NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump called into an event hosted by his former national security adviser Michael Flynn over the weekend, telling his ex-adviser, “We’re going to bring you back.”
NEW: Trump told CNN chief Chris Licht backstage before the town hall that he would boost their ratings — to which Licht nodded and said he should “have fun” per ppl familiar. Behind the scenes look https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/12/trump-town-hall-cnn-staff-rages
Questions also linger over what the network offered the ex-president in exchange for what some called a Trump infomercial
Polite: “As alleged, Santos engaged in criminal conduct intended to deceive and defraud the American public. As this indictment reflects, the Department of Justice will hold accountable anyone who engages in such criminality.”
New statement from Assistant AG for criminal division Ken Polite on Rep. George Santos indictment: “The Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section is committed to rooting out fraud and corruption, especially when committed by our elected officials.“
New: Rep. George Santos was arrested this morning and will be arraigned this afternoon before US Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay at the federal courthouse in Central Islip in New York, per Justice Dept release.
Counts 1-5: Wire fraud to fraudulently obtain political contributions Counts 6-8: Unlawful monetary transactions over $10,000 Count 9: Theft of public money Counts 10-11: Wire fraud to obtain unemployment benefits Counts 12-13: False statements in 2020 House Disclosure Reports
NEW: Rep. George Santos charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. https://www.justice.gov/d9/2023-05/santos.indictment.pdf
Or be in Forbes 30/30
New: Calamari Sr and Jr testified to grand jury yesterday in part about text from Trump valet Walt Nauta around the time DOJ requested security footage — text involves Nauta asking Sr to call him. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/05/mar-a-lago-employee-aids-investigation-trump-documents
Hearing that the initial subpoena to the assistant/contractor that helped Trump valet Walt Nauta move boxes in the Mar-a-Lago docs case was issued months ago, per source familiar. Not clear whether there’s been further subpoenas.