#Rhona Graff

[filosofablogger]

The High & Mighty Sure Are Falling ... Thump ... Thud

As I have mentioned before, Adam Kinzinger, former U.S. Representative whose political career came to an abrupt halt when he first voted to impeach Donald Trump, and then voluntarily served on the January 6th committee, now writes a column/post on Substack.  His words are generally wise, thoughtful, and he pulls no punches.  In his column today, he throws in a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour as he…

[corporationsarepeople]

Pam Bondi is a crook. And she is for sale, cheap. Trump doesn’t nominate people he doesn’t have dirt on, and in this case the dirt came directly from him. From Tristan Snell on Bluesky:

The REAL story on Pam Bondi, Trump University, and Trump's $25,000 payment to Bondi:

1/ In August 2013, I was at the NY AG, and Bondi was Florida AG.

On August 24, 2013, I filed the NY AG's prosecution of Trump University and Donald Trump, for $42 million in fraud.

2/ Our case made national headlines for several days after.

Unbeknownst to us, on August 28, 2013, Trump's assistant, Rhona Graff, had an email exchande with Bondi's campaign finance director, to obtain the payment info to send a $25,000 donation to one of Bondi's PACS.

3/ During that same time, our office was in touch with the Florida AG's office; they were interested in joining our case. State AG offices routinely join each other's cases when there's a large multistate fraud.

Florida had one of the largest numbers of Trump U victims.

4/ At the request of my bureau chief, I collected all the key documents from our case so they could be emailed to the Florida AG's office.

This was just after Labor Day 2013. At the NY AG's office at that point, we were excited about the prospect ofFlorida joining our case.

5/ But then the Florida AG's office ghosted us, and we never heard from them again. At the time, we didn't know what had happened.

6/ Meanwhile, on September 13, 2013, unbeknownst to us, Donald Trump sent one of Bondi's PACs a $25,000 check, misspelling Bondi's name and writing a note: "Dear Pam, You are the greatest!"

Florida never joined our case or take any other action against Trump University.

71 Additional fun fact: Trump's donation came from the Trump Foundation, the 501(c) (3) tax-exempt charity Trump and his family then ran.

That was illegal. And my colleagues at the NY AG's office then prosecuted the Trump Foundation for this and other offenses and shut it down.

8/ For the FULL story of Trump's payments to prosecutors over the years, check out Chapter 2 from Taking Down Trump: takingdowntrump.com

And for continuing legal and political coverage of the fight against Trump and Trumpism: tristansnell.com

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Tom Toles

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 26, 2024

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 27, 2024

Yesterday, in a long story about “the petty feud between the [New York Times] and the White House,” Eli Stokols of Politico suggested that the paper’s negative coverage of President Joe Biden came from the frustration of its publisher, A. G. Sulzberger, at Biden’s refusal to do an exclusive interview with the paper. Two people told Stokols that Sulzberger’s reasoning is that only an interview with an established paper like the New York Times “can verify that the 81-year-old Biden is still fit to hold the presidency.” 

For his part, Stokols reported, Biden’s frustration with the New York Times reflects “the resentment of a president with a working-class sense of himself and his team toward a news organization catering to an elite audience,” and their conviction that the newspaper is not taking seriously the need to protect democracy. 

A spokesperson for the New York Times responded to the story by saying the idea that it has skewed its coverage out of pique over an interview is “outrageous and untrue,” and that the paper will continue to cover the president “fully and fairly.”

Today, Biden sat for a live interview of more than an hour with SiriusXM shock jock Howard Stern. Writer Kurt Andersen described it as a “*Total* softball interview, mostly about his personal life—but lovely, sweet, human, and Biden was terrific, consistently clear, detailed, charming, moving. Which was the point. SO much better than his opponent could do.”

Also today, the Treasury Department announced that the pilot program of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that enabled taxpayers to file their tax returns directly with the IRS for free had more users than the program’s stated goal, got positive ratings, and saved users an estimated $5.6 million in fees for tax preparation. The government had hoped about 100,000 people would use the pilot program; 140,803 did.

