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Boris Epshteyn Investigated by Trump Attorneys Over Pay for Access Allegations: Report

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Boris Epshteyn, a veteran Trump aide, was investigated by attorneys for Donald Trump over allegations he was attempting to benefit financially from his close access to the President-elect, according to CNN, which cited multiple sources for its reporting.

CNN’s Sarah Murray reports (video below) the investigation “is an indication of how seriously some around Trump took these allegations that Boris Epshteyn was trying to charge people, essentially, for access to Trump and those in his orbit.”

The investigation was internal, not criminal, and came amid allegations that Epshteyn, an attorney who served on Trump’s first two campaigns and in the Trump White House, had attempted to charge, in one instance, a potential candidate as much as $100,000 a month for “services.”

The allegations, according to CNN, included “multiple instances of Epshteyn allegedly requesting payment in exchange for promoting candidates for administration positions or offering to connect individuals with people in the upcoming administration relevant to their industries, sources said.”

READ MORE: ‘Where Did All the Money Go?’: Trump DNI Pick Tulsi Gabbard Has Multiple PACs, Report Says

Epshteyn, CNN adds, also lobbied Trump to name former U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz as his Attorney General nominee. Trump did, but Gaetz ultimately withdrew after it became clear the instigation into his alleged actions, including possible sex trafficking of a minor and sex with a minor, would likely make it difficult for even Republican Senators to vote to confirm him.

One of the allegations against Epshteyn included a claim that he had sought financial compensation from Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for U.S. Secretary of the Treasury, “to promote his name with Trump and others at Mar-a-Lago.” Bessent reportedly did not pay Epshteyn.

“The back-and-forth between Epshteyn and Bessent resulted in a heated confrontation last week in the lobby of Mar-a-Lago, where Epshteyn raised his voice at Bessent, according to two sources briefed on the matter,” CNN reported. “In at least one other instance, Epshteyn asked for payment in exchange for introductions and influence with the incoming Trump administration, according to two sources.”

CNN adds that “one person who spoke to the legal team that investigated Epshteyn” said, “The way I see it is it’s very much a pay-for-play.”

“This person described a separate incident in which Epshteyn allegedly tried to request payment for questionable consulting services, offering to connect the person with incoming administration officials relevant to their industry or lobbying firms that will be the most well-connected to the new administration,” according to CNN. “The investigator assured the person that their interaction with Epshteyn wasn’t an isolated incident.

READ MORE: ‘Much Like the 11th Century’: Trump Defense Pick Called for American ‘Crusade’

One person who spoke to Trump investigators said Epshteyn had “gone to everybody for it,” while another “brushed off the notion that this was pay-for-play.”

“This is how Washington works,” they said.

According to CNN, the investigators made an “initial recommendation that Epshteyn should be removed from Trump’s proximity and that he should not be employed or paid by Trump entities, according to two sources.” But, as of Monday afternoon, “it does not appear the transition team will heed that recommendation.”

Epshteyn, 43, is an American born in Russia. A Republican, he has a law degree from Georgetown Law, where he met Eric Trump. Politico reported the “two remained friends, with Epshteyn attending Trump’s 2014 Mar-a-Lago wedding. When Trump’s father launched his 2016 campaign, Epshteyn took on the role of emissary to traditional media.”

He also worked on rapid response issues for the Palin portion of the 2008 McCain-Palin presidential campaign.

In September of 2016, Media Matters reported that Epshteyn had “financial ties” to the former Soviet Union.

“Media outlets have been hosting Donald Trump senior adviser Boris Epshteyn, who has used the platform to defend Russian President Vladimir Putin from criticism and to claim that the Clintons, not Trump, have ‘been way too cozy with the Russians.’ Outlets have failed to disclose during discussions about Russia that Epshteyn has financial ties to the former Soviet Union, which include consulting for ‘entities doing business in Eastern Europe’ and moderating a Russian-sponsored conference on ‘investment opportunities in Moscow.'”

Epshteyn was indicted this year over his alleged role in a fake electors scheme in Arizona.

Last month, The New York Times reported Epshteyn was part of a group of Trump advisers who proposed that if Trump were elected, “he bypass traditional background checks by law enforcement officials and immediately grant security clearances to a large number of his appointees after being sworn in, according to three people briefed on the matter.”

Watch CNN’s report below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Declaration of War on Expertise’: Experts Explain Danger of Trump ‘MAGA Zealot’ Nominees

 

Image via Reuters

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‘Disgraceful’: ICE Slammed After Allegedly Pepper-Spraying US Congresswoman

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U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ) is accusing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents of pepper-spraying her in her face while she was at a local Tucson, Arizona restaurant.

Rep. Grijalva in a video on social media said she saw about 40 mostly-masked ICE agents at a restaurant she frequents weekly.

The agents were “in several vehicles that the community had stopped right here, right in the middle of the street, because they were afraid that they were taking people without due process, without any kind of notice.”

READ MORE: Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

She said that the community was “protecting their people” when she was “sprayed in the face by a very aggressive agent,” and “pushed around by others when I literally was not being aggressive.”

“I was asking for clarification, which is my right as a member of Congress,” she continued. “So, once I introduced myself, once I did, I assumed that it would be a little calmer, but there was literally only one person that was trying to speak to me in any kind of civil tone, and everyone else was being rude and disrespectful, and I just can only imagine if they’re going to treat me like that, how they’re treating everybody else.”

