NY Attorney General Looking Into Four Trump Projects

Ken AshfordCrime, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

New York Attorney General Letitia James issued subpoenas on Monday for banks involved in financing four Trump Organization projects. That includes Trump National Doral golf course, his hotel in Washington, D.C., and his effort to buy the Buffalo Bills. The subpoenas are the next step in promises to “shine a bright light” on Trump that James made in both her campaign and her victory … Read More

Trump’s New Deficit-Exploding Budget

Ken AshfordEconomy & Jobs & Deficit, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

WaPo: President Trump is releasing a $4.7 trillion budget plan Monday that stands as a sharp challenge to Congress and the Democrats trying to unseat him, the first act in a multi-front struggle that could consume Washington for the next 18 months. The budget proposal dramatically raises the possibility of another government shutdown in October, and Trump used to the … Read More

Manafort’s Light Sentence Has Nothing To Do With Trump And Everything To Do With White Collar Crime

Ken AshfordCourts/Law, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

The 47-month sentenced former Donald Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort received yesterday in a Virginia courtroom drew wide condemnation for its leniency.  Actually, it is less, because he gets credit for nine months of time served. Convicted as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigations, Manafort faced 19 to 24 years per guidelines of the U.S. Sentencing Commission. Criminal sentences … Read More

Document Dump: Cohen Sues Trump

Ken AshfordBreaking News, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Former Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen is suing the Trump Orginization for over $1.9 million in attorneys’ fees for past work done, as well as an additional $1.9 million that he was ordered to pay for crimes committed while working for Trump. Cohen claims Trump Org breached a July 2017 agreement which agreed to cover costs incurred while participating in ongoing … Read More

Trump Scandals: No Historical Parallel

Ken AshfordCrime, L'Affaire Russe, Political Scandals, Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Even without seeing Robert Mueller’s report, or knowing what prosecutors with the Southern District of New York have unearthed, or what congressional investigators will find, we already have witnessed the biggest political scandal in American history.  Historians tell Axios that the only two scandals that come close to Trump-Russia are Watergate, which led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974, and … Read More

Quinnipiac Poll Shows Most People Don’t Believe Trump And That He Committed Crimes Before Becoming President

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Political Scandals, Polls, Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

President Donald Trump committed crimes before he became president, American voters say 64 – 24 percent in a Quinnipiac University National Poll released today. Republicans say 48 – 33 percent that President Trump did not commit crimes before he was president, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University National Poll finds. Every other listed party, gender, education, age and racial group says … Read More

To Add To The List Of Trump Crimes: Insurance Fraud

Ken AshfordCrime, Political Scandals, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

With any other administration, this would be impeachable if it turns out to be true: New York State regulators have issued an expansive subpoena to the Trump Organization’s longtime insurance broker, the first step in an investigation of insurance policies and claims involving President Trump’s family business, according to the company and a person briefed on the matter. The subpoena … Read More

Trump Put Pressure On To Get Ivanka’s Security Clearance Passed, Too

Ken AshfordTrump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Lees than a week after we learned about Trump overriding concerns about Jared Kushner’s security clearance, we learn this, from CNN: Washington (CNN)President Donald Trump pressured his then-chief of staff John Kelly and White House counsel Don McGahn to grant his daughter and senior adviser Ivanka Trump a security clearance against their recommendations, three people familiar with the matter told … Read More

He Just Couldn’t Help Himself, I Guess

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Roger Stone, 66, Donald Tump’s longtime friend under indictment and who is is barred from criticizing Mueller’s team of prosecutors under the gag imposed Feb. 21 after the longtime Republican operative posted an Instagram image of Jackson’s face next to a rifle scope’s crosshair, is in trouble. He posted an Instagram that could be in violation of the judge’s strict … Read More

Says It All

Ken AshfordElection 2016, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

“(Crooked) Hillary Clinton confirms she will not run in 2020, rules out a third bid for White House.” Aw-shucks, does that mean I won’t get to run against her again? She will be sorely missed! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2019 pic.twitter.com/nK9t5Voc6K — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) March 5, 2019

House Judiciary Committee Gets Serious About Subpoenas To Trump Associates

Ken AshfordL'Affaire Russe, Stormy Daniels & Karen McDougal Affairs, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Here is the list of document requests the committee sent. Alan Garten (letter, document requests)  Alexander Nix (letter, document requests)  Allen Weisselberg (letter, document requests)  American Media Inc (letter, document requests) Anatoli Samochornov (letter, document requests) Andrew Intrater (letter, document requests) Annie Donaldson (letter, document requests) Brad Parscale (letter, document requests) Brittany Kaiser (letter, document requests) Cambridge Analytica (letter, document requests)  Carter Page (letter, document requests) Columbus Nova (letter, document requests) Concord Management and Consulting (letter, document requests) Corey Lewandowski (letter, document requests) David Pecker (letter, document requests) Department of … Read More

The Senate Will Join The House In Blocking Trump’s Border Emergency Declaration

Ken AshfordCongress, Immigration and Xenophobia, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Roll Call reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said senators were still looking into whether the joint resolution to stop President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration can be amended. But, the Kentucky Republican also said he anticipated the Senate would pass the measure disapproving of the border security emergency. “I was one of those hoping the president would not take the … Read More

CPAC 2019: A Long Way From Reagan

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

Molly Jong-Fast in the Independent: I lost three and a half days of my life at CPAC so you didn’t have to.I arrived Wednesday afternoon at National Harbor (a short 40-minute Uber ride from Washington DC) for CPAC. It was my first conservative political action conference and I had somehow convinced myself that this trade show with white nationalists (Faith … Read More

New Yorker Expose Full Of Mini-Bombs About The Fox News-Trump Relationship

Ken AshfordFake News, Right Wing and Inept Media, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

In a far-reaching New Yorker exposé titled “The Making of the Fox News White House” published today, Jane Mayer dissects the often-incestuous relationship between the Trump White House and Fox News. The arguably biggest revelation is that Fox New passed on the Stormey Daniels story, which it knew before the election. “Diana Falzone, who often covered the entertainment industry, had obtained proof that … Read More

Daily Acts Of Moral Distancing

Ken AshfordRepublicans, Trump & AdministrationLeave a Comment

I like this, from David Brooks (who I don’t usually like), talking about the Republicans in the Michael Cohen hearing who decided to rip Cohen rather than ask questions about Trump. Normal people have moral sentiments. Normal people are repulsed when the president of their own nation lies, cheats, practices bigotry, allegedly pays off porn star mistresses. Were Republican House … Read More