In February 1999, Seven Arrows sent an invoice to Trump Hotels, seeking reimbursement for the $68,000. The invoice makes clear that the people involved knew the trip was illegal—even though the effort was over, it discusses how Trump Hotels needed a government license before the travel to Cuba took place. It also describes a way to make the business trip appear to be part of a humanitarian effort by linking it after-the-fact to a Cuban charity. Some charitable efforts in Cuba were legal, so long as no American person or entity spent the money. No business enterprise solely to develop opportunities was legal—and spending even a dollar in Cuba was a crime. In the end, Trump Hotels did not seek a license, did not obtain an after-the-fact sponsorship from a charity but simply stuffed the records of the crime into a filing cabinet, apparently hopeful they would never be seen publicly. But Donald Trump, according to former company executives, knew about the Cuban trip (“Do you honestly think any of Trump’s top guys would spend $68,000 without clearing it with him?” one executive replied sarcastically when Newsweek asked if Trump knew.)

Soon after the invoice was paid, Donald Trump began planning a run for the presidential nomination of the Reform Party. He decided to first focus his run on Florida, a state with one of the largest number of electoral votes—by targeting Cuban-Americans. At the time, Trump could not proclaim that his company had just paid for an illegal trip to Cuba—at least not without guaranteeing both a loss in Florida and the launch of a criminal investigation. So instead, Trump decided to trick Cuban-Americans.

The first step? Writing an op-ed for the Miami Herald in which he proclaimed his steadfast support for the embargo he had just broken. The opinion piece was published June 25, 1999, just a couple of weeks before it was publicly revealed Trump was readying a presidential run. In his article, Trump wrote:

“Of course, (Castro) would love Donald Trump to come to Havana and build casino hotels. Why? Not to raise the standard of living for the people of Cuba. Quite the contrary. Almost every dollar would go to prop up his police-state. Why? Because foreign investors cannot legally do business with private Cuban citizens. They can go into business only with the Castro government. It is highly illegal in Cuba for anyone except for the regime to employ a Cuban citizen.”

Now, compare those words with the invoice published in Newsweek last week. Look at the date and the purpose given for why the $68,000 in expenses were incurred:



Reasonable people might conclude that the editors at the Miami Herald would be infuriated that the pages of their newspaper had been used to deceive their readers. Yes, you would think that. But apparently not.

http://www.newsweek.com/miami-herald-deceives-readers-trump-cuba-505169

Hey @MiamiHerald! U reprinted Trump 6/99 op ed supporting Cuban embargo today. Perhaps u should print this 2/99 invoice showing he broke it?

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/782291732960387072

2 places to finds most of her ads:

Hillary Clinton YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLRYsOHrkk5qcIhtq033bLQ/videos

and

The Briefing YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRyE0W-DFgBlfd111fts6tQ/videos

2 places to finds most of her ads:

Hillary Clinton YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLRYsOHrkk5qcIhtq033bLQ/videos

and

The Briefing YouTube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRyE0W-DFgBlfd111fts6tQ/videos

And his bonkers comments arguing that man-made climate change is real but that there’s no point in trying to stop it because “in billions of years, the sun is going to actually grow and encompass the Earth.” Or the time he high-fived George W. Bush about the fact that neither of them knew anything about anything. “Not one thing,” Johnson recounted proudly, when introducing his fellow anti-egghead at a rally. Johnson’s campaign tries to spin such ignorance and anti-intellectualism as proof that he’s “a real person.” And it’s true, he is a real person — just one who happens to be unprepared for the presidency.

So what about Stein? In brief: Despite being a medical doctor who knows better, she’s pandered to anti-vaxxers; expressed strong stances on high-profile issues, such as Brexit, only to abruptly reverse herself without explanation; and (along with running mate Ajamu Baraka) trafficked in conspiracy theories, among other disqualifying behaviors.

And independent latecomer Evan McMullin? (Who?) The most memorable thing he’s done thus far in the election is to accidentally pick the wrong running mate. These candidates have received relatively little media scrutiny, let alone attacks from competitors. This allows many Americans to think of them as the purer choices for the presidency. If all the mudslinging misses them, their feet of clay go unnoticed.

Which is precisely why they probably haven’t felt the need to do their homework. If you give them your precious vote, you haven’t done yours, either.

The response of Donald Trump and his staff on September 29 to the revelation that one of his companies illegally violated the Cuban trade embargo during Fidel Castro’s presidency has exposed a growing problem for the Republican nominee: His campaign operation is disorganized and shares Trump’s disdain for facts.

Both the Trump campaign staff and the Trump Organization had been told for days by Newsweek that it was about to publish an article disclosing that a Trump company had paid at least $68,000 to explore business opportunities in Communist Cuba. Federal law at the time imposed tough restrictions against spending even a penny in Cuba, with the intent of financially starving the country, which for decades been categorized as an American enemy. While there were some exemptions, such as engaging in humanitarian work approved by the government, the Trump venture did not qualify for any of them, and once the Cuba business trip was over, consultants and Trump executives discussed ways to make the trip appear to be a charitable effort.

Newsweek’s requests for comments, documents and even an interview with Trump were ignored, which was unusual. Traditionally, when campaigns, companies and other professional groups are told that a piece about them is in the works, they will contact a reporter to find out the scope of the story, even if there is no plan to give a comment. That way, they can have a planned response ready when the story breaks.


On September 28, the night before Newsweek’s story on the Trump-Cuba connection was posted, The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC revealed the findings of the article, and Maddow read several of the opening paragraphs on the air. About 15 minutes after that segment ended, a Trump lawyer emailed Newsweek, stating that someone in Trump’s camp had searched the company’s records and found no documents proving the Cuba trip had occurred. The Trump lawyer suggested the magazine rethink posting the story.