Former deputy director of the National Economic Council Bharat Ramamurti wrote on social media, “Of all the things I was lucky enough to work on, this might be my favorite. You shouldn’t have to pay money to pay your taxes. As this program continues to grow, most people will get pre-populated forms and be able to file their taxes with a few clicks in a few minutes.” Such a system would look much like the system other countries already use. 

Also today, the Federal Trade Commission announced that Williams-Sonoma will pay a record $3.17 million civil penalty for advertising a number of products as “Made in USA” when they were really made in China and other countries. This is the largest settlement ever for a case under the “Made in USA” rule. Williams-Sonoma will also be required to file annual compliance certifications. 

FTC chair Lina Khan wrote on social media: “Made in USA fraud deceives customers and punishes honest businesses. FTC will continue holding to account businesses that misrepresent where their product[s] are manufactured.” 

In another win for the United Auto Workers (UAW), the union negotiated a deal today with Daimler Trucks over contracts for 7,300 Daimler employees in four North Carolina factories. The new contracts provide raises of at least 25% over four years, cost of living increases, and profit sharing. This victory comes just a week after workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, voted overwhelmingly to join the UAW. 

Today was the eighth day of Trump’s criminal trial for his efforts to interfere with the 2016 election by paying to hide negative information about himself from voters and then falsifying records to hide the payments. David Pecker, who ran the company that published the National Enquirer tabloid, finished his testimony. 

In four days on the stand, Pecker testified that he joined Michael Cohen and others in killing stories to protect Trump in the election. Trump’s longtime executive assistant Rhona Graff took the stand after Pecker, and testified that both Karen McDougal and Stormy Daniels were in Trump’s contacts. Next up was Gary Farro, a bank employee who verified banking information that showed how Michael Cohen had hidden payments to Daniels in 2016.

Once again, Trump appeared to be trying to explain away his lack of support at the trial, writing on his social media channel that the courthouse was heavily guarded. “Security is that of Fort Knox,” he wrote, “all so that MAGA will not be able to attend this trial….” But CNN’s Kaitlan Collins immediately responded: “Again, the courthouse is open [to] the public. The park outside, where a handful of his supporters have gathered on [trial] days, is easily accessible.”

Dispatch Politics noted today that when co-chairs Michael Whatley and Lara Trump and senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita took over the Republican National Committee (RNC), they killed a plan to open 40 campaign offices in 10 crucial states and fired 60 members of the RNC staff. According to Dispatch Politics, Trump insisted to the former RNC chair that he did not need the RNC to work on turning out voters. He wanted the RNC to prioritize “election integrity” efforts. 

The RNC under Trump has not yet developed much infrastructure or put staff into the states. It appears to have decided to focus only on those that are key to the presidential race, leaving down-ballot candidates on their own. 

While Trump appears to be hoping to win the election through voter suppression or in the courts, following his blueprint from 2020, Biden’s campaign has opened 30 offices in Michigan alone and has established offices in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Florida.

Finally today, news broke that in her forthcoming book, South Dakota governor Kristi Noem wrote about shooting her 14-month-old dog because it was “untrainable” and dangerous. “I hated that dog,” she wrote, and she recorded how after the dog ruined a hunting trip, she shot it in a gravel pit. Then she decided to kill a goat that she found to be “nasty and mean” as well as smelly and aggressive. She “dragged him to the gravel pit,” too, and “put him down.”  

Noem has been seen as a leading contender for the Republican vice presidential nomination on a ticket with Trump, and it seems likely she was trying to demonstrate her ruthlessness—a trait Trump appears to value—as a political virtue. But across the political spectrum, people have expressed outrage and disgust. In The Guardian, Martin Pengelly said her statement, “I guess if I were a better politician I wouldn’t tell the story,” was “a contender for the greatest understatement of election year.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[truck-fump]

<b>Trump</b> on trial: New York vs. Donald <b>Trump</b> Day 8 Highlights - YouTube

New Post has been published on https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DQsc0x8KUmpk&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjUzM2UwMTY5ZmFhZTIwMGQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw3lvBlwQj0ySmSM-T9X5g3n

Trump on trial: New York vs. Donald Trump Day 8 Highlights - YouTube

The first week of testimony in Trump’s New York criminal trial wrapped up with the questioning of Rhona Graff, a former longtime Trump assistant, …

[gosamiand-blog]

Longtime Trump assistant and bank executive each take the stand in hush money trial

[micdotcom]

Trump’s longtime personal secretary sought for questioning in Russia probe

Congressional investigators want to question Rhona Graff — Trump’s personal secretary for close to three decades — as part of their probe into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, according to reports Friday.

