yours.
Don't get me wrong. I think that Maduro should be thrown out on his ear.
It's just the hypocrisy I find fascinating. Do as I say not as I do.
45
Welcome to America self righteous, condescending without a sense at all of humanity’s strongest asset- humility.
15
@norman0000 I actually don't think it is OK to interfere in Venezuela's election (or any other elections).
15
@norman0000
From a distance the point seems fair enough. But, please note a vital distinction. The United States' justification is to promote and protect democracy by ensuring the will of the people in elections. This includes thwarting illegal elations that subvert the same.
13
Have Mr. Zuberi's business practices changed since he also donated to Obama? Was he a person of interest then? Is this another political move by prosecutors? Why wasn't he investigated years earlier? Not a supporter of 45 but what gives?
4
Because unlike what 45 keeps hammering, there is a justice SYSTEM that sometimes works, if you don’t belittle it daily.
7
@Margo Channing...that would be because his donation to Barack Obama was just $62,500 and the donation to trump was a staggering $900,000, way way more than any other “donation” he has ever made
for some unknown reason. That amount of money would raise the Spidey-Senses of any non-corrupt prosecutor.
27
The one good thing is that until now people have been very naive about how many politicians from both parties have been secretly part of his network. Democrats, especially in NY, NJ and FL have long been in collusion with Trump and that includes up to his
becoming president. Trump is a vengeful person and if the feds try to whitewash and protect certain people then you can bet Trump will out them publicly.
Notice how lukewarm democratic response has been to this story. Usually they would be falling all over themselves to make a statement. They also fear what may fallout.
9
Not surprising. It's almost a historical imperative in order to gain access. Interesting to see the Trump campaign wasn't alone in dealing with these influence seekers, ("Imaad Zuberi, a former fund-raiser for President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton who was seeking inroads with Mr. Trump, and whose company, Avenue Ventures, gave $900,000 to the inaugural committee.").
Oh for the days of Andrew Jackson and the open White House, but then again he too was surrounded by a motley crew of hanger oners.
5
This proves 2 things; one, the Mueller probe has nothing and is going nowhere, and Democrats finally realize it. Secondly, and more despicably the notion that the Swamp will stop at nothing in an attempt to bring down Trump is now fact. No presidential campaign could withstand the full government onslaught that this one has so far without turning up pebbles like Roger Stone’s flimsy accusations, and Americans are watching with the full awareness of what is really the motive. What comes around goes around; you would think this idea is entrenched after Harry Reid’s nominations vote change. It’s ugly all around.
3
I’m always “intrigued” and “amazed” when people try to spin Mueller’s investigation into nothing burgers - dozens of indictments and prison sentences - working with Putin and his army of thugs on leaking destructive material and lies - but had no problem with 20 years of ongoing Clinton investigations ultimately coming up EMPTY HANDED. Even the 8 years on Hillary alone - many many more millions of dollars and many more years - is it coincidence that those investigations were run by Republicans against a Democrat? Enough already - demand Mueller be protected - and that we see all he finds. Nothing less. Or are you scared your glass house may crumble and fall?
56
@HENRY Have you considered the possibility that you are believing the spin of the most amoral, incessantly lying administration to ever occupy the WH? Perhaps the obvious is the truth. There is just so much smoke coming from all directions that our democracy is actually doing its job by not turning a blind eye. Eventually the truth will out. It does take time to run all of the facts down, especially when key players thwart and tamper with the investigation every step of the way. A day of reckoning with the truth is coming. My fear is that by the time it does, the brainwashing of Trump's base will be so complete that they will cling irrationally to "alternative facts" rather than accept the obvious fact that they have been conned all along.
9
@HENRY Mueller probe has nothing?
Mueller's team has indicted eight Americans affiliated with Trump's campaign (including his campaign manager, personal attorney, and long time advisor), 13 Russian nationals, 12 Russian intelligence officers, three Russian companies, in addition to two other people. 5 indicted Trump associates have pleaded guilty (as in admitting their crimes, Henry).
nothing - 1. not anything; no single thing. 2. having no prospect of progress; of no value.
Either you are confused with the meaning of the word 'nothing,' or your comments are an indication of facts denial and are better suited for MAGA twitter than the New York Times comments section.
Also Henry, what Democrats have realized is that the task of holding a corrupt president accountable rests squarely on them, as Republicans have proven themselves negligent in their responsibilities.
8
Might we expand the saying - "What did the President know and when did he know it?" to "What did the Republican Party know and when did they know it?"