Congresswoman Grijalva said she saw “people directly sprayed,” including “members of our press” and staff members.

She blasted President Donald Trump, saying that he “has no regard for any due process, the rule of law, the Constitution — they’re literally disappearing people from the streets.”

Critics slammed the agents’ action.

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

U.S. Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) wrote that Rep. Grijalva “was doing her job, standing up for her community.”

“Pepper-spraying a sitting member of Congress is disgraceful, unacceptable, and absolutely not what we voted for. Period,” he added.

“This is unacceptable and outrageous,” observed Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. “Enforcing the rule [of] law does not mean pepper spraying a member of Congress for simply asking questions. Effective law enforcement requires restraint and accountability, not unchecked aggression.”

The Bulwark’s Sam Stein noted, “quite the beginning for Grijalva, who wasn’t seated for weeks, [cast] the decisive vote to get the Epstein files, and now has apparently been pepper sprayed in the face by immigration agents.”

Also calling the action “outrageous,” U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) wrote: “We are Members of Congress with oversight authority of ICE. Rep Grijalva was completely within her rights to stand up for her constituents. ICE is completely lawless.”

“First they tackle a sitting Senator,” noted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY). “Now they’re pepper spraying a Representative. It’s clear ICE is spinning out of control. We will hold the agency accountable.”

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

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Warning Signs Flash as Trump Slump Raises Fears of 2018 Blue Wave Rerun: Conservative

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A well-known conservative commentator has a warning for the Republican Party: take action now or face a repeat of the 2018 midterms when the GOP lost 41 House seats in a landslide. And this time, he says, the Senate could go to the Democrats as well.

Award-winning writer and journalist Bernard Goldberg reminded readers at The Hill that in 2018, during President Donald Trump’s first term, “Republicans got walloped … and a good chunk of that had President Trump’s name written all over it.”

Trump’s “approval ratings were in the low 40s, and independents — the folks who usually decide elections — had seen enough. They broke hard for the Democrats,” Goldberg noted. “Now here we are, staring down 2026, and you can almost hear history clearing its throat, getting ready to repeat itself.”

READ MORE: Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

Goldberg noted that Trump’s approval rating is currently the lowest it’s been this term.

“Among Republicans, his support dropped from 91 percent right after the 2024 election to 84 percent last month. Among independents, it cratered — from 42 percent to just 25 percent.”

“If the trend continues,” he warned, “Republicans could be headed for another blue wave — and this time, it could wash away not just the House majority, but control of the Senate too.”

Why?

“It’s the economy — still,” he wrote.

“Trump is out there saying the economy is humming. Biden said the same thing before him. But voters didn’t buy it then, and they’re not buying it now. Why? Because it’s not GDP numbers that matter. It’s affordability,” Goldberg noted.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

That’s a word that President Trump continues to call a “con job,” while his own administration tries to claim he is focused on.

He pointed to a Karl Rove Wall Street Journal column and wrote: “The Republicans may have ‘avoided disaster’ in Tennessee, but the result should be a wake-up call for Republicans. He’s right.”

Goldberg asked: “will anyone in the Republican Party actually pick up the phone?”

“Because if Republicans don’t wake up — and fast — they’re going to find out the hard way what happens when you keep rerunning the same movie and expecting a different ending. To lose in 2026, all they have to do is nothing. And right now, that’s pretty much what they’re doing.”

READ MORE: Trump Urges Judge Aileen Cannon to Keep Jack Smith Report Secret

 

 

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Trump: Democrats Are Plotting ‘Total Obliteration’ of Supreme Court

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President Donald Trump is claiming that the top priority of Democrats is the “total obliteration” of the U.S. Supreme Court. His remarks came just hours after SCOTUS gave Republicans a 6-3 win along partisan lines, in the form of approving Texas’s redrawn mid-decade congressional maps that could help add five GOP-held seats to the U.S. House of Representatives. A lower court had ruled the redrawn Texas maps were likely racially biased.

Although there are different ways to measure, one study by Court Accountability this fall found that the Supreme Court has ruled in Trump’s favor 90% of the time.

“Most of these wins for the president came from the court’s ‘shadow docket’ slate of opinions — where the court has typically, in the past, only ruled on administrative measures,” according to Truthout. “However, in recent years, the Supreme Court has been making announcements on cases, issuing injunctions or allowances of actions to remain in place, that have the same effect, essentially, as a final decision.”

READ MORE: White House Touts Trump’s ‘Track Record’ on Affordability

On Friday, the president declared that the “Democrats number one policy push is the complete and total OBLITERATION of our great United States Supreme Court.”

“They will do this on their very first day in office, through the simple Termination of the Filibuster, SHOULD THEY WIN THE UPCOMING ELECTIONS,” he wrote.

Trump has strongly advocated for Republicans to eliminate the Senate filibuster.

“The Radical Left Democrats are looking at 21 Justices, with immediate ascension,” he wrote, claiming that Democrats would more than double the current size of the court.

“This would be terrible for our Country. Fear not, however, Republicans will not let it, or any of their other catastrophic policies, happen. Our Country is now in very good hands. MAGA!!!”

Some court reform advocates have suggested the Supreme Court be expanded to 13 justices, one for each of the thirteen U.S. Courts of Appeals.

READ MORE: Trump’s Ballroom Seen as ‘Key Evidence’ He’s Out of Touch as Cost of Living Spikes

 

Image via Reuters 

 

 

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