Forget the stupid tweets: Theres big news on Trumps Russia connections and he doesnt want you

[applegrove]

to read it

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON at Salon

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/30/forget-the-stupid-tweets-theres-big-news-on-trumps-russia-connections-and-he-doesnt-want-you-to-read-it/

"SNIP.............

That story will undoubtedly be picked over quite a bit in the coming days. Unfortunately, another big Russia story, arguably even more significant, landed yesterday and few people seem to have noticed. Kevin G. Hall and Ben Weider of the McClatchy Washington bureau reported that Trump’s business dealings in countries of the former Soviet empire were much more substantial than he’s let on and his ties to bankers, oligarchs and politicians in the area are much more consequential. They write:

McClatchy’s investigation reveals how Trump sought a foothold not just in Russia but across the former Soviet empire. Not known before, the Trump Organization in 2012 negotiated with then-Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov for an obelisk-shaped tower to be built near the presidential palace, designed by architect John Fotiadis, who also did the Batumi project and lists offices in New York and the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Trump Diamond lost out to a rival project in Astana for the tallest building in Central Asia, the 75-story Abu Dhabi Plaza.

That’s the tip of the iceberg. The Trump Organization was involved in dozens of deals throughout the region with money traced back to Russian sources, in some cases including the big oil company Rosneft. Once again, Trump’s close relationship with Bayrock CEO Felix Sater, a known mob associate with ties to the CIA, the FBI and the Russian government, was implicated along with another controversial company called the Silk Road Group. Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen, who has strong personal and business ties to Ukraine, was also involved with many of these negotiations. (Cohen was recently served with a subpoena by the House Intelligence Committee.)

What’s most interesting about all of these deals is their recent vintage. Indeed, the big tower project in Georgia mentioned in the McClatchy report wasn’t canceled until Jan. 6, 2017, two weeks before Trump took office. Trump said it was solely for business concerns (since he believes that it’s impossible for a president to have conflicts of interest) but the company he was involved with, Silk Road, said it was because of the massive publicity that was sure to follow, which hardly seems like convincing.


..............SNIP"

[Achilleaze]

1. K & R

[triron]

2. kick for visibility

[gademocrat7]

3. K&R!

More of chump's corruption surfacing. How much more is there?

[frazzled]

4. The tweets are stupid, but their import is dead serious.

So, the ongoing saga Felix Sater and the Georgians, and all the byzantine, underhanded, self-serving deals aside--a saga, I might mention, whose details the general public is disinterested in following closely at the moment--it's the so-called crazy tweets that are more currently momentous.

Why? Because they're unadulterated proof that the president is sick, obsessed, and not doing his job. They reveal the dangers that this unstable personality is putting the country in, because hostile (or even formerly friendly) foreign powers or actors can use his publicly advertised neuroses and psychoses against him to do damage. And lastly, this is something that truly grabs public and political sectors of all stripes. The details of corruption of the Trump variety are hard to understand and laborious to investigate and prosecute. Crazy is self-evident.

Finally, please do not dismiss violent misogyny as insignicant. It's deadly serious, and this kind of hatred causes injury and even death daily. If this had been a racist or homophobic outburst I doubt people would be calling it a distraction. It's insulting ( and frankly just as misogynist) to suggest this is not serious business.

All this said, I have been following the Trump corrupt business dealings for nigh unto two years now. I await the special prosecutor, congressional investigations, and US attorney revelations and potential indictments.

[Blindingly apparent]

5. Very well said thanks for the reminder