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You are here: Home / Archives for Trump Transition

Trump Wanted to Take Back January 7 Speech

July 21, 2022 at 2:19 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The day after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, then-President Trump released a video finally, reluctantly agreeing to a transfer of power to the ‘new’ Biden administration. As soon as two days after the release of the White House video, however, Donald Trump wanted a mulligan,” Rolling Stone reports.

“A person with direct knowledge of the matter tells Rolling Stone that Trump told aides who were sticking by him that he wanted to deliver another speech to the nation, one in which he would double-down on the lie that the 2020 presidential election was ‘stolen’ via ‘fraud.'”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Trump Settles Suit Over Payments for Inauguration

May 3, 2022 at 9:19 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The Trump family business and President Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration committee have jointly agreed to pay $750,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the attorney general for the District of Columbia, who claimed that the Trump International Hotel in Washington illegally received excessive payments from the inauguration committee,” the Washington Post reports.

“The settlement in the civil suit came with no admission of wrongdoing by the Trump Organization, the former president or the inaugural committee.”

Filed Under: Trump Legacy, Trump Transition

Are Federal Charges Next for the Trump Organization?

July 1, 2021 at 3:31 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Though the charges unveiled today against the Trump Organization were brought by New York prosecutors, the indictment alleges a federal tax fraud scheme propagated over 15 years. CFO Allan Weisselberg is alleged to have evaded $556,385 in federal taxes, in addition to $106,568 in state taxes and $238,159 in local taxes.

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Filed Under: Members, Trump Transition

Documents Shows Ivanka Trump Didn’t Testify Accurately

June 28, 2021 at 1:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Mother Jones: “During a December 1 deposition — in which she swore to tell the truth — Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of Donald Trump who was an executive at the Trump Organization before becoming a White House adviser to her father, was asked if she had any ‘involvement in the process of planning the inauguration.’ She replied, ‘I really didn’t have an involvement.’”

“Ivanka testified that if her ‘opinion was solicited’ regarding an inauguration event, she ‘would give feedback to my father or to anyone who asked my perspective or opinion.’ And that was as far as her participation went. But this wasn’t accurate, according to the documents, which indicate she was part of the decision-making for various aspects of the inauguration, including even the menus for events. One email chain shows that Ivanka Trump was directly involved in the planning of at least one proposed event for the inauguration.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Trump Had Plan to Install New Attorney General

January 22, 2021 at 11:12 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Then-President Donald Trump in early January entertained a plan to replace the acting attorney general with a different Justice Department lawyer who was more amenable to pursuing his unfounded claims of voter fraud, nearly touching off a crisis at the country’s premier federal law enforcement institution,” the Washington Post reports.

“The plan — if enacted — would have pushed out Jeffrey Rosen as the acting attorney general and installed in his place Jeffrey Clark, whom Trump had appointed to lead the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and who later would come to lead the Civil Division. Clark, then, could have taken steps to wield the Justice Department’s power to help keep Trump in office. But the president was ultimately dissuaded from moving forward after a high-stakes meeting with those involved.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Ex-Friend of Melania Trump Talking to Prosecutors

August 31, 2020 at 1:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend and adviser to Melania Trump, told ABC News she is working with multiple prosecutors on investigations into potential financial crimes committed in connection with President Trump’s inauguration.

Said Wolkoff: “I’m working with three different prosecutors, and it’s taken over my life.”

Wolkoff is the author of Melania and Me, a tell-all book about her relationship with the First Lady.

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Trump Wanted Inauguration to Look Like North Korea

August 29, 2020 at 5:34 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

According to Melania and Me, which I just received in the mail, Donald Trump wanted his inauguration to look like a North Korean military parade.

Said Trump: ‘I want tanks and choppers. Make it look like North Korea.”

Politico has eight other “juicy details” from the book.

Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady
Melania and Me: The Rise and Fall of My Friendship with the First Lady
  • Amazon Kindle Edition
  • Wolkoff, Stephanie Winston (Author)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 351 Pages - 09/01/2020 (Publication Date) - Gallery Books (Publisher)
Check Price on Amazon

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Unmasking the ‘Obamagate’ Nonsense

May 13, 2020 at 3:51 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

Acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell declassified a list of more than a dozen Obama administration officials who requested the National Security Agency “unmask” a U.S. citizen mentioned in classified foreign-intelligence reports that turned out to be Michael Flynn.

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Filed Under: Members, National Security, Trump Transition Tagged With: Michael Flynn

Trump Was Warned of Pandemic During Transition

March 17, 2020 at 6:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “The briefing was intended to hammer home a new, terrifying reality facing the Trump administration, and the incoming president’s responsibility to protect Americans amid a crisis. But unlike the coronavirus pandemic currently ravaging the globe, this 2017 crisis didn’t really happen — it was among a handful of scenarios presented to Trump’s top aides as part of a legally required transition exercise with members of the outgoing administration of Barack Obama.”

