Trump

CNBC - The auditing firm for Trump Media and the auditor’s owner were charged with “massive fraud” by the Securities and Exchange Commission for work that affected more than 1,500 SEC filings, the federal regulator announced. The auditor, BF Borgers CPA and its owner Benjamin Borgers have agreed to be permanently suspended from practicing as accountants before the SEC, and also agreed to pay a combined $14 million in civil penalties, the SEC said.

New Republic - During an interview on Real America’s Voice Thursday, former national security adviser Michael Flynn claimed that he received eight subpoenas the night before, complaining that there was a massive effort to keep Donald Trump out of office and himself out of government. “Steve, a little breaking news here on your show, I received eight, count ’em, eight subpoenas last night,” Flynn said in an interview with fellow Trump adviser Steve Bannon, claiming that the effort was part of a Marxist plot against Trump and himself.“So these people are going to do everything they can, these Marxists, this Communist takeover of the United States of America,” he continued. “And we are in the throes of a Marxist takeover of the United States of America.” Flynn resigned in disgrace from the Trump administration less than two months after Trump was sworn into office in 2017, after leaks emerged showing that he lied to colleagues about conversations with Russian officials. He later took a deal to cooperate with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections, but then withdrew from the deal and lobbied to have his charges dropped.Ultimately, Trump pardoned him in the last few months of his presidency, and Flynn went on to advise Trump to respond to his election loss by suspending the Constitution, declaring martial law, and holding a new election, even arguing with fellow Trump advisers in the White House to support it.

How Trump convinces Republicans to adopt extreme views

WhoWhatWhy -  Donald Trump has boasted that he would debate President Joe Biden anytime and anywhere. Apparently, that statement has to come with a qualifier: only on his terms, and not whenever the Commission on Presidential Debates has scheduled debates. The former president’s campaign has lamented that the first debate would “only” be held on September 16, claiming that “millions of Americans will already have voted then.”  Not surprisingly, that is complete nonsense, as the CPD pointed out on Wednesday in its response to the criticism. The commission noted that the first debate, scheduled to be held on September 16, would be “the earliest televised general election debate ever held.”The CPD said it chose the date “after a comprehensive study of early voting rules in every state,” and that only voters in North Carolina would even have the opportunity to cast a ballot by then (beginning on September 6). 

Daily Beast -  Donald Trump’s legal payroll is easily the largest and most diverse of any political figure in modern U.S. history. But while most of the attorneys that Trump’s various fundraising committees have paid over the years are a matter of public record, one of the top recipients still poses a mystery—with more than $8 million in legal costs going to an unknown firm, or firms, through what appears to be a corporate intermediary. Legal experts told The Daily Beast that the arrangement masks the true recipients of a significant amount of Trump’s legal bills, depriving the public of that information while possibly running afoul of federal law. And the unprecedented structure of those payments, the experts said, potentially violates the ban on corporate contributions.

NBC - Donald Trump’s hush money trial will close out another week with more testimony from forensic analyst Doug Daus about data on former Trump attorney Michael Cohen's phone, including text messages and secret recordings. Daus revealed yesterday on the witness stand that over 39,000 contacts were found on Cohen's phone, including for Melania Trump and former White House communications director Hope Hicks, as well as some secret recordings and more. One of the recordings aired in court included part of a conversation between Trump and Cohen about how they should handle repaying National Enquirer publisher David Pecker in a $150,000 settlement with former Playboy model Karen McDougal. "Pay with cash," Trump is heard telling Cohen. Prosecutors say that Cohen and Trump conspired with Pecker to suppress damaging stories about the former president during his 2016 campaign.