Graff — who has not been accused of any wrongdoing — was named in the now-infamous email exchange between first son Donald Trump Jr. and music publicist Rob Goldstone.

It’s unknown right now if Goldstone ever did reach out to Graff, who reportedly still serves as a “point of contact” for the president, but ABC News reported that she has long been a key gatekeeper for the president and is known to handle his emails. Read more (8/11/17 2:45 PM)

[political-fluffle]

Trump accuser says she has documents corroborating sexual assault claims - Guardian

Summer Zervos presented evidence in court filings to support claims the president assaulted her in a hotel room in 2007

A former contestant on The Apprentice, Donald Trump’s reality TV show, has presented evidence in court filings to support her claims that the president sexually assaulted her in a hotel room in 2007.

Summer Zervos is suing Trump, accusing him of defaming her by denying her allegations. The court filings appeared in a report on Thursday afternoon by the Hollywood Reporter.

She is one of several women who came forward during the 2016 presidential election campaign accusing Trump of sexual misconduct of varying degrees of seriousness. Trump denies all such allegations against him and, contrary to Zervos’s allegation that he attacked her in a hotel room in 2007, the now president has said: “I never met her at a hotel.”

Trump has tried and failed to prevent the lawsuit from moving forward and it could go to trial next year. (...)

The filings include emails with Trump’s secretary, Rhona Graff, about the meeting and calendar entries noting a stay by Trump at the Beverly Hills hotel in December 2007. Zervos’s attorney, Mariann Wang, noted to the court that the information points “line up with Ms Zervos’s detailed public account with striking accuracy”. Further documents purport to corroborate more details but are currently still under wraps.

A memorandum with the court states: “The plaintiff reported the defendant’s assaults to family members and close friends immediately after they occurred and then again over the years.”

It adds: “She confronted the defendant about his inappropriate behavior, both in a phone call shortly after the assaults and in an email sent through his secretary, Rhona Graff, in April 2016. The plaintiff also considered taking more formal legal action with respect to defendant many years ago and in fact reached out to multiple lawyers back in 2011, including to Gloria Allred, whose records reflect that contact.

“The plaintiff also contacted Fox News in August 2015 and reported that the defendant had ‘invited me to a hotel room under the guise of working for him’ but had instead acted inappropriately toward her,” continues the memorandum.

[newscultofficial]

Get Your Popcorn Ready, Trump's Personal Secretary, Rhona Graff May be Questioned

Katy Winn/Getty Images

You get a probe! You get a probe! Everyone gets a probe!

https://twitter.com/thedailybeast/status/895969025406234624

It seems like everyone in contact with Trump will be probed by investigators at some point.

Rhona Graff, Trump’s longtime secretary was mentioned and now has a possibility of being questioned by investigators. Trump Jr. brought her up in emails between him…

[mrkoyote]

The Gang That Couldn't Lie Straight

The Gang That Couldn’t Lie Straight

“The prosecution calls Rhona Graff.” Rhona — that’s the name. If Robert Mueller knows what he’s doing, Rhona will play the role of Rosemary – Rosemary Woods — in the 2017 remake of that immense thing that toppled a president in 1974, in what HBO’s John Oliver has dubbed “Stupid Watergate.” Woods was the White House… (more…)

[feelingbluepolitics]

House Democrats see new probes in Cohen’s testimony

https://wapo.st/2ThG4wn

"House Intelligence Committee expects to interview Allen Weisselberg, the [t]rump Organization's chief financial officer, following allegations made by Michael Cohen. An aide for the Intelligence Committee confirmed the plan to interview Weisselberg but did not say when that would happen.

"House Democrats moved quickly Thursday to investigate a host of fresh allegations made this week by [t]rump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, including potentially calling top [t]rump business associates and family members as witnesses on Capitol Hill.

