The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[Sunny_Daze]

The latest in the Weird but True files

Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, the law firm advising President-elect Donald Trump on handling his business conflicts, won the Russia Law Firm of the Year award in 2016.

Fortune

The guys who created the certified letter for Trump about his complete lack of Russian dealing won an award in Russia last year. Huh. Whoda thunk it.

[Steve_MB]

@eschereal

No. “Certified letter” does not mean that. Ever. Different terminology is used for what you mean. Like “sworn deposition”. A “certified letter” is guaranteed for delivery by the carrier, with no relevance to content. If the administration means something other than that, they need to find and use the appropriate word things.

But he has the best word things!

[Crotalus]

@Sunny_Daze

The latest in the Weird but True files
Fortune

The guys who created the certified letter for Trump about his complete lack of Russian dealing won an award in Russia last year. Huh. Whoda thunk it.

Well, who better to certify that Trump is totally not doing business there?

[Okrahoma]

@SteveG1

I am so (NOT) surprised

I wonder how bigly and yuuuuuge those “exceptions” are. Like buying his properties for many times the actual market price, or giving him “you don’t have to pay it back” type ummm “loans”.

Here they are:

"…two exceptions, both of which have been widely reported.

In the letter, Trump lawyers Sherri Dillon and William Nelson also said that his taxes show that no Trump-controlled entities have Russian investors. Trump also owes no debt to Russian lenders, the firm said.

The returns do show $12.2 million Trump received from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant held in Moscow. The returns also show $95 million in income from Trump’s sale of Florida real estate to a Russian billionaire in 2008."

[scr4]

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[scr4]

@Okrahoma

In the letter, Trump lawyers Sherri Dillon and William Nelson also said that his taxes show that no Trump-controlled entities have Russian investors. Trump also owes no debt to Russian lenders, the firm said.

Does that include the Trump businesses which he has handed over to his family members to manage? He’s supposed to have done that for ALL his businesses, right?

[GIGObuster]

@Okrahoma

Here they are:

"…two exceptions, both of which have been widely reported.

In the letter, Trump lawyers Sherri Dillon and William Nelson also said that his taxes show that no Trump-controlled entities have Russian investors. Trump also owes no debt to Russian lenders, the firm said.

The returns do show $12.2 million Trump received from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant held in Moscow. The returns also show $95 million in income from Trump’s sale of Florida real estate to a Russian billionaire in 2008."

And one should not believe what Trump, his relatives and his lawyers are telling us now.

Eric Trump Reportedly Bragged About Access to $100 Million in Russian Money

Dodson had planned to play nine holes with Trump and Eric, along with pro golfer Greg Norman and Trump’s bodyguard, and when he got there, Dodson asked where Trump was getting money. “He just sort of tossed off that he had access to $100 million,” said Dodson, whose curiosity was piqued:

“So when I got in the cart with Eric,” Dodson says, “as we were setting off, I said, ‘Eric, who’s funding? I know no banks—because of the recession, the Great Recession—have touched a golf course. You know, no one’s funding any kind of golf construction. It’s dead in the water the last four or five years.’ And this is what he said. He said, ‘Well, we don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.’ I said, ‘Really?’ And he said, ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve got some guys that really, really love golf, and they’re really invested in our programs. We just go there all the time.’ Now that was three years ago, so it was pretty interesting.”

Eric Trump responded on Twitter that the story is “completely fabricated and just another example of why there is such a deep distrust of the media in our country.”

If what Dodson says is true, it wouldn’t be the first time that the Trumps have been connected to Russian money. A number of reports have indicated the Trump Organization received substantial financing from Russia when the business was struggling in the mid 1990s and again during the Great Recession, since major U.S. banks had refused to loan money to him. Most recently, Reuters reported that a group of 63 Russia billionaires have invested nearly $100 million in several Trump properties in Florida. Donald Trump Jr. himself famously said in 2008 that “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

Death and Taxes Archives - SPIN

During his October 17, 2013 appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman,” the reality TV star promoted his upcoming Miss Universe pageant held in Moscow. (Who knows, maybe that’s when piss time and the like happened.) Trump also bragged in an exchange with Letterman about how he’s “done a lot of business with the Russians,” who he continued to praise for being “smart” and “tough.” Trump also managed to single out President Vladimir Putin for being “tough” and even carried water for him when he denied the allegations made by Robert Kraft that Putin had managed to swipe the New England Patriots owner’s 2004 Super Bowl ring. (Putin still has the ring, BTW.)

[Rick_Kitchen]

@Sunny_Daze

Did anyone else hear/read “tapes” and think “Holy shit, is he trying to be Nixon now?” Fire investigators, check. Tape people, check. It’s like he’s ticking off boxes in a list. (Who uses “tapes” now anyway?)

The same guy who wants the Navy to go back to using steam catapults on aircraft carriers.

[bobot]

Next time I’m in trouble… Let me rephrase that. If I ever get in trouble, I want Willie Nelson as my attorney!

