TV News LIES

It was mid-November, and Donald Trump was once again enveloped in political scandals and legal woes. He and his attorneys were finalizing written answers to Special Counsel Robert Mueller; the administration was trying to defend a lethal-force authorization at a militarized southern border; and the Republican Party was licking its wounds from the 2018 midterm election drubbing.

In the midst of all that drama, however, the president’s mind drifted elsewhere.

News had recently broke that Cliff Sims, a former Trump White House official, had penned a “tell-all” book about life in a backstabbing-filled West Wing. A 2016 campaign veteran, Sims had enjoyed wide access in part due to his personal friendship with Trump. The two men were so close that the president affectionately called him “my Cliff,” according to a source familiar with their relationship.

More...

President Donald Trump “has not risen to the mantle” of his office, and his “words and actions have caused dismay around the world,” Mitt Romney wrote Tuesday in an op-ed for The Washington Post.

The scathing rebuke of Trump’s leadership from the former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential nominee comes just two days before Romney is set to be sworn in as Utah’s junior senator.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office appears to have responded to a foreign company’s bid to get the Supreme Court to step into a fight over a grand jury subpoena served on the firm.

Most details of the case remain under seal at the Supreme Court since the company asked for an emergency stay last week, but an entry in the high court’s docket indicates a response was filed Friday, three days ahead of the Monday deadline set by the court. The filing was accompanied by an application to put the filing under seal, the Supreme Court docket says.

The docket entry doesn’t indicate Mueller’s office is involved in the legal fight. Indeed, there’s not even a mention in the Supreme Court’s public records that the U.S. Government or the Justice Department is involved in the case.

More...

A newly obtained document shows President Donald Trump signed a letter of intent to move forward with negotiations to build a Trump Tower in Russia, despite his attorney Rudy Giuliani claiming on Sunday the document was never signed.

US President Donald Trump has named Mick Mulvaney, the director of the office of management and budget, as acting White House chief of staff.

Mr Mulvaney, 51, replaces General John Kelly, who is leaving by the end of the year.

In a tweet, Mr Trump described Mr Kelly as a "great patriot", who had served the country with distinction.

But earlier this year, General Kelly was forced to deny he had called Mr Trump an "idiot".

This came after the quote was included in a book about Mr Trump by the veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward.

More...

Federal prosecutors are investigating whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee misspent some of the funds it raised, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people it said were familiar with the matter.

The investigation opened by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is examining whether some of the committee’s donors gave money in exchange for policy concessions, influencing administration positions or access to the incoming administration, the Journal said.