I am finding it hard to believe that Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus, Mike Pence, et al. were naive about all this. In fact, my spidey-senses suggest that they too were feeding at the Russian money trough. Why else would they betray the Country and keep this Orange "So-Called" President in office while endangering the American people.
It is not about the base, it is now a smash and grab, every man for himself, get while the getting is good theft from the taxpayers.
51
It is hardly surprising that investigators are looking into the Trump inauguration committee. After all, it was for Trump a sudden transformation from a faux business empire to a huge, public stage, and he knew only one way to pull it off -- using the same shady techniques that characterized his business operations. In fact, ever since Trump announced his candidacy, he has managed his political career in the same way he managed his business enterprises: lies, deceit, falsehoods, mis-direction, exaggeration, money laundering and secrecy, secrecy, secrecy at every step along the way.
The various Federal state investigations are peeling away the Trump onion, and getting close to the rotten core of this insecure, blustering child.
40
Sounds like another fan of the less than dapper don.
The truth is slowly oozing out. And it ain’t pretty.
9
The ultimate Trump defense will be this: "Donald Trump personally did not mishandle any funds. Nor did Donald Trump personally collude with Vladimir Putin. Nor did Donald Trump personally do anything else that the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign, or the Trump White House may have done. And there is nothing in writing to prove the contrary, and anyone who says he did is an indicted or convicted liar. And I put Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court."
15
@John Graybeard
When it has been proven that Trump is working for Russian interests, not America's, everything he has done in office should be considered null and void, including the appointments of Gorsuch and Kavanaugh.
Why would Americans want to live with Putin's political policies in place.
12
If there has been payola flowing through the Trump administration, this is a great place to start to look for it, right at the beginning. Prosecutors know that once an initial bribe is made, others are likely to follow. Once this list is fleshed out, investigators will have solid leads to follow for further illegal activity, including what was done in response to the payments.
37
In the meantime public transportation, including the airports, in NY and NJ are in total shambles due to open corruption such as patronage jobs and graft. In the meantime feds are too lazy to retry Menendez and absolutely nothing has been done about Wasserman Schultz and her corrupt reign that actually put Trump in office.
Pardon me if I am not impressed with the feds investigating anything anymore. I am just surprised Comey hasn't rushed to a microphone. I never in a million years thought I would miss the disciplined FBI of J Edgar Hoover. He was a maniacal despot but He went after both parties equally and in fact was one of the first people to recognize the danger of Nixon. The feds have just become political hacks and that is more frightening than Trump.
8
@Hellen, has anyone seen or heard from Elaine Chao? Is he even doing her job?
9
@petey tonei. Oh I keep forgetting, everything was fine until Trump got into office. The trains ran on time and if they didn't we could always ride on unicorns along the rainbow roads of paradise. No wonder local politicians get away with so much corruption. All they have to do is tell people to look at Trump as a distraction.
Remember Bob Woodward's story of Trump screaming at Chris Christie that he was stealing from him when Christie was quite properly using campaign funds for transition team expenses? He thought that money was his. Imagine how Trump and his associates' eyes must have lit up at the sight of this inauguration committee cookie jar just waiting to be tapped into.
166
@JD What a picture- I could not stomach my way through Woodward's book- there are so many disturbing disgusting moments we can't hold them all in our thoughts the newest takes over. But this one instance you have pointed out- can you IMAGINE any other American president, EVER , EVER? Well , maybe Nixon......
6
The article states: "It can be a crime to knowingly make false or fraudulent statements to a federal agency."
I'm not a lawyer, so can somebody tell me when "to knowingly make false or fraudulent statements to a federal agency" would not be a crime?
42
One must reach back 90+ years in time to discover another elected official as arrogant as our 45th president, and as venal: New York Mayor Jimmy Walker. He brazenly engaged in corruption and famously dismissed his activities whenever questioned about them, until one day he abruptly left the United States on a packet boat to avoid Federal prosecution.
89
@Tournachonadar
If Trumbo gets into serious trouble as president, he can just make a "diplomatic" visit to Saudi Arabia and stay!!!
1
How could they have possibly spent a hundred million dollars on a party that had DJs and High School marching bands? It will be shown to be a huge slush fund for foreign money, principally Russian money. Is this any way to run a modern democracy? Or is this a symptom of a failing democracy?
354
@Michael Gilbert:
The chickens that were coming home to roost were all eaten by the Fox. Many Americans are as brainwashed as the North Koreans.
10
if they'd been smart they would have used some of that money to hire people to populate the mall.
