Oct 14, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Michael Cohen to write book on DOJ politicization under Trump

Former Trump fixer Michael Cohen. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Trump's longtime fixer Michael Cohen says he is writing a second book on Trump's presidency, Politico first reported.

The big picture: Cohen's first tell-all, "Disloyal," published last month, painted a devastating portrait of Trump. The next project will focus on the politicization of the Department of Justice under this administration.

  • Cohen was sentenced in 2018 after pleading guilty to campaign finance violations, tax evasion and lying to Congress. He was released from prison in July and is serving the rest of his three-year sentence in home confinement.

What he's saying: “There’s so much more to the story that hasn’t been told, tangentially related to Donald Trump,” Cohen told Politico.

  • “It is fair and accurate to state that President Trump has weaponized the Department of Justice against those he deems to be a threat thus making it into the Department of Injustice.”

What to watch: Cohen said he's in talks with multiple publishers and hopes to release his latest book in 2021.

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Oct 8, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Former top GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy charged for foreign lobbying

Elliot Broidy (R) with business executive Fred Sands (L). Photo: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Pepperdine University

Elliott Broidy, the former deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, appears set to plead guilty to conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent by lobbying the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the massive Malaysian embezzlement scheme 1MDB, according to a court filing.

Why it matters: Broidy is the latest 2016 Trump campaign associate to face criminal charges, joining former campaign chairman Paul Manafort, deputy chairman Rick Gates, chief executive Steve Bannon, adviser Michael Flynn, outside adviser Roger Stone and fellow deputy finance chairman Michael Cohen.

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Mark Meadows: "We are not going to control the pandemic"

White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows defended Vice President Pence's decision to continue traveling and campaigning despite his exposure to aides who have tested positive for COVID-19, saying Sunday that Pence is exempt from CDC guidelines because he is "essential personnel."

Why it matters: CDC guidelines call for people who have been exposed to the virus to quarantine for 14 days. Meadows said on CNN's "State of the Union" that Pence will wear a mask when he travels and argued that "he's not just campaigning," pointing to the Israel-Sudan normalization agreement announced by the White House last week.

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Halloween and COVID-19: What you need to know

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Celebrating Halloween and Día de los Muertos will be difficult and more isolated this year, but can still be done while minimizing harm to others.

Why it matters: Traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, indoor parties, haunted houses, crowded cemeteries and communal candy bowls are all considered high-risk activities by the CDC.

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