THE EX-SPY BEHIND THE TRUMP-RUSSIA DOSSIER LEFT A CLUE FOR MUELLER

[orangecrush]

As federal investigators pour over the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, the work of ex-British spook Christopher Steele continues to loom large. At least part of Robert Mueller’s probe has been informed by Steele’s infamous dossier, which alleges substantive ties between Donald Trump and the Russian government. Though Trumpworld has cast doubt on the document’s legitimacy, with former Trump aide Carter Page dubbing it the “dodgy dossier,” Steele has stood by his research and, reportedly, has offered up another tip: zero in on the president’s foreign real-estate deals.

In December of last year, Steele informed Luke Harding, a journalist for the Guardian, that “the contracts for the hotel deals and land deals” between Trump and individuals with the Kremlin ties warrant investigation. “Check their values against the money Trump secured via loans,” the former spy said, according to a conversation detailed in Harding’s new book, Collusion: Secret Meetings, Dirty Money, and How Russia Helped Donald Trump Win. “The difference is what’s important.”

According to his book, Steele did not elaborate on this point to Harding, but his implication was clear: it’s possible that Trump was indebted to Russian interests when he descended Trump Tower’s golden escalator to declare his candidacy. After the real-estate mogul suffered a series of bankruptcies related to the 2008 financial crisis, traditional banks became reluctant to loan him money—a reality he has acknowledged in past interviews. As a result, the Trump Organization reportedly became increasingly reliant on foreign investors, notably Russian ones. As Donald Trump Jr. famously said in 2008, “Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.”

The significance of such transactions is not lost on Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Citing a person familiar with the F.B.I. probe, Bloomberg reported in July that Mueller’s team is investigating a series of deals Trump struck, including the Trump Organization’s failed SoHo development that involved Russian nationals, the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow, and the president’s sale of a Palm Beach estate in 2008. All three deals have drawn scrutiny for their ties to Russian interests; as Craig Unger outlined for the Hive, the 2014 Trump SoHo development is likely of interest to Mueller thanks to the involvement of Felix Sater—a Moscow-born, Russian-American businessman who did time for stabbing a man in the face with a margarita glass—and the now-defunct company he worked for, the Bayrock Group. Similarly, Russian developer Aras Agalarov, whose son Emin helped broker the controversial Trump Tower meeting last June between Donald Trump Jr. and Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya, paid $20 million to bring Miss Universe to Moscow. And Russian fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev bought the Florida mansion for a staggering sum of $95 million in 2008—despite Trump having paid just $41 million for the property four years prior.






https://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5a0dbfcb206b756de793123f/master/w_790,c_limit/Christopher-Steele-Mueller-Advice.jpg

[NewJeffCT]

1. so, Trump paid $14 million for a mansion in 2004

when the real estate market was going up. The market tanks in 2007 and 2008 and he sells it to a Russian oligarch for $95 million when the tanking market meant it was likely worth $7 to $10 million.

Curiouser and curiouser

[orangecrush]

3. Strange indeed!

And I'm sure Mueller now has all the records concerned...

[D_Master81]

4. seems legit

[mopinko]

8. $41M, not $14m

[NewJeffCT]

9. thanks for the correction

I'd say I'm still getting used to my new glasses, but there is no excuse for that mistake.

Still, $41 million would likely be $20 to $30 million in 2008 and it's still an extreme markup.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. Money laundering

That is as plain as day. Selling a $41 Million property for $95 million in the middle of a housing market collapse is as clear as it gets. It's the equivalent of someone laundering money by paying someone else $100,000 for a pack of gum.

[orangecrush]

5. Sure looks that way

Hey, is money laundering an impeachable offense?

[Moral Compass]

6. Trump was and is broke

I keep posting this on various sites. Got into long running Twitter battle with some moron on Twitter about this.

Trump was and is broke. When you look at the properties he still owns versus the revenues they are producing and consider that they were purchased with borrowed money from some source... you can only conclude that he is underwater now and has been underwater for quite some time.

Trump has a history of buying properties that look good on the front end but don’t have long term staying power. One example is his Turnberry golf investment in Scotland. That course and the club associated with it and the real estate development associated with it is losing money every year.

Trump tries to build his way out of his problems. He always has and always will.

His running for the presidency was primarily motivated by a desire to keep his empire going. He thought that he could use having the presidency as leverage.

The problem he is having is that most of what he planned is not coming to fruition.

Mar A Lago has lost millions in charity bookings because the Trump brand is becoming radioactive.

This is going to become the big story.

Trump is broke and has been for awhile.

[SonofDonald]

7. Dumpf drew a red line and said don't cross it

To investigate his personal finances.

Mr Mueller was a Decorated Marine, he fired up a tank and drove right over it.

He's not afraid in the least bit.