Betsy Woodruff Swan

Washington, D.C.

National Correspondent at POLITICO

National correspondent at Politico. [email protected], [email protected], DM for Signal or Whatsapp.

Articles

Gambling man: Inside Howard Lutnick’s scandal-tainted sports betting gambit

2 months ago | politico.com | Daniel Lippman |Megan Messerly |Betsy Woodruff Swan

Cantor Gaming was years ahead of the mobile sports betting craze. But it repeatedly ran afoul of state and federal regulators. Cantor Gaming, a company founded by Donald Trump's Commerce secretary pick, Howard Lutnick, repeatedly violated state and federal laws, authorities said. | Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images Long before he was President Donald Trump’s pick for Commerce secretary, billionaire financier Howard Lutnick got into the sports gambling business.
Agencies say there’s no specific violent threat to Trump’s inauguration. They’re still worried.

Jan 14, 2025 | politico.com | Chris Marquette |Betsy Woodruff Swan

In total, there will be approximately 25,000 law enforcement and military personnel on-site to secure the inauguration, Matt McCool, Special Agent in Charge for the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, said at Monday’s press conference. Officials have been on high alert for months after two assassination attempts on Trump during the 2024 campaign and recent attacks this year in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Christopher Wray’s parting message to the FBI: ‘Maintain our independence’

Jan 10, 2025 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan

The outgoing FBI director didn’t refer to President-elect Donald Trump by name, but his presence loomed over Wray’s farewell. Donald Trump sits with Christopher Wray during an FBI ceremony on Dec. 15, 2017. Trump has since turned on him, blaming Wray for what he sees as the FBI’s weaponization against him.
Trump considers Andrew Ferguson to replace Lina Khan

Dec 10, 2024 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan |John Hendel
Former top DHS lawyer assisting Bondi with DOJ transition

Dec 6, 2024 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan
Hegseth campaigns for Pentagon job as his nomination hangs in the balance

Dec 4, 2024 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan

“He is looking forward to the FBI investigation and he wants it to start now,” attorney Timothy Parlatore said in an interview with POLITICO. It was unclear whether their joint efforts would be enough. Trump was still publicly supporting the nomination, but people close to the president-elect said he has been mulling contingency plans — including nominating his onetime rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to the post. Hegseth met with Iowa Sen.
Trump transition signs agreement with DOJ

Dec 3, 2024 | msn.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan

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Trump transition signs agreement with DOJ

Dec 3, 2024 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan

The long-awaited agreement means the FBI can begin conducting background checks into Trump’s Cabinet picks. Multiple senators in recent days have pushed for thorough vetting of President-elect Donald Trump’s picks. | Allison Robbert/AP The Trump-Vance transition has signed an agreement with the Department of Justice allowing the transition team to “submit names for background checks and security clearances,” the transition said in a statement Tuesday.
We haven’t seen a pardon as sweeping as Hunter Biden’s in generations

Dec 1, 2024 | politico.com | Betsy Woodruff Swan

“I have never seen language like this in a pardon document that purports to pardon offenses that have not apparently even been charged, with the exception of the Nixon pardon,” said Margaret Love, who served from 1990 to 1997 as the U.S. pardon attorney, a Justice Department position devoted to assisting the president on clemency issues. “Even the broadest Trump pardons were specific as to what was being pardoned,” Love added.
UPDATED: Trump taps Lighthizer acolyte Jamieson Greer to be his trade chief

Nov 26, 2024 | politico.eu | Doug Palmer |Betsy Woodruff Swan |Ari Hawkins

President-elect Donald Trump picked Jamieson Greer to be U.S. trade representative, elevating a figure little known outside of Washington to what is expected to be one of the most important posts in the incoming administration. Greer, a former Air Force lawyer turned trade litigator, is a protegé of Robert Lighthizer, who was Trump’s trade representative in his first administration and is expected to influence trade policy in Trump’s second term.