Graham Kates

Investigative Reporter

grahamkates@protonmail.com

    <
    >
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.
CBS News •

FEC fines Hillary Clinton campaign and Democratic Party, clears "Steele dossier" author of wrongdoing

The Federal Election Commission has fined Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign $8,000 and the Democratic National Committee $105,000 for obscuring their funding of the "Steele dossier," a 2016 opposition research report that sought to highlight alleged links between Donald Trump and Russia. The bipartisan election commission also dismissed a complaint against Christopher Steele, the author of the dossier that caused a firestorm of allegations and investigations that shook the early months of Trump's presidency.
CBS News •

New York attorney general seeks documents from another accounting firm that worked for the Trump Organization

Investigators for New York Attorney General Letitia James' probe into Donald Trump and the Trump Organization's finances are seeking documents from a second accounting firm that did work for the company, according to a document filed in a New York State court. On March 10, James' office requested that the Trump Organization provide written consent for the firm RSM US LLP "to disclose tax documents."
CBS News •

Towering home to Russian diplomats in New York has long been an enigma

Mystery and intrigue have always surrounded the Russian Diplomatic Compound in New York. Tall steel fencing and cameras, too. The 20-story white building is unmissable. It towers over the tree-lined Henry Hudson Parkway and is far taller than any nearby structure in the Bronx's Riverdale neighborhood. It is home to the families of diplomats serving in the Russian Mission to the United Nations — and maybe also a few spies.
CBS News •

"Alarms" missed the day Gynnya McMillen died, experts say

NEW YORK -- An employee at a Kentucky juvenile detention center offered 16-year-old Gynnya McMillen breakfast more than three hours before officials realized she had died in her cell. McMillen did not respond to the 6:30 a.m. offer, according to the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. It's not clear if she was alive or dead at the time, conscious or unconscious. Two hours later, an employee offered a snack. Again McMillen did not respond. "Nor did she respond when asked if she wanted
CBS News •

Putin critic says he fled Russia after being told investigations would "target my relatives"

An opposition politician and critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has fled Russia after briefly being detained last week by police. Dmitry Gudkov told CBS News that he was warned a month before his arrest that if he decided to run for a seat in the country's parliament as planned, he would "see a criminal case against some of your relatives." Gudkov, who previously served in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, from 2011 to 2016, had been running for re-election this fa
Load More Articles