So, in spite of Trump’s personal lawyer and his fawning congressional die-hard protectionists (like Claudia Tenney of congressional district 22 in New York), Donald Trump is in no way out from under a cloud of suspicion and inquiry into his (and his staff’s) involvement in Russian interference in our elections. Given the ‘nature of the man’ to which Comey referred, there is bound to be more to investigate. After all, there is still the matter of the two Russian diplomats visiting Trump in the White House and what kind of intelligence may have been passed on to them during such time the American press was neither present nor invited.
And then, there is that thread that so far has been
under-played, under-reported, and under-researched (except for Rachel Maddow,
of course!). Isn’t there a famous phrase
that is often uttered in circumstances involving multiple threads or leads or
circumstances that have been difficult to decipher, understand or relate to one
another? Yes, there is, and it should be
quite familiar to you – FOLLOW THE MONEY!!
Let’s take the rest of this space to explore some elements that were not even mentioned in Comey's hearing, but which must be of some interest to the FBI, to the members of the Senate investigating committees and certainly to the newly-named Special Counsel.
Let’s take the rest of this space to explore some elements that were not even mentioned in Comey's hearing, but which must be of some interest to the FBI, to the members of the Senate investigating committees and certainly to the newly-named Special Counsel.
1) Laundering of money from Russia. Rachel Maddow and others have
focused on this, particularly in regard to certain banks that have been
handling transfers of funds that may have made their way to Trump Enterprises. One
of those commentators is the U.S. edition of The Guardian, others include MotherJones, the Washington Post and The Hill.com. They have researched some of the reports of
money-laundering by the Russians through Frankfort, Germany’s Deutsche
Bank. Here are a few quotes that give
some of the flavor of this laundry campaign.
“The German bank that loaned $300m (£260m) to Donald
Trump played a prominent role in
a money laundering scandal run by Russian criminals with ties to the
Kremlin, the Guardian can reveal. Deutsche
Bank is one of dozens of western financial institutions that processed at least
$20bn – and possibly more – in money of “criminal origin” from Russia.
The scheme, dubbed “the Global
Laundromat”, ran from 2010 to 2014. Law enforcement agencies are
investigating how a group of politically well-connected Russians were able to
use UK-registered companies to launder billions of dollars in cash.
Deutsche’s Private Bank – the division that lends to
Trump – appears in the Global Laundromat scheme. Sources suggest that many of
its clients are rich Russians, typically with personal assets of $50+ mil.
According to Germany’s Süddeutsche
Zeitung, Deutsche processed more than $24m of Laundromat cash in 209
transactions.”(The Guardian)
“Although the news didn’t make much of a splash during the 2016 campaign,
Trump paid a $10 million fine to the U.S. Treasury in 2015 for his bankrupt Taj
Mahal casino in Atlantic City because it failed to meet anti-money-laundering
requirements. According to the Wall Street Journal, ‘Regulators said the casino
failed to establish and implement an effective anti-money-laundering program,
failed to implement an adequate system of internal controls, and failed to
properly file currency transaction reports or keep other required records.’
It is already a matter of public record that several
Trump-affiliated businesses and associates are connected to alleged Russian
money-laundering operations. The Washington Post has described Trump’s 30-year
history of business dealings with Russian oligarchs and government officials,
which began when there was still a Soviet Union. “Russians make up a pretty
disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Trump’s son, Donald
Jr., told a real estate conference in 2008, according to an account posted on
the website of eTurboNews, a trade publication. “We see a lot of
money pouring in from Russia.”
According to an investigation by USA Today, wealthy Russians and oligarchs from
former Soviet republics invested extensively in Trump’s real estate
developments over the years. Court cases and other legal documents show
President Trump and his companies have been linked to at least 10 wealthy
former Soviet businessmen with alleged ties to criminal organizations or money laundering.” (Mother Jones)
YES! FOLLOW The MONEY!
2) Real Estate – what is the story with
the property sold by Trump to a Russian oligarch for a huge profit beyond its
worth?
“Recent revelations
that Trump bought a certain house in Florida in 2004 for $40 million became notable lately — the subsequent sale of that home having netted him a
substantial profit. This is the property that he sold to a certain Russian
Oligarch for $95 million, more than doubling his money.
