Tag: Trump organization

Former acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe: Trump’s ties to Russian mobsters are ‘absolutely unprecedented’

“Trump, Inc.” and Former FBI Deputy Chief Andrew McCabe Compare Notes

Before he became infamous for working on the investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails and the Trump Russia investigation, former acting FBI chief Andrew McCabe investigated the Russian mob in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. McCabe has been asking some of the questions we at “Trump, Inc.” have asked ourselves about Trump’s business. So today, we compare notes.

In this conversation with Andrea Bernstein and Heather Vogell, of “Trump, Inc.,” McCabe talks about why it makes sense that some of the people he investigated in the 1990s have resurfaced in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, what questions he still has after the Mueller report and why he and former FBI director Jim Comey have said Trump’s management style reminds them of the mob.

Trump has long denied any wrongdoing, and he has said he was simply acting as an ordinary businessman in his Russia dealings.

View the following May 29 article from ProPubica on the AlterNet website here.

‘I wanted to see how far I could get’: Teen sneaked past Secret Service into Mar-a-Lago while Trump was there, court documents say

To get inside Mar-a-Lago, where President Trump was staying last Thanksgiving, 18-year-old Mark Lindblom walked along the beach until he reached an underground tunnel, leading straight to the luxury club.

The narrow corridor dipped beneath South Ocean Boulevard, a shortcut so Mar-a-Lago Club members didn’t have to cross the street on their way to and from the beach. There was a sign posted right outside the tunnel, warning, “UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE RESTRICTED AREA,” according to federal court documents. But Lindblom, who was not a member of the club, was undeterred.

“I wanted to see how far I could get,” the college freshman told a federal magistrate on Tuesday, the Palm Beach Post reported.

View the complete May 29 article by Meagan Flynn on The Washington Post logo here.

Trump, Inc.: Why Did Deutsche Bank Keep Lending to Donald Trump?

Whispers of money laundering have swirled around Donald Trump’s businesses for years. One of his casinos, for example, was fined $10 million for not trying hard enough to prevent such machinations. Investors with shady financial histories sometimes popped up in his foreign ventures. And on Sunday, The New York Times reported that anti-money-laundering specialists at Deutsche Bank internally flagged multiple transactions by Trump companies as suspicious. (A spokesperson for the Trump Organization called the article “absolute nonsense.”)

The remarkably troubled recent history of Deutsche Bank, its past money-laundering woes — and the bank’s striking relationship with Trump — are the subjects of this week’s episode of the “Trump, Inc.” podcast. The German bank loaned a cumulative total of around $2.5 billion to Trump projects over the past two decades, and the bank continued writing him nine-figure checks even after he defaulted on a $640 million obligation and sued the bank, blaming it for his failure to pay back the debt.

“Trump, Inc.” isn’t the only one examining the president’s relationship with the bank. Congressional investigators have gone to court seeking the kind of detailed — and usually secret — banking records that could reveal potential misdeeds related to the president’s businesses, according to recent filings by two congressional committees. The filings were made in response to a highly unusual move by lawyers for Trump, his family and his company seeking to quash congressional subpoenas issued to Deutsche Bank and Capital One, a second institution he banked with. Trump’s lawyers have contended that the congressional subpoenas “were issued to harass” Trump and damage him politically.

View the complete May 24 article by Heather Vogell and Andrea Bernstein on the National Memo website here.

After Lending Trump $11.2 Million, Banker Was Appointed To Atlanta Federal Reserve

A top bank executive received an appointment to the Federal Reserve after his bank approved millions in loans to Trump in 2018.

Mother Jones reported that Professional Bank granted Trump a loan of $11.2 million in May of 2018, according to his recently filed financial disclosure forms. That money was used to finance the purchase of a mansion next to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago from his sister, Maryanne Trump Barry.

Trump’s company is currently offering the property for rent for $81,250 a month (down from $100,000).