"A House Intelligence Committee aide said that the panel anticipates bringing in [t]rump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg for an interview, but did not name a date for when they planned to make that happen.

"And House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah E. Cummings said Thursday that any person Cohen named during public testimony the day before will 'have a good chance of hearing from us' for 'at least an interview.'

“'All you have to do is follow the transcript,' the Maryland Democrat said. 'If there were names that were mentioned, or records that were mentioned during the hearing, we want to take a look at all of that. . . . We’ll go through, we’ll figure out who we want to talk to, and we’ll bring them in.'

"Cohen, who worked as [t]rump’s fixer for more than a decade, testified Wednesday about a number of key players, including Weisselberg; [t]rump’s children, Donald [t]rump Jr., and Ivanka [t]rump; and his longtime secretary, Rhona Graff.

..."House Financial Services Chairman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) pointed to new allegations about [t]rump’s use of his now-defunct foundation to avoid tax obligations.

“'There’s one thing that I think should not be missed that came out of the hearing . . . and that is how [trump] directed payments into the foundation to keep from paying taxes,' Waters said. 'I think there’s more than we know about at this time. I think that’s an area that should be looked at because I think the foundation has been used by him to avoid paying taxes on money he’s earned.'

..."Democrats also want to learn more about what [t]rump’s children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, knew about the [t]rump Tower Moscow project, an effort by the [t]rump Organization to secure a major development in Russia during the 2016 campaign. Cohen testified that he spoke with [t]rump 'at least a half-dozen times' and also kept his children apprised of developments.

“'They seem like relevant witnesses,' said Rep. Eric Swalwell, (D-Calif.), who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. '. . .They know things.'

"House Oversight Democrats on Wednesday night also followed up on alleged inconsistencies [t]rump’s lawyers submitted to a government watchdog’s office. Just after the hearing, Democratic staff members sent letters to former deputy White House counsel Stefan Passantino and [t]rump personal attorney Sheri Dillon requesting that they appear for transcribed interviews on what happened.

"The inconsistencies related to the hush-payments made to Daniels. According to House Democrats, [t]rump’s lawyers suggested to the Office of Government Ethics that the payments were actually part of a retainer agreement. Cohen, however, shot that notion down on Wednesday, giving Democrats a new line of inquiry."

[marchagainsttrump]

Knock, knock, here we come: Alexander Nix, Allen Weisselberg, Brad Parscale, David Pecker, Don McGahn, Don Jr., Eric Trump, Erik Prince, Jared Kushner, Jay Sekulow, Jeff Sessions, Julian Assange, Michael Flynn Jr, Reince Priebus, Rhona Graff, Sean Spicer, Steve Bannon, Tom Barrack, and many more... - [ https://judiciary.house.gov/story-type/letter/house-judiciary-committee-document-requests-3419 ]

[truck-fump]

Reporter describes moment ex-assistant rejected <b>Trump's</b> handshake in front of jurors | CNN Politics

New Post has been published on https://www.google.com/url?rct=j&sa=t&url=https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/27/politics/video/donald-trump-hush-money-trial-former-assistant-rhona-graff-lcl-digvid&ct=ga&cd=CAIyGjUzM2UwMTY5ZmFhZTIwMGQ6Y29tOmVuOlVT&usg=AOvVaw0EG79iNEI4hvSYjSy-s3TE

Reporter describes moment ex-assistant rejected Trump's handshake in front of jurors | CNN Politics

Washington Post law enforcement reporter Devlin Barrett describes the moment former President Donald Trump tried to shake his former assistant …

[quotidiantimes]

NY attorney general isn't satisfied with Trump's bid to stay out of contempt after deposing longtime assistant

NY attorney general isn’t satisfied with Trump’s bid to stay out of contempt after deposing longtime assistant

The attorney general’s office requested the new information after taking a deposition of Trump’s longtime assistant Rhona Graff, who resigned from the real estate company in April 2021. Graff said the company didn’t have a document retention policy and when documents were returned to other divisions — such as hotels, golf, accounting or the legal department — it was up to those individual units…