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Here's one for my MAGA friends who claim that the Trump / Russia connections are just a "liberal hoax" - - a thread summarizing what we know about Trump's many connections to Russia.
Trump was first compromised by the Russians in the 80s. In 1984, the Russian Mafia began to use Trump real estate to launder money. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/is-there-a-case-for-trump-putin-collaboration-years-before-the-campaign/2018/08/16/00578f1e-9440-11e8-80e1-00e80e1fdf43_story.html
In 1987, the Soviet ambassador to the United Nations, Yuri Dubinin, arranged for Trump and his then-wife, Ivana, to enjoy an all-expense-paid trip to Moscow to consider possible business prospects.
Only seven weeks after his trip, Trump ran full-page ads in the Boston Globe, the NYT and WaPO calling for, in effect, the dismantling of NATO.
But surely that's just a coincidence, right?
But surely that's just a coincidence, right?
In 1984, David Bogatin — a convicted Russian mobster and close ally of Semion Mogilevich, a major Russian mob boss — met with Trump in Trump Tower right after it opened.
Bogatin bought five condos from Trump at that meeting. Those condos were later seized by the government, which claimed they were used to launder money for the Russian mob. https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/30/nyregion/entrepreneur-who-left-us-is-back-awaiting-sentence.html
Felix Sater is a Russian-born former mobster, and former managing director of NY real estate conglomerate Bayrock Group LLC located on the 24th floor of Trump Tower.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Sater
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Sater
He grew up with Michael Cohen--Trump's former "fixer" attorney. He became a convict who became a govt cooperator for the FBI and other agencies. https://www.businessinsider.com/who-is-felix-sater-trump-associate-at-center-of-the-mueller-russia-probe-2018-11
Cohen's family owned El Caribe, which was a mob hangout for the Russian Mafia in Brooklyn. Cohen had ties to Ukrainian oligarchs through his in-laws and his brother's in-laws. Felix Sater's father had ties to the Russian mob.
Trump was $4 billion in debt after his Atlantic City casinos went bankrupt. No U.S. bank would touch him. Then foreign money began flowing in through Bayrock.
Bayrock was run by two investors: Tevfik Arif, a Kazakhstan-born former Soviet official who drew on bottomless sources of money from the former Soviet republic; and Felix Sater.
Bayrock partnered with Trump in 2005 and poured money into the Trump organization under the legal guise of licensing his name and property management. https://www.forbes.com/sites/richardbehar/2016/10/03/donald-trump-and-the-felon-inside-his-business-dealings-with-a-mob-connected-hustler/#873b09222824
In July 2008, the height of the housing bust, Trump sold a mansion in Palm Beach for $95 million to Dmitry Rybolovlev, a Russian oligarch. Trump had purchased it four years earlier for $41.35 million. https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/20190217/trump-in-palm-beach-did-russian-mansion-buyer-make-money
The sale price was nearly $54 million more than Trump had paid for the property - over 100% profit, at height of the recession when all other property had plummeted in value.
But surely its just coincidence that the buyer was Russian. Right?
But surely its just coincidence that the buyer was Russian. Right?
Semion Mogilevich was the brains behind the Russian Mafia. Mogilevich operatives have been using Trump real estate for decades to launder money. That means Russian Mafia operatives have been part of his fortune for years. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/08/trumps-top-targets-in-the-russia-probe-are-experts-in-organized-crime/569056/
Many of them owned condos in Trump Towers and other properties. They were running operations out of Trump's crown jewel, buying and selling Trump properties to launder Russian money.
Over time, so many Russians bought Trump apartments at his developments in Florida that the area became known as Little Moscow.
The developers of two of his hotels were Russians with significant links to the Russian mob. The late leader of that mob in the United States, Vyacheslav Kirillovich Ivankov, was living at Trump Tower. https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate
According to a Bloomberg investigation into Trump World Tower, “a third of units sold on floors 76 through 83 by 2004 involved people or limited liability companies connected to Russia and neighboring states.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-16/behind-trump-s-russia-romance-there-s-a-tower-full-of-oligarchs
In 2013, Federal agents busted an “ultraexclusive, high-stakes, illegal poker ring” run by Russian gangsters out of Trump Tower. They operated card games, illegal gambling websites, and a global sports book and laundered more than $100 million.