9
Just like he has a poor memory for the facts he also will not have the paperwork related to corruption during his campaign. I wish the investigators good luck...they will need it. But looking forward if they find evidence. Zuberi sounds like someone who wanted favors so it mattered not to him if Trump I Republican or Obama is Democrat. Hope he is charged if something comes of the investigation.
20
Perhaps, finally, the Trump Family Crime Syndicate will finally beheld fully accountable for the plethora of vile misdeeds and harm they inflicted on so many people and businesses.
250
@Sara G.
Nope. Not gonna happen. Rich people’s money is the third rail in politics, and the richest families in this country are all guilty of the same kinds of stuff - tax evasion, money laundering, etc. You might see a fine or two, but the money is never actually going to change hands. They’ll be going after the Trump Empire as little as possible without it seeming like a dereliction of duty.
3
It’s taken a while, but appears the chickens are coming home to roost.
95
I’ve had my eye on this for the last two years. Something smelled fishy about inauguration from the very start and I’m shocked (shocked I tell you!) that his grifting started on the very first day of the presidency. Couldn’t he have waited a few weeks before the corruption started?
157
@Long Time Listener, First Time Caller No, he couldn't wait a few weeks until the corruption started. He was always a fraud. Now it's coming out just in how many ways.
9
So it was Foucault who said, “Commentary questions discourse as to what it says and intended to say.” That said we’re not wrapping up The Investigation anytime soon. Will he stick to the script tonight? We keep not waking up to Kansas, and it’s that same yellow gold brick road.
12
@William anyone who quotes Foucault is a friend of mine!
5
Fear not, THIS is what’s going to finally get Trump impeached. The valiant efforts of the Manhattan DA will pull the thread to unravel his Presidency. Politicians never ask for donations and surely Mr Trump did something out of the ordinary here that HAS to be linked to Russia.
61
All I can say is it's about time. When an average American can look at the inauguration and know something was wrong what took so long? It's about time
160
@Never Ever Again, NYT did a thorough investigative researched piece on the Trump family's tax evasion schemes. Included in those were Trump's sister who became a federal lawyer. How on earth did the IRS and Manhattan never question these folks? They were allowed to fleece the US for decades and decades, because they had high paid accountants and lawyers who made everything look "legal".
The entire system is pure and simple, rigged. IN favor if the white wealthy folks.
161
Anyone rich of any color can take advantage of the system.
Plenty of rich black people out there, but they fly beneath the radar, having far more class than the likes of Donald Trump and perhaps a grain more humility than the Kardashians.
You don't hear about them because, ironically, they adhere to old WASP precepts of dignity and good deeds.
7
If Bill and Hillary Clinton or had been to endure such an investigation??
Nearly two years investigation of the so called 'russian collusion', not resulting in a single indication for such a crime! There seems time to arouse suspicion on another subject for the next two years, any propositions?
11
If the police is called to check out a noisy apartment for disturbing the peace and when they arrive, a body is lying in a pool of blood, they will not just ask that the music be turned down.
The amount of corruption and crimes that Mueller is uncovering is so vast that they need more time. It would be wise to be aware of the time spent investigating Watergate which is just a single crime, cover up. Compare that to Trump who’s indulging in an unlimited criminal buffet.
I propose that the feds investigate any and all crimes that they uncover. And that the involved parties are indicted, heard, and once found guilty, jailed.
306
You know it is not a "collusion" investigation, right? Despite what Rudy, Hannity and Piro spout. The special council (a R hand picked by a R that is second in command to the AG that Trump hand picked and who is also a R...) is investigating the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election, including if they were involved with Americans and any other crimes found during the course of the investigation (lying to Congress/FBI, money laundering, bank fraud, campaign finance fraud, obstructing a federal investigation, theft, etc.). Thus the nearly dozen guilty pleas and solid indictments of various figures in Trump's orbit, many carried out by state prosecutors because of the depth and breadth of Trump peoples' criminal activity separate from Russian interference.
104
@Christian Lee Bill and Hillary Clinton withstood years of investigation into the Whitewater real estate deal - on which they lost money - and the only thing it uncovered was an affair with Monica Lewinsky.
As for the Mueller investigation...
1. Members of the campaign are doing jail time,
2. Russians have been indicted, Trump's son, son-in-law and campaign manager met with representatives of the Russian government under the expectation of getting "dirt on Hillary"
3. Trump paid hush money in violation of campaign finance laws.
But wait! There's more! We'll just have to wait for the report or indictments
150
How has the possible trump money laundering escaped scrutiny for decades? Why have the authorities looked the other way until it has become so publicly clear and ‘in your face’? How has Manafort escaped scrutiny until now? How many others are flagrantly breaking the law as we speak? George Carlin was right. It’s a big club, and we ain’t in it.
