As America sets out on its long strange trip with President Trump, nothing seems stranger than his repeated defense of Russian strongman Vladimir Putin. “But he’s a killer,” Bill O’Reilly reminded the president in a weekend interview. “Putin’s a killer.” “We’ve got a lot of killers,” the president responded. “What do you think — our[…]

In 2008, the director of the Zhoukou Municipal Grain Reserve in China’s agricultural Henan Province began moving money overseas. Qiao Jianjun sent $4 million to U.S. banks. $2 million went to Canada. Another $6 million went elsewhere: Singapore, Switzerland, St. Kitts. Mr. Qiao’s wife obtained a U.S. visa and moved to Seattle and bought a[…]

Age of the Oligarchs? Is Mr. Trump a passing historical hiccup or does he signal something bigger? Around the globe, influential oligarchies appear to be entering an assertive new era. Vladimir Putin’s Russia is Exhibit #1. In Saudi Arabia, the longstanding oligarchy remains a forceful player in world oil markets and increasingly militant in its[…]

It’s all over but the shouting and the presidency of Donald J. Trump is upon us. In nine days, Mr. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Billionaire businessman, celebrity, tweetmaster, Mr. Trump has changed American politics even before taking office, rewriting the political playbook and sending shock waves[…]

Amid controversy over the extent of Kremlin penetration into the American electoral system (detailed last week in Investigative Bulletin), Donald Trump has doubled down on the Russian connection with his nomination of ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to become the next secretary of state. Mr. Trump has been signaling a new Russia tilt for months and[…]

A bombshell Washington Post report Friday cast new light on the 2016 presidential campaign. According to the Post, the CIA in a secret assessment has concluded that “Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency.” Intelligence agencies identified “individuals with connections to the Russian government” who gave thousands of hacked[…]

We’re hearing a lot these days about “draining the swamp” of Washington corruption but as every serious student of crime and punishment knows, the swamp is not one, but many. The swamp contains multitudes. It is Washington. It is New York. It is San Bernardino County. It is the “high places before Jerusalem” — meaning[…]

President-elect Trump’s creative destruction of the established order in Washington continues to transfix the chattering classes and only a charlatan would claim to know where it all will end. Anti-corruption aficionados across the political spectrum are mesmerized by the spectacle of Mr. Trump’s vast business empire on a collision course with the presidency. In a[…]

The Trump transition is picking up steam and it’s clear we’re in for some interesting times in Washington. This is not going to be business as usual. But already there are danger signals flashing for the president-elect. Mr. Trump famously campaigned on “draining the swamp of corruption in Washington,” a call that resonated that across[…]