Tag: what is Trump hiding?

Trump is refusing to hand over key records — leaving a big gap in the historical record

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Public figures live on within the words they are remembered by. To understand the effect they had on history, their words need to be documented. No one is absolutely sure of exactly what Abraham Lincoln said in his most famous speech, the Gettysburg Address. Five known manuscripts exist, but all of them are slightly different. Every newspaper story from the day contains a different account.

In the case of modern presidents, for the official record, we rely upon transcriptions of all their speeches collected by the national government.

But in the case of Donald Trump, that historical record is likely to have a big gap. Almost 10% of the president’s total public speeches are excluded from the official record. And that means a false picture of the Trump presidency is being created in the official record for posterity. Continue reading.

Trump contradicts Pompeo in bid to downplay massive hack of U.S. government, Russia’s role

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President Trump addressed the ongoing cyber hacks of the U.S. government for the first time on Saturday, seeking to turn blame away from Moscow in defiance of mounting evidence while downplaying how devastating the intrusions appear to be.

In a bizarre outburst on Twitter that Trump’s critics condemned for its alarming disconnect from the facts, the president contradicted his top diplomat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who on Friday pinned the breaches that have afflicted at least five major federal agencies “clearly” on Russia. Rather, the president baselessly suggested that the true culprit “may be China (it may!)”

Trump’s aversion to calling out the Kremlin for its malign activities in cyberspace and his deference to Russian President Vladimir Putin has become a hallmark of his presidency. He has repeatedly trusted the word of Putin over the assessments of his own intelligence community, including its conclusion that Russia waged a sophisticated campaign to interfere in the 2016 presidential election — a verdict Trump believes calls into question the legitimacy of his victory four years ago.

Scoop: Pentagon halts Biden transition briefings

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Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller ordered a Pentagon-wide halt to cooperation with the transition of President-elect Biden, shocking officials across the Defense Department, senior administration officials tell Axios.

The latest: Biden transition director Yohannes Abraham contradicted the Pentagon’s official response to this story on Friday afternoon, telling reporters, “Let me be clear: there was no mutually agreed upon holiday break.”

  • “In fact, we think it’s important that briefings and other engagements continue during this period as there’s no time to spare, and that’s particularly true in the aftermath of ascertainment delay,” Abraham continued, referring to the Trump administration’s delay in recognizing Biden as president-elect. Continue reading.

How Tax Secrecy Protects Trump — And Hurts You

As Donald Trump fights to keep his tax and business records from Manhattan prosecutors it’s time to alert Americans that tax returns used to be public. Congress could make them public again. If it did every honest taxpayer would benefit.

In 1924 how much the rich paid the taxman was front-page news. Newspapers back then published lists that revealed who was really rich (John D Rockefeller stands out) and those who were either poseurs claiming great wealth yet paying little tax or were likely tax cheats who failed to report their income fully.

Strong evidence exists that Trump is both a poseur and a cheat, as we’ve shown again and again at DCReport since we published Trump’s 2005 income tax return three years ago. Continue reading.

Federal court blocks release of Trump taxes while case appealed

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A federal appeals court in New York on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court ruling that would have sped up the disclosure of President Trump‘s tax returns to prosecutors in Manhattan.

The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals allows Trump to continue shielding eight years of corporate and personal tax returns while he appeals the lower court decision.

The 2nd Circuit on Tuesday also scheduled a Sept. 25 hearing over Trump’s claim that the New York grand jury subpoena seeking his tax returns is overbroad and was issued in bad faith. A federal trial judge dismissed those assertions in a lengthy opinion last month. Continue reading.

Manhattan prosecutor agrees to shelve subpoena for Trump tax returns

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Manhattan’s top prosecutor on Monday agreed to delay enforcement of a subpoena for eight years of President Trump’s tax returns.

Cyrus Vance Jr., the Democratic district attorney for Manhattan, had the legal right as of this Friday to enforce a New York grand jury subpoena to obtain a lengthy financial paper trail that includes Trump’s corporate and personal tax records. 

But Vance has agreed to temporarily shelve the subpoena against Trump’s accounting firm, Mazars USA. The delay allows for another round of litigation, extending the nearly yearlong court battle over the subpoena in which Trump has lost every bout, including a landmark decision last month at the Supreme Court. Continue reading.

Judge denies Trump’s request for a stay on subpoena for tax records

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A federal judge in New York on Friday denied President Trump’s request to temporarily halt a grand jury subpoena for his tax returns from taking effect.

The ruling by District Judge Victor Marrero comes a day after he dismissed Trump’s latest attempt to block a New York grand jury subpoena for eight years of Trump’s financial documents, including his personal and corporate tax returns.

Trump’s personal attorneys had asked Marrero, a Clinton appointee, to pause his Thursday decision from taking effect while Trump appealed to the New York-based federal appeals court — a request Marrero shot down Friday in a nine-page decision. Continue reading.

Judge throws out Trump effort to block subpoena for tax returns

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A federal judge in New York on Thursday dismissed President Trump’s latest effort to stymie a New York grand jury subpoena for his tax returns and a trove of other financial documents.

The ruling by District Judge Victor Marrero relied heavily on the Supreme Court’s landmark decision last month that rejected Trump’s claim that presidents enjoy absolute immunity from criminal probes.

“That notion, applied as so robustly proclaimed by the president’s advocates, is as unprecedented and far-reaching as it is perilous to the rule of law and other bedrock constitutional principles on which this country was founded and by which it continues to be governed,” Marrero wrote. Continue reading.

House can sue to force former White House counsel Donald McGahn to comply with subpoena

Washington Post logoHouse Democrats can sue to force President Trump’s former White House counsel Donald McGahn to comply with a congressional subpoena, a federal appeals court ruled Friday.

In a 7-2 decision, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed Congress’s oversight powers and said the House has a long-standing right to compel government officials to testify and produce documents. The ruling came in one of a set of historic clashes between the White House and Democratic lawmakers.

The “effective functioning of the Legislative Branch critically depends on the legislative prerogative to obtain information, and constitutional structure and historical practice support judicial enforcement of congressional subpoenas when necessary,” Judge Judith W. Rogers wrote for the majority. Continue reading.

Deutsche Bank Turned Over Trump’s Financial Records To Manhattan District Attorney

Deutsche Bank, the German financial powerhouse that loaned hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trump Organization when other banks shunned that company, has turned over records of its transactions subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, according to the New York Times.

District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., has sought the president’s personal and corporate tax records in court, without revealing much about the alleged crimes under investigation, although he is know to be looking into hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Vance’s prosecutors justified the extensive demand for Trump’s records before a judge in New York state Supreme Court last Monday by citing reports of “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Truomp Organization.”. Continue reading.