Why would someone pay
a price deemed to be way over market value? That’s the question. This kind of
sale is not unknown; these kinds of arrangements are a common tactic by which
people sink their money into countries like the US, paying way above actual
value to do it. How does over-paying for a property make business sense for the
buyer? There are two reasons. Number one: the money may need to be laundered
because it is not legit. The second reason has regard to the first. The person
selling the property agrees to kick back the buyer some of that excessive
profit after the sale. (hereandsphere.com)
“Based on Trump’s legal-but-questionable
money-laundering of property purchased from him by Russian oligarchs in the
United States, transactions which seem to cast a growing shadow over now-President
Trump, is it possible these transactions indicate a wider financial deal, one
that set something in motion that even Trump himself at the time did not grasp,
but thought nothing of beyond a healthy sale to a generous foreign national? Something he thought, at the time, he could
distance himself from and control ?
Was this something he never imagined was as widespread and
profitable that it might motivate cyber-terrorist efforts to meddle in an
election of the President of the United States? Now that he’s President, he not only has been trying to hide these financial deals he has ties to, but now he literally has to hide them because they indicate something way beyond conflict
of interest.
Did Russia work to make him president even if he himself never expected to be? If so, this would indicate something remarkable: "there is a Russian gun to his head. The gun may be an international entanglement beyond our wildest imagination. The true art of the deal is just that- art. And Russian money. Money they’re parking in America. Now he’s president, not only is he literally hoping this all just goes away (it won’t), but he has to run this country and he doesn’t know how to govern much less run a country.” (hereandsphere.com)
Did Russia work to make him president even if he himself never expected to be? If so, this would indicate something remarkable: "there is a Russian gun to his head. The gun may be an international entanglement beyond our wildest imagination. The true art of the deal is just that- art. And Russian money. Money they’re parking in America. Now he’s president, not only is he literally hoping this all just goes away (it won’t), but he has to run this country and he doesn’t know how to govern much less run a country.” (hereandsphere.com)
3) More broadly, what
“emoluments” is the President, or his family business, receiving from
foreign powers? Fortunately, Attorneys General
of certain states like Maryland are
suing Trump in court, claiming that this President, because he has not fully
placed his businesses and assets in a Blind Trust, is accepting emoluments from
foreign countries whenever he uses his real estate or name brand to charge
foreign dignitaries a fee.
“According
to experts, President Donald Trump’s continued ownership interest in the
Trump Organization means that he is in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s
Emoluments Clause, which prohibits the president from personally benefiting
from actions taken by foreign governments and their agents. Will media hold
Trump accountable for this impeachable offense or will they normalize his
flagrant violation of the supreme law of the land”(mediamatters.org)
Legal Ethics Experts:
“The Best Reading of the Clause Covers Even Ordinary, Fair Market Value
Transactions That Result In Any Economic Profit Or Benefit To The Federal
Officeholder.” The clause does
not just cover “sweetheart deal[s]” because “emoluments are properly defined as
including ‘profit’ from any employment, as well as ‘salary,” meaning “it is
clear that even remuneration fairly earned in commerce can qualify,” according
to an analysis published by the Brookings Institution. It was authored by legal
ethics experts Norman Eisen, a former Obama administration ethics attorney and
current chair of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; Richard
Painter, a former Bush administration ethics attorney and current vice chair of
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington; and Laurence Tribe, a
leading expert on constitutional law and professor at Harvard University Law
School. [Brookings Institution, 12/16/16]
These are a few examples of Trump’s use of the
Presidency to line his own pockets. There
are more, but space does not permit the detailed explanation of all of
them. It is time to realize that this
man’s “Art of the Deal” is at the core of his value system and his approach to
life. He can no more stop acting as he
acts than he can stop his breathing to a point of no return. This is a man hooked on the thrill of all that goes into deal-making, and the
resultant defeat of opponents. I have no
doubt that he has committed impeachable offenses, and I believe the money trail
will be the path to that ultimate action goal. So, let our fact-finding, our investigations,
hearings and research all be aimed at FOLLOWING the MONEY, for that is where
Trump’s misdeeds have always taken root.
