Trump’s revenge crusade on Adam Schiff crashes into brick wall: report
President Donald Trump sought to target Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) after the lawmaker served on the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6 probe and worked on both impeachment cases. That effort has reportedly hit a brick wall, however.
Last week, MSNBC revealed that the Maryland prosecutor who went after former National Security Advisor John Bolton was stuck on the Schiff case, so she pivoted to focus more on Bolton. Now it appears the Schiff case has stalled entirely.
Writing Thursday, Ryan J. Reilly, Kristen Welker, Michael Kosnar and Carol E. Lee wrote for NBC News that the investigation “came to a standstill," according to a federal law enforcement official.
U.S. Attorney Kelly Hayes reportedly met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche earlier this week to ask how to move forward without the goods on Schiff.
"The decision out of that meeting was for Hayes to pursue more evidence, and the case remains ongoing," reported NBC, citing one of the sources.
Schiff has retained former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara as his counsel.
In a statement to NBC News, Bharara said: “It seems pretty clear that a team of career prosecutors have thoroughly reviewed the politically-motivated allegations against Senator Schiff and found they are unsupported by any evidence and are baseless.”
“The transparently vindictive effort to pursue the Senator has no merit, and if there is any justice left in the Justice Department, this should be the end of the matter,” he added.
Trump claims not to know fraudster who boosted his crypto venture after pardoning him
President Donald Trump said he pardoned Changpeng Zhao, a billionaire who boosted a crypto company owned by the Trump family, because "a lot of people" said he was innocent.
During a Thursday Oval Office event, a reporter asked whether Zhao's pardon had anything to do with his family's World Liberty Financial crypto venture.
"I do pardon a lot of people," Trump replied. "A lot of people say that he wasn't guilty of anything. He served four months in jail, and they say that he was not guilty of anything."
"That what he did, well, you don't know much about crypto," he told the reporter. "You know nothing about nothing, you know, fake news. But let me just tell you that he was somebody that, as I was told, I don't know him. I don't believe I've ever met him. But I've been told by — a lot of support, he had a lot of support. And they said that what he did is not even a crime."
Trump claimed that Zhao had been "persecuted by the Biden administration," even though he pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering requirements.
"So I gave him a pardon at the request of a lot of very good people," Trump concluded.
Trump abruptly cancels Camp David trip after semi-annual physical
President Donald Trump scrapped a rare trip to Camp David on Tuesday after returning from a three-hour medical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, with bad weather cited as the reason for the last-minute change.
Trump was scheduled to travel to the presidential retreat in rural Maryland on Wednesday to hold his 12th cabinet meeting since taking office, but the White House announced the gathering would instead be held at the White House. Trump typically flies to Camp David by helicopter, making heavy rain a potential factor in grounding.
The cancellation came hours after Trump posted on Truth Social that he had "just finished" his "6-month physical" at Walter Reed, adding that "Everything checked out PERFECTLY."
The 79-year-old president — who turns 80 next month — spent more than three hours at the military medical center for what the White House described as preventive medical and dental checkups. It was his fourth publicly disclosed exam since returning to office.
The White House did not release detailed results. Spokesperson Davis Ingle said Trump "remains in excellent health" and called him "the sharpest and most accessible President in American history."
Wednesday's cabinet meeting had been expected to cover economic wins, fraud task force updates, and foreign policy — but Iran was likely to dominate the agenda. The U.S. conducted strikes on targets in southern Iran late Monday, prompting Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to threaten American military bases in the Middle East.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that nuclear talks with Tehran were still ongoing but could take "a few days" to finalize.
"The president expressed his desire to make sure he's either going to make a good deal or no deal," Rubio told reporters in India.
Shapiro weighs in on Trump, Harris and 2028 over South Philly pizza
Shapiro weighs in on Trump, Harris and 2028 over South Philly pizza
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