Tracking former Trump officials

[China]

So among other things, Jared Kusnner is working as a slumlord:

 

Judge Rules Tenants at Apartment Properties Co-Owned By Jared Kushner Were Misled By Company

 

A Maryland judge issued a 252-page decision Thursday that tenants at a Baltimore-area apartment properties co-owned by Jared Kushner, former President Donald Trump's son-in-law, were misled by Westminster Management and the company JK2 about the conditions of the apartments and were often unable to see them until they moved in, the Baltimore Sun reported.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[EmirOfShmo]

They comin' to get you...

 

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/05/trump-inner-circle-raid-fears

 

REPORT: TRUMP’S INNER CIRCLE IS TERRIFIED THE FEDS ARE COMING FOR THEM NEXT

...

At the same time Rudy Giuliani had his home and office raided by the feds last week, a turn of events that former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara has said is very, very bad news for the NYC mayor turned Trump lawyer/cautionary tale. All of which reportedly has the rest of the 45th president’s inner circle extremely concerned about their own legal exposure.

CNN reports that the raids on Giuliani’s Madison Avenue apartment and Park Avenue office have “left allies of the former president feeling uneasy about what could come next,” according to sources close to Trump. “This was a show of force that sent a strong message to a lot of people in Trump’s world that other things may be coming down the pipeline,” one adviser told CNN.

...

Cohen said, “Do I think Rudy will give up Donald in a heartbeat? Absolutely. He certainly doesn’t want to follow my path down into a 36-month sentence.” He added: “What’s ironic here is the fact that these tactics of the Southern District of New York, in terms of bullying you into a plea deal, were created by Rudy Giuliani going back 30 years ago. And it’s just ironic that the tactics that he created for that office are now going to be employed against him, in terms of making him plead guilty and, certainly, at the least, turning over information about Jared, Ivanka, about Don Jr., about Donald himself, about all of these individuals in that garbage can orbit of Donald Trump.” A person close to the 45th president concurred that Giuliani would end up cooperating with prosecutors, telling CNN: “Even the most loyal people have their breaking point,” adding that Giuliani flipping “wouldn’t shock me at all.”

[China]

Giuliani cuts down his entourage

 

Rudy Giuliani, the former personal lawyer for ex-president Donald Trump, has reduced the size of his personal entourage, according to three people familiar with the matter.

Giuliani laid off several staffers and independent contractors in the last few weeks, according to one of the people, who said the ousted employees had been told that the former New York mayor was seeking to cut costs.

 

Giuliani has enlisted a part-time driver, Eric Ryan, the son of his friend Maria Ryan, according to one of the people familiar with the matter. But he no longer moves around Manhattan with the full complement of as many as five people he has kept around him in recent years. (Ryan didn’t respond to a request for comment.)

 

The news of Giuliani’s shrinking entourage comes after years of stories suggesting he might be having financial difficulties — or is at least seeking creative ways to make money as he manages his growing legal woes.

 

The Trump confidant, recently raided by the FBI as he faces an intensifying criminal probe, has reportedly faced a cash crunch before, with multiple divorces said to be taking a toll on his balance sheet. In October 2019, the Washington Post reported that Giuliani was giving his ex-wife Judith $42,000 a month in alimony; a sum amounting to more than half a million dollars a year. The Post also reported that Giuliani had made between $7 and $9 million in both 2016 and 2017.

 

In mid-November of last year, the New York Times reported that Giuliani had demanded $20,000 a day in legal fees in exchange for representing the ex-president as he contested the 2020 election. Though Giuliani had denied it, according to the Washington Post, Trump reportedly balked at the figure and told aides not to pay it. Giuliani allies, led by his son Andrew, also made a push this week to get Trump to pay for Giuliani’s mounting legal fees.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

Rudy Giuliani Begs Court To Block Prosecutors From Reviewing Docs Seized From His Home

 

Former Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani is asking a federal judge to block prosecutors from reviewing any of the documents seized from his home or office during a raid late last month, The Hill reports.

 

Giuliani’s lawyers filed a 17-page court motion last week in which they argued that the basis of the seizure was unjustified. The filing was in response to prosecutors’ request for a special master to review the materials seized.

 

“Before any further review (including by a Special Master) and any further damage is done to the public’s confidence in the confidentiality of their communications with counsel, the issue of the constitutionality and legality of the government’s conduct to this point in the investigation must be resolved,” Giuliani’s attorneys wrote.

 

As noted by The Hill, “Giuliani’s motion seeks to derail the government’s investigation into his dealings in Ukraine by arguing that prosecutors with the Southern District of New York should have sought materials from him via subpoena.”

 

Giuliani made similar allegations during a Fox News interview earlier this month, arguing that Trump’s allies were the targets of politically motivated FBI raids meant to damage their public reputations.

