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'A very different world' - inside the Czech spying operation on Trump
Files reveal Trump was the target of an extensive spying operation in the late 1980s by the country’s intelligence service, with ‘friends’ from the KGB https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/29/czechoslovakia-spied-on-trump-to-exploit-ties-to-highest-echelons-of-us-power
Files reveal Trump was the target of an extensive spying operation in the late 1980s by the country’s intelligence service, with ‘friends’ from the KGB https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/29/czechoslovakia-spied-on-trump-to-exploit-ties-to-highest-echelons-of-us-power
For the men from behind the Iron Curtain, Trump was a celebrity capitalist. He was also, we now know, the target of an extensive spying operation conducted by Czechoslovakia’s Státní bezpečnost (StB) intelligence service – together with “friends” from the KGB.
The StB had been interested in Trump since 1977, when he married a Czechoslovakian-born woman, Ivana Zelníčková.
[...]
Ivana’s father, Miloš, regularly gave the StB information on his daughter’s visits from the US and his son-in-law’s burgeoning career.
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Ivana’s father, Miloš, regularly gave the StB information on his daughter’s visits from the US and his son-in-law’s burgeoning career.
The StB’s work on Donald and Ivana intensified in the late 1980s, after Trump let it be known he was thinking of running for president.
[In USSR StB’s] spies were reputed to be skilled professionals, competent and versatile English speakers who were a match for the CIA and MI6.
[In USSR StB’s] spies were reputed to be skilled professionals, competent and versatile English speakers who were a match for the CIA and MI6.
Čuba invited Trump to visit the farm, Slušovice. Trump reportedly agreed.
We know this because of a two-page write-up of the encounter based on details supplied by the agent known as Jarda. Jarda was one of four StB collaborators who spied on the Trumps during the cold war.
We know this because of a two-page write-up of the encounter based on details supplied by the agent known as Jarda. Jarda was one of four StB collaborators who spied on the Trumps during the cold war.
Jarda’s real name was Jaroslav Jansa.
Now aged 74, [...] Jansa is reluctant to talk about his past. When [reporters] knocked on his door, he refused to open it. In an email, he said he was tired and wanted to be left in peace. He added: “You are trying to put me in the tomb.”
Now aged 74, [...] Jansa is reluctant to talk about his past. When [reporters] knocked on his door, he refused to open it. In an email, he said he was tired and wanted to be left in peace. He added: “You are trying to put me in the tomb.”
Jansa’s New York report was added to a bulging Trump file. It joined earlier secret documents, some of them recording little more than family gossip. In November 1979 Ivana Trump went back to Czechoslovakia, bringing her two-year-old son, Donald Jr, with her.
The StB discovered that Ivana was no longer a model and was now “helping her husband in his business activities”
[...]
And: “Her husband is connected to the election campaign of the current US president [Jimmy] Carter”.
The StB’s source was Ivana’s father.
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And: “Her husband is connected to the election campaign of the current US president [Jimmy] Carter”.
The StB’s source was Ivana’s father.
[note said] the agency would give Mrs Trump “operational attention”
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Intriguingly, it was copied to the 23rd section [...] in Prague, which was responsible for running “illegals”, or deep-cover agents abroad. Its most famous asset, Karl Koecher, was embedded inside the CIA.
[...]
Intriguingly, it was copied to the 23rd section [...] in Prague, which was responsible for running “illegals”, or deep-cover agents abroad. Its most famous asset, Karl Koecher, was embedded inside the CIA.
Eight years later, Miloš Zelníček was still briefing the StB
[...]
in October 1988, Zelníček passed on [Ivana’s] tip that George HW Bush would win[...]. He did, leading the StB to “deepen” its activity and to try to exploit Trump’s proximity to the “highest echelons of US power”.
[...]
in October 1988, Zelníček passed on [Ivana’s] tip that George HW Bush would win[...]. He did, leading the StB to “deepen” its activity and to try to exploit Trump’s proximity to the “highest echelons of US power”.
It’s unclear to what degree the KGB and StB shared or coordinated Trump material.
[...]
The KGB was always the dominant partner – it would have closely monitored Trump when he and Ivana visited the USSR in summer 1987, following a Kremlin invitation.
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The KGB was always the dominant partner – it would have closely monitored Trump when he and Ivana visited the USSR in summer 1987, following a Kremlin invitation.
Ivana was unusual in that she had achieved a status in US society. You therefore try and get information on her,” Williams said.
[...]
I don’t think there was any strategy to compromise Trump. If anyone was going to do this it would be the Soviets.” [KGB]
[...]
I don’t think there was any strategy to compromise Trump. If anyone was going to do this it would be the Soviets.” [KGB]
“[After the Bush election] They were looking at a long-term operation,” he said.
This was curtailed, however, by the dramatic and sudden collapse of the communist bloc. This happened in November 1989, soon after the Slušovice representatives met Trump on Fifth Avenue.
This was curtailed, however, by the dramatic and sudden collapse of the communist bloc. This happened in November 1989, soon after the Slušovice representatives met Trump on Fifth Avenue.
Their plan to forge relationships with “large capitalist firms” fell into history’s dustbin.
[did it really though?
]
The StB kept the identities of its informants secret by burning many files.
[did it really though?
]The StB kept the identities of its informants secret by burning many files.
In 1971, Ivana left the Czech Republic and got married
[...]
New York [magazine] reports that Syrovatka actually arranged for Ivana to marry his skiing buddy Alfred Winklmayr so she could get a "Western passport" to leave the Communist country. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a56426/ivana-trump-donald-trump-first-wife/
[...]
New York [magazine] reports that Syrovatka actually arranged for Ivana to marry his skiing buddy Alfred Winklmayr so she could get a "Western passport" to leave the Communist country. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a56426/ivana-trump-donald-trump-first-wife/
h/t @sisu_sanity
The CSSR Stasi’s files also contain a travel permit for Ivana Trump to leave Czechoslovakia. https://www.businessinsider.com/czech-secret-agents-spied-on-donald-trump-he-is-tax-exempt-for-30-years-2016-12
The CSSR Stasi’s files also contain a travel permit for Ivana Trump to leave Czechoslovakia. https://www.businessinsider.com/czech-secret-agents-spied-on-donald-trump-he-is-tax-exempt-for-30-years-2016-12
The dossier talks about a prenuptial contract that says he wants at least three children. If their marriage were to break down, Trump expects a compensation of one million dollars for Ivana.
What “commissions from the state,” was Trump’s company receiving in the 70s/80s?
And why was he “completely tax-exempt for the next 30 years?”
And why was he “completely tax-exempt for the next 30 years?”