490
@Louisa Glasson
Which begs the question, if you could be in it, would you? Because I am a person that was born into the "club" and couldn't run away fast enough. Wasn't any club I wanted to be a part of. Never held any appeal for me.
46
@Louisa Glasson It's past the statute of limitations so nothing will be done now. Seems like we starve the investigative functions of IRS and other agencies such that this happens. Manafort would be a free man if he had never worked for Trump.
19
@JW: Actually, we did walk away. Couldn’t stand the empty existence, nor the people in it.
11
This is a mind-bending set of possibly illegal foreign campaign contributions.
Now that multinational corporations can "repatriate" money by deciding which national subsidiary can give, it appears that restrictions on foreign assistance have become meaningless ...
22
As bad as financial crime is and as corrupt as it may be, I am unable to think about it while this administration has coldly separated children from their parents, risking their physical and emotional health and their futures. I ache for their mothers and fathers as well. The indifference of this President and his administration, particularly Homeland Security is an insult to every American. I can't be the only oone who feels this way?
200
@Clarissa you are not the only one I promise you that.
13
@Clarissa
I think many of us feel offended at absolutely all of it and find it difficult to separate the evil on one hand from the evil on the other because all of their daily manifestations of evil (in whichever sense one understands evil - biblical, secular, philosophical, useful metaphorical trope - it is the word that links all of the current Republican/White House regime's machinations together) must be rejected in each and every instance; otherwise the various players continue to conspire together and approve each further ethical and moral lapse as long as power & money seem to follow. Like a mutating virus or cancer cell, they dodge and dart and evade in whatever way, shape, form, direction they can -- without regard for the mayhem and destruction caused in their wake. And like a metastasizing tumor, the Republicans' embrace of Trump's amoral, narcissistic band of thieves without honor will eventually kill its host, American democratic government. (And quite possibly the earthly habitat that makes any human society possible.)
These venal and corrupt men and women who rally to Trump's defense really are the destructive kudzu of our society and must be thoroughly separated and fenced off, i.e, jailed, so that the rest of us can get on with making it a better, more just, fairer world for every human being and every other living thing upon it. Balance needs to be restored.
22
Clarissa, you are not the only one who is sickened and appalled by Trump inhumane policies towards immingrants and refugees. Crimes against humanity, that is what they are. Where is justice?
12
I can only wonder, as have others, how much of this is coming from statements made by people cooperating with various investigations of Trump's organization. But the dilemma continues to be that as distressing as much of Trump's behavior is in the normal political world and even in the normal legal world, the people who voted for him long accepted this as part of his personality and perhaps his indifference to the "normal political world" as part of his appeal.
In most cases like this, it seems to me that the main issue is whether he is guilty of a crime. In Trump's case, the main issue seems to be at what point even his own supporters find his behavior unacceptable.
39
Seriously? Who gets paid $26MM to arrange a party? People in DJT’s world. My guess is most of that $26MM found its way back into his family’s pockets but I’ll wait for the investigation to be complete.
138
@Long Time Listener, First Time Caller I hope you are right. That would mean immediate prosecution and jail time for the recipients.
18
The Mueller team may be nearing their summarizing phase, but the AG's office in Manhattan is just turning over its engine it appears. Before you know it anyone ever associated with the creep in the Oval Office will be supeoned for some reason or another.
Go Manhattan.
239
Investigations of Trump-related grifting have become an infinite loop of revelations, going ever deeper. It's like drilling in the Pacific Trench.
45
I’m old enough to remember when there was not a major breaking scandal connected to the President every day. Every. Single. Day. I’m two and a half years old.
203
@Barry
What a smart kid, you are Barry. Smarter than that yellow-haired guy in the Oval Office!
3
For far too long this POTUS has treated the Presidency, his campaign and his “business dealings” as if he lived in a bubble of his own choosing and desire. Sorry, Mr. President, we are a nation off laws, not men, and you, sir, are just one of us, not Royalty.
I’m sure that’s news to him.
89
I'm amazed that Trump is still standing. All these investigations prompted by the Special Prosecutor (a Republican, mind you) tells me that Trump must be a real crook. More shall be revealed. It's just a matter of time. After all why else is he hiding his tax returns?
