Cohen lied about Trump Moscow Tower to Congress;
Earlier this year Buzzfeed News released an in depth article about the Trump Moscow Tower project.[1] We learned that Michael Cohen lied to lawmakers in Congress when he claimed to have ended the venture in early 2016. The Trump Moscow Tower project continued into 2017 while Trump was President.[2] Moreover, they worked on the venture when then candidate Trump was close to securing the GOP presidential nomination in 2016. Candidate Trump promoted Paul Manafort to Campaign Chairman around this time to corral delegates at the GOP convention, it was at this stage of the campaign where Trump began to publicly change his policy towards Ukraine and Russia.[3] Felix Sater, a long time business associate of the President that was working on this project with his childhood friend Michael Cohen, was in contact with a former GRU officer during the duration of the venture.[4]
Expanded explanation:
President Trump has made innumerable denials about doing any business with Russia. Yet he signed a letter of intent to build a Moscow Trump Tower in 2015.[5] Moreover, President Trump tried to do business with a sanctioned Russian bank in 2016.[6]
Felix Sater wanted to work with the Russians to help get Trump elected by showcasing Trump's negotiation skills, to do this he wanted to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. The New York Times[7] story is corroborated by the Washington Post.[8] President Trump signed a letter of intent to build the Moscow Trump Tower during the campaign.[9]
New information on the relationship between Felix Sater and Trump has come to light. Rachel Maddow explains how billionaires from Kazakhstan, who are embroiled in court cases involving money laundering, had their money laundered through Trump properties via Felix Sater.[10] Felix Sater attended Trump's invite-only victory party to celebrate his presidential victory.[11] Although Trump has tried to distance himself from Sater due to his colourful past, I find it very peculiar that he was allowed into an invite-only event at the Midtown Hilton. Moreover, in July of 2016 we know he attended a secret meeting at Trump Tower.[12]
Months ago there it was reported that Felix Sater was ready to cooperate with Special Counsel Mueller.[13] Paul Wood, World Affairs correspondent for the BBC, wrote the original article for The Spectator.[14] Back in the 90's Felix Sater was caught up in a massive stock scam and flipped on mob families in New York. A member of Special Counsel Mueller's team flipped him - Andrew Weissmann.[15] Felix Sater has spoken out against the bad press he has been receiving, in his numerous TV appearances he made it clear that he has worked as an informant for American intelligence services.[16]
Christopher Steele has stated that Trump's hotel and land deals with Russians need to be examined.[17] President Trump has repeatedly denied business ties to Russia, taking a quick look at his Twitter feed we can find innumerable examples of his denials. Let's take an example from 2017 - The President tweeted "I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA - NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!"[18] He's done business with Russians for decades.[19] Donald Trump Jr. has stated in an interview that Russians make up a disproportionate cross-section of the Trump Organization's assets.[20] This article by TIME summarizes some of the extensive ties.[21]
Cohen has admitted that the Trump Moscow Tower venture continued into 2017 while Trump sat in the Oval Office.
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