Article snippet: The TAKE with Rick Klein The most interesting information to emerge of late from legal maneuverings impacting President Donald Trump is more traditionally swampy than anything having to do with Russian meddling. It could be quite a bit worse than that – and could provide political fodder for Democrats searching for ways to make the case against the president and his party. Recent weeks have brought new details of how Trump lawyer Michael Cohen shopped himself – with significant success, at least for Cohen – for the access he could bring to the Oval Office. Trump’s new financial disclosure form reported payments to Cohen – payments that, according to the Office of Government Ethics, should have been reported a year ago. While the headlines out of the disclosures focused on those payments, the presidency has been good for Trump’s bottom line in ways that merit further scrutiny. The Trump organization’s Washington hotel – a new hot spot for those who like the name, and the proximity to the White House – reported $40.4 million in income in 2017 in the new report. That’s more than double the total reported the previous year. Then there’s the postscript to Trump’s odd announcement that he’s looking to help the giant Chinese company ZTE “get back into business.” Also this week, a Chinese state-owned company reportedly came through with a deal for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans that will help develop … Trump-branded properties, in Indonesia. ... Link to the full article to read more