Political Wire

Trump Will ‘Push Hard’ for Payout Fund

August 1, 2026 at 10:45 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he would ‘push hard’ to enact legislation that would offer payouts to people ‘badly treated’ by the Obama and Biden administrations, his latest threat to resurrect the controversial fund,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “It will immediately be back on the table, and I will get it done.”

”He added that he would keep Todd Blanche as acting attorney general if his nomination to run the Justice Department fails in the Senate, and blasted two GOP senators who blocked Blanche from advancing.”

GOP Lawmaker Returns Money After Donor Pardoned

July 30, 2026 at 5:18 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) returned a donation to a man convicted of fraud in connection with the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal following reporting that President Donald Trump pardoned him just three days after the contribution,” NOTUS reports.

Trump’s pardon power looks less like an instrument of mercy than a rewards program for people with political connections.

Will Republicans Pay for Trump’s Corruption?

July 29, 2026 at 10:15 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump has made more money while in office than most of us can even conceive of. In 2025, he took in more than $2.2 billion,” the New York Times reports.

“Democrats intend to make a big deal of this in the midterm elections, by accusing Trump of corruptly using his office to enrich himself as consumer prices rise and inequality widens. A CNN poll released today found that nearly two-thirds of Americans thought Trump had gone too far in pursuing his personal business interests while president.”

Senators Urge SEC to Probe Trump Media

July 29, 2026 at 1:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Trump Media & Technology Group is violating the law by selling faster access to President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts,” CNBC reports.

Said the senators: “This appears to be an outrageous abuse of the President’s office for his personal benefit that undermines everyday investors and the integrity of our markets, while enriching Wall Street and other wealthy insiders.”

Payouts to Trump Allies Continue

July 29, 2026 at 12:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Two days before Senate lawmakers were scheduled to vote on advancing Todd Blanche’s nomination to serve as attorney general, a million-dollar payout was announced for an anti-abortion activist he has called a victim of government weaponization by the Biden administration,” the New York Times reports.

“The settlement given to Paul Vaughn, who was convicted by a Tennessee jury in 2024 of conspiring to prevent access to an abortion clinic, shows how the goal of a $1.8 billion fund announced in May can continue, despite a public retreat by Mr. Blanche. An already existing avenue for disbursing taxpayer money could allow him to assuage skeptical Republicans while fulfilling President Trump’s desire to pay people he believes were wronged by the Justice Department.”

Trump’s allies broke the law in his name. Now taxpayers are being asked to reimburse them for the consequences.

Megadonor Received Trump Pardon 3 Days After Donation

July 29, 2026 at 5:44 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Donald Trump recently pardoned a major Republican donor three days after the man — a key figure in the Jack Abramoff fraud and lobbying scandal — made a political donation to Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA), who’s facing one of the nation’s most contested House races,” NOTUS reports.

Hawaii Lt. Governor Indicted in Political Bribery Case

July 25, 2026 at 1:47 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“An Oahu grand jury indicted Sylvia Luke among four others on Friday in connection to an ongoing political bribery case,” KITV reports.

”The indictments made by a grand jury on Friday, July 24, are part of an investigation launched by federal and state authorities months ago into an alleged bribe taken by an ‘influential’ lawmaker back in 2022.”

Trump Admits Cutting Grants Over How States Voted

July 24, 2026 at 5:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “In little-noticed court documents, federal officials acknowledged this month that they had terminated the funding ‘based solely’ on political criteria, targeting projects in states that were represented by Democrats and had voted for Kamala Harris, the party’s presidential nominee, in the 2024 election.”

“The admission showed how President Trump has weaponized the provision of federal education, energy, health, housing and infrastructure aid in his second term. Far from rooting out the sort of misspending that Mr. Trump sees as rife in Washington, the White House has instead sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes.”

Blagojevich Wants Trump to Pardon Politician On the Lam

July 22, 2026 at 9:00 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor President Donald Trump pardoned last year on federal corruption charges, is now seeking clemency on behalf of a similarly disgraced political figure: a suburban Chicago councilman who authorities say fled the country just days before his 2005 sentencing in a vote-buying scheme,” NBC News reports.

Don Jr.’s Investment Firm Posts Staggering Returns

July 22, 2026 at 5:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

New York Times: “Dating back to the first Trump administration, members of the Trump family have faced criticism for mixing business with politics. But what sets apart the latest moves by Donald Trump Jr. is how he and Mr. Malik, through 1789 Capital, are cashing in on the policies of the current administration openly and without apology.”

“Many of the companies that 1789 has invested in have large government contracts while others, like Polymarket, have benefited directly from new Trump policies or rollbacks of existing laws. The firm bought shares in some of the most coveted private companies before many went public, including SpaceX, Anduril, Cerebras and Reflection AI, often by leveraging their political and business connections to secure a stake or to help boost the companies’ sales.”

“Just two years ago, 1789 managed a few hundred million dollars. It now oversees more than $3 billion. Its main investment fund generated returns of roughly 200 percent as of June 30, according to a person familiar with the firm’s performance.”