View the complete May 22 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

What Michael Cohen says about the origin of his false congressional testimony

In his public testimony before Congress in February, Michael Cohen, President Trump’s former attorney, was explicit during his opening statement about what Trump didn’t do.

“Mr. Trump did not directly tell me to lie to Congress,” Cohen said, referring to his untrue assertion in a statement offered to congressional investigators in 2017 that discussions about a possible Trump-branded real estate project in Moscow had ended in January 2017. For this falsehood, Cohen reached a plea agreement with special counsel Robert S. Mueller III last year.

But Cohen continued:

View the complete May 20 article by Philip Bump on The Washington Post website here.

Health Authorities Repeatedly Closed Swimming Pools At Trump Resorts

The swimming pools at Trump’s Florida properties have been shut down 10 times in the past 12 months after failing inspections by the state department of health.

Inspectors found a variety of problems with Trump’s pools, including improper pH levels, issues with “disinfection feeders” that regulate chlorine levels, as well as faulty safety features like handrails and ladders.

The wrong levels of pH and chlorine can lead to dangerous conditions that cause the spread of skin, ear, eye and gastrointestinal diseases.

View the complete May 6 article by Oliver WIllis on the National Memo website here.

Seven Foreign Governments Quietly Renting Trump Condos

At least seven foreign governments were given the green light from the Trump State Department to pay out money that could find its way into Trump’s own personal bank accounts.

Reuters reported on Thursday that the governments of Iraq, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Thailand, and the European Union were allowed to rent luxury condominiums in Trump World Tower in New York — even though doing so could violate the emoluments clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits federal officials like Trump from accepting payments or gifts from foreign governments without the approval of Congress.

It also appears that Trump and his underlings understand the potential problems with this deal, and thus sought to hide it from congressional oversight.

View the complete May 2 article by Oliver Willis on the National Memo website here.

Trump Lawyers Use Faked Quotes To Block Bank Subpoenas

Trump took another shameful step Monday night in his quest to obstruct legitimate congressional oversight, suing both Deutsche Bank and Capital One to try to prevent the two banks from complying with subpoenas for Trump’s financial records.

The lawsuit to block subpoenas issued by the House Financial Services Committee and the House Intelligence Committee — filed on behalf of Trump; his adult children Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump; and several of his businesses — is whiny and riddled with fake quotes that Trump’s lawyers attribute to House Democrats.

Trump’s legal team claims the subpoenas were “issued to harass President Donald J. Trump, to rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage.”

View the complete April 30 article by Emily Singer on the National Memo website here.

Trump family, businesses sue in effort to block banks from complying with subpoenas

President Trump, members of his family and his private businesses filed a federal lawsuit late Monday against Deutsche Bank and Capital One in an attempt to block the financial institutions from complying with congressional subpoenas.

The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, comes after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) issued the subpoenas seeking records on Trump’s personal finances.

“The subpoenas were issued to harass President Donald J. Trump, to rummage through every aspect of his personal finances, his businesses, and the private information of the President and his family, and to ferret about for any material that might be used to cause him political damage. No grounds exist to establish any purpose other than a political one,” the complaint states.

View the complete April 29 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

Trump, businesses sue Oversight chairman to block subpoena for financial records

President Trump and his private business are suing House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) to try to block a subpoena requesting financial records from the president’s accountant.

The lawsuit, which was filed Monday, asks a federal court in Washington, D.C., to prevent Cummings from obtaining records from Mazars USA, an accounting firm used by the president and his businesses, arguing congressional Democrats are abusing their subpoena power.

“Democrats are using their new control of congressional committees to investigate every aspect of President Trump’s personal finances, businesses, and even his family,” the suit reads. “Instead of working with the president to pass bipartisan legislation that would actually benefit Americans, House Democrats are singularly obsessed with finding something they can use to damage the President politically.”

View the complete April 22 article by Jacqueline Thomsen and Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.