A condo directly below one owned by Trump reportedly served as HQ for a “sophisticated money-laundering scheme” connected to - - Semion Mogilevich. https://newrepublic.com/article/143586/trumps-russian-laundromat-trump-tower-luxury-high-rises-dirty-money-international-crime-syndicate
What many Americans don't realize is that the Russia Mafia is part and parcel of Russian intelligence. Russia is a mafia state. Literally, not figuratively.
As such, Putin is head of the Mafia. So the fact that they have been operating out of the home of the president of the United States *should be* deeply disturbing.
Now let's turn to Rudy.
Rudy Giuliani famously prosecuted the Italian mob while he was a federal prosecutor, yet the Russian mob was allowed to thrive. Now he's deeply entwined in the business of Trump and Russian oligarchs.
Rudy Giuliani famously prosecuted the Italian mob while he was a federal prosecutor, yet the Russian mob was allowed to thrive. Now he's deeply entwined in the business of Trump and Russian oligarchs.
Rudy didn't take down the mob. Instead he merely helped the Russians win the mob war in New York. He then appointed Semyon Kislin to the NYC Economic Development Council in 1990. Kislin is believed to have significant ties to the Russian mob. https://publicintegrity.org/politics/elections/fbi-tracked-alleged-russian-mob-ties-of-giuliani-campaign-supporter/
Here's the thing. It isn't just Trump and Rudy. There are many, many significant connections from Russia to the GOP. A lot of Republicans in Washington are implicated. Boatloads of Russian money went to the GOP--often in legal ways.
The NRA got as much as $70M from Russia, then funneled it to the GOP. https://www.npr.org/2019/09/27/764879242/nra-was-foreign-asset-to-russia-ahead-of-2016-new-senate-report-reveals
The Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee lead by McConnell got millions from Leonard Blavatnik. https://www.factcheck.org/2019/06/mcconnells-biggest-donor-isnt-russian/
In the 90s, the Russians began sending money to top GOP leaders, like Speaker of the House Tom Delay. Craig Unger's book alleges that most of the GOP leadership has been compromised by RU money.
The Trump kids famously blurted out the family's dependence on Russia. In 2008, Donald Jr announced "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets." https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-jr-said-money-pouring-in-from-russia-2018-2
Eric Trump told golf reporter James Dodson in 2014 that the Trump Organization was able to expand during the financial crisis because “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/eric-trump-donald-golf-courses-russia-funding-golf-writer-interview-2014-james-dodson-a7722806.html
And they weren't just bloviating, either. It's fair to say that Trump is deeply in debt to Russian oligarchs, and the Venn diagram of "Russian oligarchs" and "Russian mobsters" is pretty much just a circle. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/lawrence-odonnell-source-says-russian-oligarchs-co-signed-trumps-deutsche-bank-loans
Trump's bizarre faith in Putin is on full display. He went against American intelligence on North Korean missiles. He told the FBI he didn't believe their intelligence because Putin told him otherwise. “I don't care, I believe Putin" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-north-korea-missiles-putin-russia-nuclear-andrew-mccabe-book-fbi-a8780786.html
Trump has had meetings and numerous secret phone calls with Putin. Trump met in secret with Putin at the G20 summit in November 2018, without note takers. Just over two weeks later, the US withdrew from Syria, effectively ceding it to Russian control. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-putin-meeting-g20-summit-melania-russia-mueller-investigation-buenos-aires-a8753701.html
Trump refused to enforce sanctions legally codified into law - and in some cases reversed standing sanctions on Russian companies. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-russia-sanctions-trump-no-new-congress-law-election-hacking-intervention-putin-kremlin-a8184866.html
