Graham Kates

Investigative Reporter

grahamkates@protonmail.com

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CBS News •

Trump PAC foots bill for private investigator in Manhattan criminal case, E. Jean Carroll trial

As Donald Trump's New York legal troubles began to mount this spring, his lawyers and political action committee sought the help of Sean Crowley, a local private eye. Save America, a PAC founded by the former president, paid $152,285.50 to Crowley's firm in April and May, according to federal campaign filings. He was paid for work related to Trump's Manhattan court cases. It is unclear what that work entailed. Crowley, a former New York police captain, declined to discuss his work when contac
CBS News •

Rudy Giuliani's former colleagues reflect on his path from law-and-order champion to RICO defendant: "A tragedy"

Waving his glasses in front of his face while recording his YouTube show on Tuesday, Rudy Giuliani taunted the prosecutor who had just charged him with racketeering. "You're screwed, Fani. Giuliani got new glasses. Ha! And he's like five times the lawyer … five times the lawyer you are? How can you? No. Well, you can't multiply by zero," Giuliani said.
CBS News •

Trump's day in court, an unusual proceeding before an unusual audience

Before either former President Donald Trump or special counsel Jack Smith had entered the courtroom Thursday, several federal judges walked in and sat in the back row of the gallery. The presence of judges sitting among the public underscored the extraordinary nature of the arraignment they were there to watch, a former president charged with federal felonies related to his efforts to overturn an election.
CBS News •

Trump indicted in Manhattan, becoming first ex-president charged with a crime

A New York grand jury investigating the circumstances surrounding a "hush money" payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels in 2016 has voted to indict Donald Trump, making him the first former president in U.S. history to face criminal charges. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office confirmed the indictment in a statement on Thursday and said it had reached out to Trump's attorney to arrange his surrender. The specific charge or charges have not yet been made public and the indictment
CBS News •

Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg saw case against Trump as potentially "charge ready" years ago

In a November 2020 interview with CBS News, Alvin Bragg, then a Democratic candidate for Manhattan district attorney, said that among the "staggering" number of cases "swirling" around then-President Donald Trump, a matter involving Trump's former "fixer," Michael Cohen, stood out. "You know, we haven't talked about Michael Cohen yet and the campaign finance part," Bragg said during the interview, in which he stressed he could not "prejudge" any case until he saw the evidence. A former New Yor
CBS News •

George Santos was questioned by U.S. Secret Service in 2017 credit card fraud probe

Campaign of Deceit: The Election of George Santos | CBS Reports When George Santos' Florida address was found in 2017 inside a rental car used by the suspect in an ATM skimming investigation, the United States Secret Service came knocking. Investigators from the agency located Santos in New York City, the future congressman's hometown, where they interviewed him as part of a probe into international credit card fraud, according to two sources familiar with the federal investigation. The Secret
CBS News •

George Santos was interviewed by police in 2017 international credit card fraud probe

In the early evening on April 27, 2017, a Chase Bank security officer in Seattle watched through an ATM's camera as a man approached and removed a card-skimming device. Moments later, police officers pounced, arresting the man, Gustavo Ribeiro Trelha, then an Orlando, Florida, resident. The case would lead to a guilty plea and Trelha's deportation back to his native Brazil. It also led an investigator — for reasons still not entirely clear — to George Santos, the future New York congressman. W
CBS News •

Trump PAC, Republican Party paid law firms in Trump Organization criminal trial

Three law firms involved in the Trump Organization's criminal trial, including one representing the prosecution's star witness, recently received payments from political groups associated with former President Donald Trump, records show. The payments, totaling more than $500,000 in the last two months, made by the Save America PAC and the Republican National Committee, highlight what appear to be the close links shared between the Republican Party and Donald Trump's personal and corporate legal
CBS News •

Dozens of banks told Texas attorney general they don't "discriminate" against firearms companies

Two days after 19 children and two teachers were gunned down in a Texas elementary school on May 24, an investment banking firm sent a letter to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton promising not to "discriminate" against the firearms industry. The firm, Chicago-based Cabrera Capital Markets, LLC, is the most recent of dozens of banking institutions to make the declaration in the last year, in order to comply with legislation banning Texas state and local governments from working with firms that p
CBS News •

Code names, "the quickest" jet skis and a "straw man": Inside the FBI's seizure of a Russian superyacht

American officials had not yet been cleared to take the Russian-owned superyacht Amadea from Fiji when agents from the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Diplomatic Security Service boarded it earlier this month. Documents obtained by CBS News offer new details on the FBI's investigation into the yacht, as well as the moments after authorities boarded the Amadea. "They want to take 20 crew and sail east!" the ship's captain, Michael Zerr, texted his lawyer.
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