[Okrahoma]

@GIGObuster

Most recently, Reuters reported that a group of 63 Russia billionaires have invested nearly $100 million in several Trump properties in Florida

This is pure disingenuousness. What actually happened was that 64 condos in Trump-built complexes were bought by Russians.

And this from Reuters: “The Reuters review of investors from Russia in Trump’s Florida condominium buildings found no suggestion of wrongdoing by President Trump or his real estate organization. And none of the buyers appear to be from Putin’s inner circle.”

[Defensive_Indifference]

Has thisbeen brought up yet? Jeff “Little Ball of Hate”* Sessions has instructed federal prosecutors to seek the most serious charges, with the longest sentences.

@NPR

The two-page memo, which was publicly released Friday, lays out a policy of strict enforcement that rolls back the comparatively lenient stance established by Eric Holder, one of Sessions’ predecessors under President Barack Obama.

“This policy affirms our responsibility to enforce the law, is moral and just, and produces consistency. This policy fully utilizes the tools Congress has given us,” Sessions told thousands of assistant U.S. attorneys in the memo. “By definition, the most serious offenses are those that carry the most substantial guidelines sentence, including mandatory minimum sentences.”

Exceptions will need to be approved by a US attorney, assistant attorney general, or another supervisor. I thought we’d finally come round to the idea that mandatory minimums and strict enforcement of things like drug offenses disproportionately affected minorities. I’m not sure if this move is in spite of, or because of, that disparity.

*With apologies to Pat Verbeek

[Okrahoma]

Oh here is the latest horrible revelation about Trump:

[running_coach]

@Okrahoma

This is pure disingenuousness. What actually happened was that 64 condos in Trump-built complexes were bought by Russians.

And this from Reuters: “The Reuters review of investors from Russia in Trump’s Florida condominium buildings found no suggestion of wrongdoing by President Trump or his real estate organization. And none of the buyers appear to be from Putin’s inner circle.”

Why are Russians so attracted to Trump properties? There are no other properties to consider in the area?

You don’t question why there are so many Russian connections in Trump-world?

[Rick_Kitchen]

@Sunny_Daze

I have no idea what you’re trying to say. He’s manipulating more comparisons to Nixon on purpose? He wants Comey to stay in the news because it’s good for him? He really wants to get subpoenaed? How is any of that useful?

Why not ask Pence for a pardon and just resign for “health reasons”?

He can’t. He’s the healthiest President ever.

[pulykamell]

@Okrahoma

Oh here is the latest horrible revelation about Trump:

http://oi67.tinypic.com/261cah2.jpg

Yes, I believe we can all pretty much agree that that’s a pretty idiotic headline for CNN to run. Next?

[Happy_Lendervedder]

@Rick_Kitchen

He can’t. He’s the healthiest President ever.

That’s true, but he also has the best diseases. The most beautiful diseases you’ve ever seen, believe me.

[Okrahoma]

@running_coach

Why are Russians so attracted to Trump properties? There are no other properties to consider in the area?

Russians are buying luxury condos in South Florida left and right. Those 64 buys from Trump properties are a drop in the bucket.

[Ann_Hedonia]

@Fiveyearlurker

“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets,” Trump Jr.

I believe Trump when he says he has no real estate holding in Russia. He’s not the type to own things stealthily.

But there was the mansion in Florida that he sold to an oligarch that was trying to hide money during a divorce.

That time a Russian billionaire paid Trump $95 million for a mansion

He purchased the property for 40 million and sold it for 95 million.

And I’m sure lots of Russians own apartments in the Trump buildings around the world. I can think of several in NYC just from my own experience. The Trump buildings have kind of a reverse cachet among the NYC Wall Street crowd ( I’ve only worked for one American in a Trump building and she was funny defensive about it,eye-rolling at the Trump name and insisting on explaining that she needed to buy a place fast and was planning on selling it soon). His buildings are full of Russians and Chinese, they love that tacky crap.

Time will tell

[Ramira]

@Okrahoma

This is pure disingenuousness. What actually happened was that 64 condos in Trump-built complexes were bought by Russians.

It will be amusing to see you disappear again as like on the Trump business skills and your non understanding fo the limited liability principal, when the commentators return for the replies.

the candidate manchurian, it was remade too early for you americans. you are learining a lesson now. I

[GIGObuster]

@Okrahoma

This is pure disingenuousness. What actually happened was that 64 condos in Trump-built complexes were bought by Russians.

And this from Reuters: “The Reuters review of investors from Russia in Trump’s Florida condominium buildings found no suggestion of wrongdoing by President Trump or his real estate organization. And none of the buyers appear to be from Putin’s inner circle.”

That was so far as they know, in reality the article pointed out that there is a lot that is not known yet about how much Trump got or who was behind some investors.

Informed of the Reuters analysis of Trump’s Russian condo investors, two Democratic opponents of the president, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), renewed their calls for greater disclosure of his finances.

“While the president has denied having invested in Russia, he has said little or nothing about Russian investment in his businesses and properties in the United States or elsewhere,” said Rep. Adam Schiff, ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. “This should concern all Americans and is yet another reason why his refusal to release his tax returns should be met with considerable skepticism and concern.”