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Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse
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The White House kept it quiet until now, but on Friday the President nearly blocked the Vice President from getting his chosen national security adviser.
Why this matters: It's a highly unusual event, as Trump typically gives Pence a long leash on personnel appointments. This is the first time the President has tried to block Pence from filling a senior staff position. The scene also highlights — once again — the extraordinary importance Trump places on personal loyalty.
Inside the West Wing: Trump was furious when he learned Pence was bringing on Nikki Haley's deputy Jon Lerner, according to three sources familiar with the events. The President believed Lerner was a card-carrying member of the "Never Trump" movement because Lerner crafted brutal attack ads for Club for Growth's multimillion-dollar anti-Trump blitz during the Republican primaries.
- "Why would Mike do that?" Trump wondered aloud about Pence's decision, according to two sources briefed on the President's private conversations.
- Senior officials, including White House Counsel Don McGahn, were concerned about the logistics of Lerner dividing his time between Haley and Pence. The story in the Washington Post that https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/global-opinions/trumps-foreign-policy-is-about-to-get-a-lot-more-republican/2018/04/12/4af5f37c-3e95-11e8-8d53-eba0ed2371cc_story.html?utm_term=.0e7251de14e1 (broke the news) of Lerner's appointment took White House officials by surprise.
- Other officials question Lerner’s qualifications, describing him to Axios as a politico and a pollster, with little foreign policy experience. Pence's team argued internally that he'd done a great job for the past year working for Haley, has previously advised members of Congress on foreign policy and would be well-supported in Pence's office by subject matter experts.
- The sources said Kelly told colleagues that Pence's chief of staff Nick Ayers, who orchestrated the appointment, had not "fully informed" him of Lerner's anti-Trump history. Ayers and Lerner have worked together in the past for Haley, among other campaigns.
What's next: Pence and his team appear to have averted what would've been the VP's first personnel crisis. In the Pence team's eyes, it was a "minor confusion" that never should've escalated to the President and could've been resolved almost instantly had the Pence team not been on a plane when the drama was unfolding.
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The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office is examining whether Mr. Cohen committed bank fraud by, among other things, taking out a home-equity credit line to pay for the Clifford agreement, a person familiar with the matter said.
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.
Separately, Mr. Cohen succeeded around 2013 in killing a story Us Weekly was preparing about an alleged affair between Donald Trump Jr., who had been a judge a year earlier on the television show, “Celebrity Apprentice,” and one of the contestants, Aubrey O’Day, a member of the singing duo Dumblonde, according to people familiar with the matter.
Mr. Cohen transferred the payment to an attorney for Ms. Clifford from an Essential Consultants account at First Republic Bank , according to people familiar with the matter. He has said the funds came from his home-equity line at the same bank.
Investigators are examining whether Mr. Cohen fraudulently used a bank loan for something other than the purpose he described on his loan application, the person said.
The Journal previously reported that First Republic Bank, which Mr. Cohen used to wire the payment to Ms. Clifford’s lawyer in October 2016, conducted its own investigation into the transaction after receiving a subpoena from federal authorities, according to another person familiar with the matter.
First Republic sent its findings to the Treasury Department in a so-called SAR, or suspicious-activity report, the person said. Such reports are required to be sent to the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network when banks observe transactions that have no apparent lawful purpose or deviate inexplicably from a customer’s normal bank activity.
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President Trump asked a federal judge Sunday night to allow him to review documents that FBI agents seized from the office of his longtime lawyer before criminal investigators have a chance to see the material.
The request underscores the high stakes in an ongoing legal fight in federal court in New York, where Michael Cohen, Trump’s lawyer, is also fighting to get a chance to review material seized as part of a criminal investigation of his business dealings.
Trump’s request, in the form of a letter from other lawyers representing him, could further complicate a hearing set for Monday afternoon. During that session, lawyers for Cohen are expected to tell the judge overseeing the case how many legal clients he has and how many seized documents he thinks might be covered by attorney-client privilege.
ABC News aired an hourlong interview on Sunday with James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director fired by President Trump last year. George Stephanopoulos, ABC’s chief anchor, interviewed Mr. Comey, who is promoting his new book, “A Higher Loyalty,” for five hours in all. ABC published a complete transcript of their conversation. Here are highlights and analysis from that transcript.
Jeremiahflex
Well-known Member
Another white collar lawyer has turned down the opportunity to represent President Donald Trump, citing an unidentified conflict, as the President struggles to add to the legal team representing him in the special counsel investigation.
People close to Trump contacted New York attorney Steven Molo, a former prosecutor who specializes in white collar defense and court room litigation, in recent weeks following the departure of attorney John Dowd from Trump's personal legal team.
Molo is only the latest attorney to receive an invitation to help Trump during special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into the 2016 campaign and any possible dealings with Russia. Other lawyers who declined to join Trump's team include former US Solicitor General Ted Olson; Emmet Flood, who's worked for multiple presidents; Robert Bennett, Bill Clinton's attorney in the Paula Jones litigation; and Bob Giuffra, of Sullivan & Cromwell.
Molo has a depth of courtroom experience, which could suggest the kind of skills Trump's legal team is seeking as it prepares to decide whether the President will be interviewed by Mueller. The approach to Molo followed the March announcement that attorneys Joseph di Genova and Victoria Toensing would not join the Trump team because of conflicts.
The Republican pollster who had planned to split time advising both Vice President Mike Pence and the United Nations ambassador, Nikki R. Haley, on national security issues withdrew from the dual role on Sunday night, a White House official said.
The move by the veteran strategist, Jon Lerner, who has no national security background, came two days after President Trump learned of the unusual time-sharing plan between Mr. Pence and Ms. Haley. Mr. Trump was displeased by the move for several reasons, according to three administration officials.
“Tonight, Jon informed the vice president that he was withdrawing from coming on board as national security adviser, and the vice president accepted his decision,” said Alyssa Farah, the press secretary for Mr. Pence. “Vice President Pence holds Jon Lerner in the highest regard and expressed his deep gratitude for Jon’s willingness to consider joining our team.”
Mr. Lerner will continue in his role advising Ms. Haley and, one White House official said, continue to informally advise the Pence team.
Mr. Trump was upset about the move for two main reasons: Mr. Lerner’s background with the “super PAC” that supported Senator Marco Rubio of Florida in the Republican presidential primaries, and his work advising the anti-tax group Club for Growth, which savaged Mr. Trump in ads during the campaign. At least one official suggested to the president that Mr. Lerner may have been connected to extensive opposition research efforts against him.