93
@May
Because he paid no taxes for over TEN years.
13
It is frustrating that it took 2+ years to get this far. The inauguration appeared corrupt when it happened!
76
We can hope this is the beginning of the ouster of the Trump administration. I won't hold my breath.
31
@Angelsea I fear Trump's evil tentacles may reach into
Mueller's investigation and that of the SDNY. Trump believes that everyone is corruptible as long as the price is right, just like his buddy Putin.
6
I was shocked with comments on this same story on the Wall Street Journal. I had thought such readers were educated, but to my shock, they mostly sounded like rich people dumbly parroting Trump and Republican politicians.
I guess being involved with money leads many to follow Trump business tactics.
72
@A "I was shocked with comments on this same story on the Wall Street Journal. I had thought such readers were educated, but to my shock, they mostly sounded like rich people dumbly parroting Trump and Republican politicians."
The comments at the Wall Street Journal are always abysmal and utterly predictable.
10
Rupert Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, A, just as he owns the London Times, fox so-called news and at least half the television stations in the world.
Hard right and Russian hackers flood the comments of the Wall Street Journal, too, to try to keep readers brainwashed.
I hope you call them out when you comment. Light flooded on them by the public is the only way to stop them.
3
@A. Our country is full of Trump wannabes. The corruption among us is not restricted to Trump, his family and his hangers-on. Many people love Trump BECAUSE he is getting away with robbery. Even if it turned out he had a mistress whose abortion he paid for, a good many of the the good Christian pro-lifers would still give him a pass, just because they want to be just like him.
6
I must be naive. Here I thought that an inaugural committee, working on behalf of an incoming president, would first pay particular attention to the laws governing such an occasion. Including those regarding donors.
But no. Of course not.
Influence peddling comes first.
58
Trump administration was the biggest swamp from day one. Thank God for federal prosecutors in NYC who are looking out for America and us the people, unlike our so called Congress which does absolutely nothing to uphold the best interests for us the people. I say we get rid of Congress and Supreme Court, and replace them with the real press (non-Fox) and the federal prosecutors. Then, we replace Trump with Mueller- courageous & incorruptible. Finally a government for the people, by the people.
108
The media insisted on predicting the investigation would end in February. Last week the once but not future AG of the U.S., Mr. Whittaker, completely inappropriately and ham-handedly interfered in it to announce investigative matters would shortly draw to a close.
For months now I have told friends who asked me when I thought the end might be that like everyone else who guesses, especially the talking heads on TV, I had no idea and would add what they do not, how would I know.
But then I would add my guess that with the investigation moving from one thing to another it struck me it would continue to the Fall but would end before the end of 2019 because to go beyond Dec. 31 would take it into the re-elect year.
This expansion of the investigation into inaugural matters perhaps suggests that time line is more likely than that an end will come in the next month or two.
It suggests also that one thing has led to the next and the next and the next -- and that all things will end where they began, with Trump himself.
52
@Carl Zeitz
I agree the investigation will go on and on. I suspect it could go until after tRump is voted out of office and we have a new president. That way they avoid a constitutional argument over indicting a sitting president.
18
If Trump thought that the funds of his foundation were his personal checkbook, the funds of his inaugural committee might have had the same consideration.
It seems difficult that somebody with the control urgencies that Trump displays constantly, would not be involved in the processes and decision making of a presidential inauguration.
Trump would not have been busy designing policy or working with a transition team. Trump would have been thinking that the inauguration was his coronation as Emperador.
How long will it take to make the link between Trump and the team of criminal oriented minds he surrounds himself with?
109
"People familiar with the subpoena said prosecutors are interested in potential money laundering as well as election fraud..."
I think prosecutors are far more interested in the former rather than the latter. Paul Manafort has been investigated for Russian money laundering. How many foreign LLC's own apartments in Trump tower and where are they from? How many of those were bought when Trump couldn't get an American loan because of his numerous bankruptcies and how soon after? Casinos are well known as a source of money laundering, so I'm certain he is familiar with the concept. Finally, American crowds to view his inauguration were modest at best (despite what Sean Spicer reported) and yet he raised more than twice as much as any previous president for his 20 inaugural events. There is nothing that seems more like pay to play than this. Unfortunately, if charges are associated with this, there will be even more desperation to stay in office, where he will be safe from prosecution for now. Drip, drip, drip....
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Just follow the money.
Trump's every action has to do with his own self aggrandizement: either fame or fortune, or both. I think the tax return requirement for public officials is a great start for transparency, but it should go further.