 

“Usually a person who has been a former assistant U.S. attorney, a U.S. attorney, a mayor, the associate attorney general, usually they receive a subpoena — not have their home raided,” Giuliani told Fox News.

 

“The only lawyers they raid are lawyers for Donald Trump. I can’t think of another lawyer that has been raided other than lawyers for Trump,” he added. “Trump is in a special category because he doesn’t have constitutional rights.”

 

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‘Distinguished Lawyer’ Rudy Giuliani Whines He’s Been Treated Like The ‘Head Of a Drug Cartel’

 

Former Donald Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani on Monday complained that was treated like the “head of a drug cartel or a terrorist” when federal investigators executed a search warrant at his home and law office last month.

 

According to The Associated Press, Giuliani’s attorneys said that the raids on the former New York Mayr were unnecessary because he said after prosecutors obtained a warrant for his Apple iCloud account in 2019 that he would cooperate and answer questions without limitations, except for privileged matters, as long as his attorneys were aware of the subjects that would be discussed.

 

Giuliani’s attorneys said prosecutors instead “simply chose to treat a distinguished lawyer as if he was the head of a drug cartel or a terrorist, in order to create maximum prejudicial coverage of both Giuliani, and his most well known client – the former President of the United States,” according to the AP

 

Federal agents raided Giuliani’s home and law office last month as part of the long-running investigation looking into whether the former Trump lawyer illegally lobbied the Trump administration on behalf of Ukrainian oligarchs.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Ball Security]

 

 

[China]

Bill Barr is desperately trying to rehab his image as the dirty truth comes out

 

Former Attorney General Bill Barr's record leading the U.S. Justice Department is coming into clearer light as Merrick Garland takes the reins of the agency, and new revelations are bringing the much-maligned Trump acolyte under new scrutiny. It's now clear that under his watch, DOJ obtained the communication records of multiple journalists, a disturbing use of government power that is supposed to face stringent restrictions. Some argue it should never happen at all. The news was revealed when the new administration contacted the journalists to inform them of what happened.

 

And the public has also learned that Barr's DOJ sought to force Twitter to unmask an anonymous account critical of California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, a close Trump ally. Shortly after Garland was sworn in as attorney general, DOJ dropped the subpoena against Twitter.

 

So how is the former attorney general reacting to the new administration airing his dirty laundry? From all appearances, it looks like he's trying to launder his reputation by anonymously giving Trump administration scoops to reporters.

 

There've previously been signs that Barr has a tendency to plant stories in the press when it serves his interest, but a recent piece in Politico may be one of the most blatant and transparent efforts from the former AG to manage and rehabilitate his reputation.

 

The piece is titled "Inside Trump's push to oust his own FBI chief," and it's sold as delivering an "explosive" story about scandal in the White House, a genre that's become quite common in the past four years. But read just a little bit between the lines, and what's happening is clear: Barr is personally pushing this story to sell a narrative about himself as principled and independent from Trump. It's not clear if it's coming in direct response to the other revelations about Barr mentioned above, or if he's just more broadly concerned about differentiating himself from Trump; perhaps both motivations are playing a role.

 

Click on the link for the full story

[EmirOfShmo]

LMAO...uh, I dunno who that is.

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[PleaseBlitz]

Please post “Seb Gorka being pranked” media. 

[Dan T.]

8 minutes ago, PleaseBlitz said:

Please post “Seb Gorka being pranked” media. 

 

Caller pranks Seb Gorka into thinking he won journalism award (video with article):

 

https://www.indy100.com/news/trump-aide-radio-show-prank-watch-video-sebastian-gorka-9000251

 

[China]

Judge Approves Special Master, Denies Rudy Giuliani and Victoria Toensing’s Requests for Details of Government’s Probe

 

Granting federal prosecutors’ request for a special master, a federal judge rejected Rudy Giuliani and his fellow pro-Trump lawyer Victoria Toensing’s requests for the government to disclose more information about the basis for their search warrants.

 

“Giuliani and Toensing contend that their status as lawyers, including Giuliani’s status as a lawyer to the former President, makes these searches problematic,” U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote in a seven-page opinion on Friday. “To be sure, ‘a law office search should be executed with special care to avoid unnecessary intrusion on attorney-client communications.'”

 

“But lawyers are not immune from searches in criminal investigations. Rather, a law office search ‘is nevertheless proper if there is reasonable cause to believe that the specific items sought are located on the property to be searched,” the ruling continues. “The searches here were based on probable cause, and it is precisely to avoid ‘unnecessary intrusion on attorney-client communications’ that the Government is seeking appointment of a special master.”

