Ethics Friday
President Donald Trump is upset with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders over her responses Wednesday regarding his alleged affair with porn star Stormy Daniels, a source close to the White House tells CNN.
Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, filed suit against Trump this week alleging he hadn't signed a nondisclosure agreement that would have prevented her from discussing their alleged sexual affair.
On Wednesday, Sanders told reporters that the arbitration was won "in the President's favor." The statement is an admission that the nondisclosure agreement exists, and that it directly involves the President. It is the first time the White House has admitted the President was involved in any way with Daniels.
"POTUS is very unhappy," the source said. "Sarah gave the Stormy Daniels storyline steroids yesterday."
President Donald Trump's personal attorney used his Trump Organization email while arranging to transfer money into an account at a Manhattan bank before he wired $130,000 to adult film star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence.
The lawyer, Michael Cohen, also regularly used the same email account during 2016 negotiations with the actress — whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford — before she signed a nondisclosure agreement, a source familiar with the discussions told NBC News.
And Clifford's attorney at the time addressed correspondence to Cohen in his capacity at the Trump Organization and as "Special Counsel to Donald J. Trump," the source said.
AP reports:
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway says she’s spoken with President Donald Trump about a federal watchdog’s finding that she violated a federal law that bars government officials from using their positions to influence political campaigns.
But Conway isn’t providing details about the conversation.
It’s up to Trump to decide how — and whether — Conway is punished.
She said during a Fox appearance that she’s “not going to comment on this at all.”
When asked if no punishment was given, Conway said: “I didn’t say that.”
The Office of Special Counsel, which is unrelated to Robert Mueller’s office, says Conway violated the law twice last year when she spoke out in support of the GOP Senate nominee in Alabama, Roy Moore, and against Moore’s Democratic rival, Doug Jones.
Also at AP, Michael Biesecker and Matthew Daly report:
The Interior Department is spending nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in the office of Secretary Ryan Zinke.
Zinke was not aware of the contract for the work prior to a request about it from The Associated Press, spokeswoman Heather Swift said. The project was planned by career facilities and security officials as part of the decade-long modernization of the historic building erected in 1936 a few blocks from the White House, she said.
“The secretary was not aware of this contract but agrees that this is a lot of money for demo, install, materials and labor,” Swift said Thursday in an emailed statement. “Between regulations that require historic preservation and outdated government procurement rules, the costs for everything from pencils to printing to doors is astronomical. This is a perfect example of why the secretary believes we need to reform procurement processes.”