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@Joe To that requirement for a full and audited accounting should be a physical by an independent panel of doctors. That should include a psychological evaluation. We need to know everything about the person who has tremendous power.
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@Joe
Add to the tax return requirement that all candidates should be required to pass a security clearance test before they can be placed on the ballot.
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How timely. Federal prosecutors call for Donald Trump’s financial documents regarding his inaugural committtee the day before the State of the Union Address.
It ought to be quite interesting to hear all about how copacetic Trump calls himself, the country, the state of affairs, as numerous investigators try to prove otherwise. He might as well have a sign on the podium that says “Please clap while I lie.”
We can hear it now, how he has done more for this country than any other president in history. Done more. I wonder if we will ever find out the cost of what all these investigations have been. His untoward behavior, his believing he is above the law, his lies have cost us innocent taxpayers many a healthcare or educational or infrastructure opportunity for this country when it’s all said and done.
This is a man who would absolutely not show his taxes. Remember the “audit” that just went on and on and on and still must be going on, because we have never seen his tax returns. This is something other presidents and nominees have readily turned over, but not this guy. And that was accepted as people still went to the polls and clicked beside the name Trump.
Donald Trump sickens me. His campaign, his presidency, his lies, his failure to maintain relationships with our allies, and so much more just sickens me.
It will be difficult to listen to his address, his words, his lies. Many say they just can’t and won’t. It all seems just so easy for him......
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@MIMA
I'll be watching a Simpsons rerun during Trump's speech, and tune in for Stacey Abrams' rebuttal.
The transcripts of Trump's address will be bad enough.
Don't watch - Trump craves good ratings.
Do your part to deny him.
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I’ll add one more to your list of things that sicken me: that he still has tens of millions of ardent supporters who’ll never admit he’s done anything wrong.
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@D. DeMarco
I agree.
The best thing for our country would be to ignore this man as much as possible. That includes the media especially television coverage. Just think about it - why does he spend hours and hours watching TV? Because he loves to see himself on the screen. What would he do if no one covered his every tweet, his every presser, his every oval office confab? What if we never saw him again?
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Once this whole tragic play is over, I'll be fascinated to read about the mechanics of how Mueller's team carried out the work. What software tools are used to track and cross-check the torrents of testimonies, and of public statements, private statements and rumours? How is information spread across the core team and associates in other teams? How are leaks controlled? And what systems have been set up to ensure that work will proceed even if some members cannot continue to serve, or, this being the USA, to breath?
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I wonder if you are among the droves of conservatives complaining about the length and cost of the Mueller investigation and, let me get this straight, you want to spend more time and money investigating the investigation? Now there's true neo-conservatism in action!
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@Glenn Thomas
I also wish to eventually know how the Prosecutors did it, and I see @somewhatbrightening's remarks in a somewhat different, and much more positive light.
Some day we will read all about it thanks to investigative reporters from (among others) the NYT.
Then the books will start coming out, written by Mueller insiders, or if we are very lucky, Mueller himself.
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Wow! What a documentary that will be! Book, too.
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Right-wing corruption as far as the human eye can see.
Some more Maria Butina with your morning tea, sir ?
Russian-Republicanism is no way to run a country.... except into the ground.
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I'm interested in the money laundering, the quid ,
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That there were payoffs and that money originating from Russians seeking to have sanctions lifted seems obvious to me from news that's been leaked to date. The sums of money collected for this inauguration alone were astounding and record breaking - where it all went is yet to be fully revealed but it seems that much of it was given to enablers under the ruse of inaugural expenses.
After Mueller has revealed the sordid facts of what supposed to pass for a political institution aka the Republican party, the real question this all will boil down to is; what did the so-called President know and when did he know it?
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The shame though after all this, is that The Base still will not wake up from their stupor, and acknowledge Trump for the fraud he is, and always has been. Even if Trump has an epiphany and tells the truth, The Base will believe he was extorted or tortured to do so. I have no doubt Alex Jones etal., will push such "truths". We have a lot of work to do in repairing our Nation's divisions similarly to after the Civil War.
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@Ted Morton
It is obvious to most of us, but the facts have to be shown to the Court......which laws were broken AND who is responsible. This administration seems to be like a criminal enterprise.
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@Marko Polo
If Trump's base is still not acknowledging what a fraud Trump is, it's because Democrats are not getting the message out effectively. We can't just blame the media for not getting out the message. Bolder, stronger leadership from Schumer and Pelosi would unify all Congressional Democrats in utilizing all channels to educate Americans.
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