DOJ Initial Russia Hearings

[BigRedBuster]

Very interesting. Seems like someone got into a meeting they didn't feel comfortable being in.

 

Looks like Donald Jr. was so stupid he got more people involved in something they didn't want to be in.

 

[NM11046]

None of these siblings will talk to each other after this is all finished. He will have irreputably damaged an already pretty damaged family.

[sho]

 

Among the many mysteries surrounding Donald Trump’s finances as a real-estate mogul—and the conflicts of interest that might be revealed by his tax returns, were he ever to release them—is his long history of debt. The issue is not merely what Trump owes, but who he owes. As critics noted on the campaign trail, Trump’s habit of reneging on contracts and suing his lenders meant that virtually nobody on Wall Street wanted to work with him, with one exception: Deutsche Bank, which had loaned him hundreds of millions of dollars when no one else would, even after he sued the firm. Now, investigators probing the ties between the Trump campaign and Russia are wondering why—and they’re beginning to take a closer look at the president’s accounts with his favorite bank, which also happens to have strong ties to Russia itself.

 

The New York Times reports that banking regulators are currently “reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans made to Mr. Trump’s businesses through Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management unit . . . to [see] if the loans might expose the bank to heightened risk.” Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that executives at Deutsche are “expecting that the bank will soon be receiving subpoenas or other requests for information from Robert Mueller,” and that the special counsel’s investigative team and the bank have “already established informal contact in connection to the federal investigation.”

 

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/donald-trump-deutsche-bank-russia

 

And update...Deutsche Bank will be turning over their records.

[TGHusker]

 

 

Among the many mysteries surrounding Donald Trump’s finances as a real-estate mogul—and the conflicts of interest that might be revealed by his tax returns, were he ever to release them—is his long history of debt. The issue is not merely what Trump owes, but who he owes. As critics noted on the campaign trail, Trump’s habit of reneging on contracts and suing his lenders meant that virtually nobody on Wall Street wanted to work with him, with one exception: Deutsche Bank, which had loaned him hundreds of millions of dollars when no one else would, even after he sued the firm. Now, investigators probing the ties between the Trump campaign and Russia are wondering why—and they’re beginning to take a closer look at the president’s accounts with his favorite bank, which also happens to have strong ties to Russia itself.

 

The New York Times reports that banking regulators are currently “reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans made to Mr. Trump’s businesses through Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management unit . . . to [see] if the loans might expose the bank to heightened risk.” Meanwhile, the Guardian reports that executives at Deutsche are “expecting that the bank will soon be receiving subpoenas or other requests for information from Robert Mueller,” and that the special counsel’s investigative team and the bank have “already established informal contact in connection to the federal investigation.”

 

http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/07/donald-trump-deutsche-bank-russia

 

And update...Deutsche Bank will be turning over their records.

 

WOW. and WOW backwards!

[Moiraine]

It's ok. He'll get Mueller fired, as well as anyone else looking into it. Then the GOP will say it was not a big deal because they didn't find anything. It was all a witch hunt.

[knapplc]

Paul Manafort... COME ON DOWN! You're the next to testify!

 

[NM11046]

So down and dirty Knapp - what does this really mean? If he decides not to go he can be arrested? I feel like there are so many empty threats right now I can't keep track of what actually might be aggressive movement (anything by Grassley is somewhat noteworthy I know)

[knapplc]

Yes, he can be held in contempt of congress and jailed for up to a year.

 

Interestingly, a presidential pardon does not affect this penalty, so he can't be saved from the White House.

[Danny Bateman]

Wow. Previous to this I had read both Don Jr. and Manafort had cut deals to testify in private and presumably not under oath. It looks like that luck may have run out on Manafort.

[BigRedBuster]

Well...it's stupid to have them testify not under oath and in private. What benefit would that be? The questions asked would lead them to understand where the investigation is going and they would have absolutely no negative ramifications that would force them to actually tell the truth.

[zoogs]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2017/07/24/jared-kushner-just-threw-donald-trump-jr-under-the-bus-bigly/?utm_term=.8f90d480a054

 

I'll give him this: Kushner is impressive.

 

His account is plausible, if highly convenient.

[knapplc]

It is not plausible that three exceedingly high-up people in the Trump campaign would all attend a meeting they didn't know the content of, which turned out to be about nothing relevant to winning an uphill fight against a better-known and better-polling opponent.

 

Show me proof that Manafort, Kushner and/or DT Jr. attended other meetings that were similarly time-wasting and irrelevant to the election and maybe I'll believe his story.

 

Absent that evidence, and knowing the content of that meeting, I'll believe that Kushner is lying.

[NM11046]

I'd just say he has good lawyers - ones that truly have his best interests in mind, and aren't trying to also protect the T boys.

[QMany]

I like how Manafort forgot about this meeting and denied its existence and now claims to have contemporaneous notes taken during said meeting. That's believable.

[knapplc]

https://twitter.com/abbycohenwl/status/889630021609979904