Category Archives: chicanery

“Trump dines with top meme coin holders, shrugging off ethics concerns”

May 23, 2025, 7:22 amchicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

WaPo: President Donald Trump dined with the top purchasers of his meme coin at a black-tie gala Thursday night, demonstrating his willingness to cross what was once seen as an ethical red line: profiting off the presidency while in office.… Continue reading

“Trump’s crypto dinner cost over $1 million per seat on average”

May 22, 2025, 6:59 amchicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NBC News: More than 200 wealthy, mostly anonymous crypto buyers are coming to Washington on Thursday to have dinner with President Donald Trump. The price of admission: $55,000 to $37.7 million. That’s how much the 220 winners of a contest… Continue reading

“Justice Dept. Opens Inquiry Into Cuomo, Singling Out Another Political Target”

May 21, 2025, 7:28 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

NYT: The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation of Andrew M. Cuomo, a front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, after Republicans accused him of lying to Congress about decisions he made during the coronavirus pandemic as governor,… Continue reading

“A failed plot to steal a local Pa. election shows how hard it is to pull off fraud”

May 21, 2025, 7:22 amchicaneryRick Hasen

Carter Walker reports.

“Feds charge New Jersey congressmember with assault”

May 20, 2025, 4:17 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

Politico: The Justice Department announced an assault charge Monday against Rep. LaMonica McIver, a New Jersey Democrat who was involved in a chaotic confrontation with officials outside a federal immigration facility earlier this month. The criminal charge follows a May… Continue reading

“Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC failed to pay swing state petition signers, new suit alleges”

May 16, 2025, 12:35 pmcampaigns, chicaneryRick Hasen

CNBC: Elon Musk’s America PAC didn’t keep its promise to pay swing state voters who signed a pro-Trump petition ahead of the 2024 election, and who enlisted others to do the same, a new lawsuit alleges. The case, a proposed… Continue reading

“U.S. AG Pam Bondi Sold More than $1 Million in Trump Media Stock the Day Trump Announced Sweeping Tariffs”

May 15, 2025, 7:06 amchicanery, conflict of interest laws, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

ProPublica: Attorney General Pam Bondi sold between $1 million and $5 million worth of shares of Trump Media the same day that President Donald Trump unveiled bruising new tariffs that caused the stock market to plummet, according to records obtained… Continue reading

“As Trump Courts Gifts and Dangles Access, Congress Sits on the Sidelines”

May 14, 2025, 7:24 amchicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

Carl Hulse for the NYT: The president stood accused of dangling exclusive access to the White House for big bucks. Members of Congress were duly outraged, with one prominent Republican assailing him for using “probably one of the more sacrosanct… Continue reading

“Auction to Dine With Trump Creates Foreign Influence Opportunity; When the bidding stops Monday, the top buyers of a Trump family crypto coin will win a tour of the White House.”

May 12, 2025, 7:30 ambribery, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

NYT: The sale of face-to-face access to President Trump using the Trump family’s own cryptocurrency has done more than benefit him financially, though it has certainly done that. Mr. Trump announced last month that leading buyers of a digital… Continue reading

“Trump administration poised to accept ‘palace in the sky’ as a gift for Trump from Qatar: Sources”

May 11, 2025, 8:09 ambribery, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

ABC News: In what may be the most valuable gift ever extended to the United States from a foreign government, the Trump administration is preparing to accept a super luxury Boeing 747-8 jumbo jet from the royal family of Qatar… Continue reading

“Texas Attorney General Announces Vote Fraud and ‘Harvesting’ Charges”

May 8, 2025, 7:20 amchicaneryRick Hasen

NYT: A half-dozen people, including a county judge, two City Council members and a former county election administrator, were indicted in Texas on Wednesday for “vote harvesting” and tampering with evidence, elevating Attorney General Ken Paxton’s charges of voter… Continue reading

“Justice Department lawyers face skeptical judges upset by ‘shoddy work'”

May 4, 2025, 6:58 amchicanery, Department of JusticeRick Hasen

WaPo: Justice Department lawyers defending the Trump administration’s policies are encountering mounting criticism and frustration from federal judges, a sign of deepening tension between the executive branch and courts weighing its aggressive uses of power. In recent hearings and… Continue reading

“A fund backed by Abu Dhabi . . . would be making a $2 billion business deal using the Trump firm’s digital coins.”

May 1, 2025, 1:39 pmbribery, chicanery, conflict of interest lawsRick Hasen

The corruption isn’t hidden; it’s right in front of our eyes: Sitting in front of a packed auditorium in Dubai, a founder of the Trump family cryptocurrency business made a brief but monumental announcement on Thursday. A fund backed by… Continue reading

Bizarro Quote of the Day (Elon Musk Edition)

May 1, 2025, 11:20 amauthoritarian threats in US, chicaneryRick Hasen

“Doesn’t the absurdity of that seem, like, like, are we in a simulation here or what’s going on? But, like, it was a meme coin at one point . . . How did we get here?” —Elon Musk,… Continue reading