“And in the words of several attendees, the atmosphere was ‘weird’ at best, chilly at worst.”

Filed Under: Health Care, Trump Transition

Trump’s Inaugural Sued for Violating Non-Profit Status

January 22, 2020 at 9:40 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Washington D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine sued President Trump’s inaugural committee and business, alleging that the committee violated its nonprofit status by spending more than $1 million to book a ballroom at Trump’s D.C. hotel that its staff knew was overpriced and that it barely used,” the Washington Post reports.

“During the lead-up to Trump’s January 2017 inauguration, the committee booked the hotel ballroom for $175,000 a day plus more than $300,000 in food and beverage costs, over the objections of its own event planner.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Trump Donor Charged With Obstructing Probe

January 7, 2020 at 3:02 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A fundraiser and donor to President Trump was charged by federal prosecutors in New York with obstructing an investigation into his activities, including back-dating a check to a fellow donor and deleting emails,” Bloomberg reports.

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Documents Show Clash Over Inaugural Spending

August 15, 2019 at 5:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The former adviser to first lady Melania Trump, who has come under fire for the cost of President Trump’s inauguration, was among the event planners who raised concerns about excessive spending in the weeks before the events,” according to documents obtained by CNN.

“Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a former friend of Melania Trump, has emerged as a witness for investigators and received a subpoena last month by Washington DC’s attorney general.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Why Trump Didn’t Pick Christie as Attorney General

July 11, 2019 at 12:49 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

According to the new book American Carnage, President Trump told Paul Manafort why he would never pick then-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as his attorney general, the Washington Post reports.

Said Trump: “Because that guy would prosecute my own kids and not think twice about it.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition Tagged With: Chris Christie

Gabbard Was Vetted for Position In Trump Administration

June 24, 2019 at 12:04 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), who is now running for the Democratic presidential nomination, was vetted by the Trump transition team for an unspecified administration role, Axios reports.

She did not respond to a request for comment.

Filed Under: Trump Transition Tagged With: Tulsi Gabbard

Trump Vetting Documents Leaked

June 23, 2019 at 8:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Nearly 100 internal Trump transition vetting documents leaked to Axios identify a host of “red flags” about officials who went on to get some of the most powerful jobs in the U.S. government. 

A sampling:

  • Scott Pruitt, who ultimately lost his job as EPA administrator because of serial ethical abuses and clubbiness with lobbyists, had a section in his vetting dossier flagging “coziness with big energy companies.”
  • Tom Price, who ultimately resigned as Health and Human Services secretary after Trump lost confidence in him in part for stories about his use of chartered flights, had sections in his dossier flagging “criticisms of management ability.”
  • Mick Mulvaney, now Trump’s acting chief of staff, had a striking assortment of red flags, including his assessment that Trump “is not a very good person.”
  • Nikki Haley, who became Trump’s U.N. ambassador, had a note that she’d said Trump is everything “we teach our kids not to do in kindergarten.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Foreigner Suing Over $200K He Paid for Trump Inaugural

June 18, 2019 at 5:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A Ukrainian-Russian developer who wanted access to President Trump’s inauguration filed a lawsuit on Tuesday saying he was bilked out of the $200,000 he paid for what he thought would be V.I.P. tickets to the event,” the New York Times reports.

“The lawsuit sheds new light on efforts to accommodate foreign politicians and business executives who sought to attend Mr. Trump’s inauguration to press their agendas, curry favor or make influential connections with the incoming administration.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

Prosecutors Examining Trump Inauguration Documents

May 20, 2019 at 2:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Federal prosecutors in New York are scrutinizing tens of thousands of documents relating to Donald Trump’s inauguration in a sign that the investigation into the committee’s finances is advancing,” CNN reports.

“The end of the document production indicates the investigation is moving into the next stage. Authorities are investigating whether any of the record $107 million in donations for the inaugural was misspent, used to improperly benefit certain individuals, or came from foreign donors in violation of campaign finance laws that prohibit foreign money in US elections.”

Filed Under: Trump Transition

House Intelligence Seeks Documents From Inaugural

April 3, 2019 at 4:39 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House Intelligence Committee has asked one of the top contractors to President Trump’s inaugural to provide it with documents about the event, a person familiar with the situation said on Wednesday, opening up a new line of inquiry into the planning and financing of the ceremonies,” the New York Times reports.

“The committee asked for documents from and an interview with Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who had been a close friend of the first lady, Melania Trump, and who had helped plan the celebrations and parties around the inaugural.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives, Trump Transition

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Follow me on Twitter, Mastodon and Post.News.

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