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

 

[China]

Exclusive: New audio of 2019 phone call reveals how Giuliani pressured Ukraine to investigate baseless Biden conspiracies

 

Never-before-heard audio, obtained exclusively by CNN, shows how former President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Rudy Giuliani relentlessly pressured and coaxed the Ukrainian government in 2019 to investigate baseless conspiracies about then-candidate Joe Biden.

 

The audio is of a July 2019 phone call between Giuliani, US diplomat Kurt Volker, and Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The call was a precursor to Trump's infamous call with Zelensky, and both conversations later became a central part of Trump's first impeachment, where he was accused of soliciting Ukrainian help for his campaign.

During the roughly 40-minute call, Giuliani repeatedly told Yermak that Zelensky should publicly announce investigations into possible corruption by Biden in Ukraine, and into claims that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election to hurt Trump. (These separate claims are both untrue.)

 

"All we need from the President [Zelensky] is to say, I'm gonna put an honest prosecutor in charge, he's gonna investigate and dig up the evidence, that presently exists and is there any other evidence about involvement of the 2016 election, and then the Biden thing has to be run out," Giuliani said, according to the audio. "... Somebody in Ukraine's gotta take that seriously."

The new audio demonstrates how Giuliani aggressively cajoled the Ukrainians to do Trump's bidding. And it undermines Trump's oft-repeated assertion that "there was no quid pro quo" where Zelensky could secure US government support if he did political favors for Trump.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Dan T.]

The quid pro quo is as plain as day. Sling dirt on Biden and you get weapons, aid, and access to President Cheeto Mussolini. And the GOP just didn't give a flying ****.  Their moral compass is at the bottom of the Marianas Trench.

[China]

So he perjured himself before Congress?  That should result in jail time.

 

A New Giuliani Tape Shows a Key Witness Didn’t Testify Accurately in the First Trump Impeachment

 

The testimony of a key witness in Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial is under new scrutiny by the House Intelligence Committee following a report this week that undercuts the veracity of his claim that he was unaware of a Trump effort to pressure Ukraine into mounting a meritless investigation of Joe Biden. 

 

On Monday, CNN reported new details of a July 2019 call between Rudy Giuliani, then–US special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker, and Andriy Yermak, a top aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. During that call, Giuliani, then Trump’s personal lawyer, aggressively pressed Ukraine to announce investigations into dubious accusations about Biden and about alleged Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 election. Portions of this conversation have previously been reported by BuzzFeed News and Time, but CNN published the full audio of the 40-minute call. The recording of the conversation contradicts Volker’s sworn testimony to Congress that he never witnessed any attempt on the part of Trump and Giuliani to muscle Ukraine into launching an investigation of Biden, Trump’s possible opponent in the upcoming presidential election. 

 

Click on the link for the full article

[Cooked Crack]

 

[Cooked Crack]

 

[EmirOfShmo]

 

[China]

Pompeo builds national profile with new political group

 

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is launching an organization to support Republican candidates in the 2022 midterm elections and build his national political profile, as the GOP ponders its future after the Trump administration.

 

Pompeo told POLITICO in a telephone interview that he was starting a political action committee that will allow him to travel the country and campaign, fundraise and donate to GOP office-seekers. The vehicle, dubbed the Champion American Values PAC or CAVPAC, will be able to raise unlimited amounts of money and help candidates running for federal, state and local offices.

 

The move comes as Pompeo prepares an aggressive summertime campaign schedule that will take him from Miami later this week to Southern California late next month. Pompeo is also planning a July visit to the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa, an appearance in an early voting state that is bound to heighten speculation that Pompeo is considering a 2024 presidential bid.

 

Pompeo, who spent three terms in the House before joining the Trump administration, deflected questions about his interest in a White House run, saying that his focus was on bolstering Republican candidates up and down the ballot in 2022. While Pompeo has made trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, he said he also planned to be active in other states without the same central role in presidential nominating contests.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]

Justice Department Drops Criminal Inquiry and Lawsuit into John Bolton’s Memoir That Embarrassed Trump

 

Dropping both a criminal inquiry and a civil lawsuit, the Justice Department has closed the book on whether former President Donald Trump’s ex-National Security Advisor John Bolton’s memoir illegally disclosed classified information, his aide confirmed on Wednesday.

 

After resisting testifying during Trump’s first impeachment, Bolton said he would give the tell-all he refused to provide Congress in a book titled, “The Room Where It Happened,” depicting the 45th president as a man regularly seeking to do favors for “dictators he liked.” Trump’s Justice Department swung back hard, opening a criminal probe and filing a civil lawsuit seeking to recoup all of the book’s proceeds.

 

The government confirmed the lawsuit’s dismissal in a single-sentence stipulation entered into the court’s docket on Wednesday.

 

Click on the link for the full article

[China]