Justice Department Quietly Investigating Cory Mills

July 21, 2026 at 5:45 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Department of Justice is conducting a criminal investigation into Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL), according to two sources familiar with the matter, adding to the mounting legal and ethical scrutiny facing the embattled congressman,” MS NOW reports.

“The sources didn’t disclose the focus of the DOJ investigation. But a third source told MS NOW at least one person was contacted by the FBI last year about Mills’ finances, allegations of misconduct and individuals in his orbit.”

Companies in Don Jr. Fund Win Federal Contracts

July 20, 2026 at 6:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A short drive from President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, in a small office a block from the beach, sits the headquarters of 1789 Capital, a firm founded just a few years ago with plans to invest in businesses aligned with conservative values,” CNN reports.

“Since Donald Trump Jr. joined as a partner shortly after his father’s reelection, 1789 Capital has rapidly grown to manage billions of dollars in assets with a strategy that closely reflects the president’s policies.”

“Companies backed by 1789 Capital have also significantly increased their federal funding under the Trump administration.”

Senate Opposes Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried

July 16, 2026 at 6:13 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Senate unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday declaring that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a pardon,” The Hill reports.

“Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison on fraud charges tied to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange, officially requested a pardon from the Trump administration in early June.”

Warren Seeks Trump Crypto Disclosures

July 16, 2026 at 3:01 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is asking President Donald Trump for an additional six months of disclosures on his crypto holdings following revelations in a June filing that the president and his family earned some $1.4 billion from digital currencies in 2025,” NBC News reports.

“In a letter sent Thursday, Warren said the information covering the president’s crypto earnings for the first half of 2026 is needed because pending legislation could further enhance the president’s crypto fortune, creating what she said would be a conflict of interest.”

The Guardian: Trump made $1.4bn from crypto in one year. Is Justin Sun the man that helped him do it?

Trump Raises Over $780 Million for Second Term

July 16, 2026 at 2:38 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Presidents have always raised money from private donors—to run for office, throw inaugural balls and build presidential libraries,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“But Donald Trump has turned his second term into an unprecedented fundraising blitz, raising well over half a billion dollars from wealthy donors and stashing it in a sprawling network of nonprofits, cultural institutions and committees that he and his allies control.”

“Companies seeking lucrative contracts or favorable policies from the administration have poured millions of dollars into these funds, which have become a key tool for Trump to pursue his political and personal priorities. He has used them to oust his political opponents, change the cultural face of the nation’s capital and boost his postpresidency legacy.”

Trump Pocketed $2 Million From Firm in Trade Dispute

July 14, 2026 at 5:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The lead investor in a South Korean aluminum company that has challenged Commerce Department penalties on certain exports from South Korea to the United States made a $2 million payment last year to President Trump’s holding company,” the New York Times reports.

“The payment by the parent company, Base Group, was revealed for the first time in Mr. Trump’s annual financial disclosure form released in late June.”

Reflecting Pool Firm Botched Prior Cleanup Job

July 13, 2026 at 7:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A year before Greenwater Services got a $1.7 million contract to clean the algae-infected Reflecting Pool, it had received another no-bid government contract to deploy at the trash-plagued Tijuana River,” the Washington Post reports.

”Greenwater, which is owned by a Trump donor, was hired to treat sewage in the Tijuana River with its ‘nanobubble technology,’ a system that injects ozone into water.”

”But the month-long water purification pilot to evaluate the technology was cut short last October when a storm flooded the river’s banks. The remnants of machinery were washed into the border river, with diesel leaking along the way, frustrating scientists and environmentalists at federal agencies who had questioned internally whether the company’s project would work in a flood-prone area.”

The Most Corrupt Presidency in American History

July 11, 2026 at 7:47 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Reason: “At its heart, the otherwise complicated and multi-stage Teapot Dome affair of the 1920s, which until Watergate was considered the greatest federal government scandal of all time, was about secret bribes to an administration official that lubricated lucrative regulatory outcomes.”

“In 1921, Interior Secretary Albert Fall clandestinely accepted $404,000 ($7.6 million in today’s money) in cash and no-interest loans from two oil executives, who then became recipients of no-bid leases to exploit oil fields in California’s Elk Hills and Wyoming’s Teapot Dome. As part of the scheme, Fall had previously convinced the secretary of the Navy to transfer authority over those lands to the Department of the Interior. The no-bid contracts were legal (at the time, anyway); the bribes were not, and the secrecy exploded upon revelation.”

“Fast forward a century. Four days before Trump’s second inauguration, a company called Aryam Investments 1 signed a deal with the president-elect’s son Eric to buy a 49 percent stake in World Liberty Financial for a reported $500 million, half of it in cash up front. The Trump family received $187 million overnight, and the family of World Liberty Financial co-founder Steve Witkoff, who by then was already conducting sensitive Middle East diplomacy on behalf of the incoming president, received an additional $31 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. Amazingly, the transaction was made in secret, revealed only one year later.”