Bombshell report links Trump hotel to corrupt Azerbaijan oligarchs and Iranian terror group

[DonViejo]

Source: RawStory



TRAVIS GETTYS
06 MAR 2017 AT 12:15 ET

President Donald Trump and his eldest daughter developed a hotel in Azerbaijan that appears to be a corrupt operation run by a family known as “the Corleones of the Caspian” with links to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku — conceived in 2008 as a luxury apartment building but converted in 2014 into a hotel — has never opened, and both local observers and international experts are baffled by the building’s existence, reported The New Yorker.

The project was intended as an “ultra-luxury property” with both hotel and residential space, but both its location and timing are odd, according to the report.

Trump Tower Baku is located in an underdeveloped part of the city’s downtown, across the street from a discount shopping center and miles away from the main business district.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/2017/03/bombshell-report-links-trump-hotel-to-corrupt-azerbaijan-oligarchs-and-iranian-terror-group/

[niyad]

1. and the hits just keep coming. congress, do your damned jobs and amendment 25 this

corrupt, insane asshole.

[ffr]

2. Nothing to see here. Move along. When the pResident does it, it is not illegal.

Just ask Jeff Sessions.

[mpcamb]

3. Money funneling headquarters?

[George II]

4. Not to say I told you so, but all through the primary campaign and then the general election...

....campaign, I was telling everyone I know that this guy is so intertwined in his questionable businesses and foreign governments, he just couldn't last four years if elected. I really didn't think he'd win, and I'll bet he didn't think he'd win.

Now it looks like he'll be out in less than a year, maybe sooner.

[groundloop]

6. Yes, but unfortunately that still leaves us with a Pence or Ryan administration

[George II]

8. True, but next year there's got to be a huge backlash against republicans in the midterm election.

[Hortensis]

26. Yes to both your posts.

It does seem likely that even a deluded fool like him didn't really believe he'd win and, even less, that he could imagine the sort of scrutiny that would come with it.

He may have traveled and invested there, but I wouldn't risk a dollar on a bet that he could find Azerbaijan on a map. And, of course, he believes everyone else knows infinitely less than he does--about everything.

[Plucketeer]

11. Some choice, eh?

Shot in the head or shot in the heart.

[lagomorph777]

18. I've been saying that too.

My daily mantra since November has been "The Russia thing is going to get bigger, and bigger, and bigger..."

Add to that all of his other shady connections to be unraveled, and it just exponentially accelerates the inevitable impeachment.

[Applan]

38. Yes but the emails

And the blow jobs

[Hekate]

5. KnR. That family just reeks. nt

[George II]

7. I you enter the name of the building, Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, in google maps....

....and use the satellite view, you can see the neighborhood where its located. There's a junk yard right next to it and a freight rail runs ring past it.

[dalton99a]

9. Looks like a premier location. The best!

[rickford66]

15. Smart move. Getting in on the ground floor !!

[Fantastic Anarchist]

39. This passage is pretty damming:

Garten has been the company’s chief legal officer only since January. His predecessor was Jason Greenblatt, whose name appeared on the contract I reviewed. Greenblatt was in charge of the Trump Organization’s due diligence and contracting work. He is now employed at the White House, as the President’s special representative for international negotiations. He did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

[matt819]

10. I don't care how many shell companies there are

If it has his name, he's involved. Whether it's via an investment, royalties on his name, or any kind of partnership, then it's his. And if this is a bogus development, then it has some other value - probably money laundering. And with the Iranians involved, it's considered terrorist money - by his own definition. Take it all the fuck away. And drag this scumbag and his family to prison.

[FakeNoose]

22. AND the daughter AND the son-in-law

They're in on everything he does.

I'm not sure if the Trump sons are smart enough, but they're involved somehow.

[Ilsa]

24. My first thought was money laundering for himself or a partner.

If he's in business with Iranians, isn't that illegal right now?

[world wide wally]

12. Is anybody keeping track of the number of scandals so far under the Trump Administration?

[Delphinus]

30. I can't keep up!

It's a full-time job.

[Fred Sanders]

13. Trump's businesses are likely full of corruption, national and international. All would be

revealed as soon as his tax returns are known...then the shit hits the fan all over the world.

Corrupt practises out of office are not legally protected and there is a clear law against corruption by American businesses overseas.

[matt819]

25. Increasingly

Sure, there are some seemingly legitimate projects. But my feeling is that the entire so-called "empire" is built on a foundation of corruption, most likely money laundering.

Projects that never get built. Projects that fail. Partners who are crooks. Thousands of shell companies. Blackmail. A string of failed ventures that could have been show to generate cash, i.e., money laundering. Tax evasion (not avoidance - evasion).

My bigly question? We see tons of drip drip drip. But where are the exposes with documentation? The whistleblowers? Deathbed conscience/confession?

[ananda]

14. The guest from the New Yorker talked about this ..

.. on Morning Joe this morning. It was a very
enlightening segment.

He said Ivanka led the deal, and that it was probably
just a paycheck for the Trumps; but likely a money-
laundering opportunity for the Iranian revolutionary
guard and the corrupt cronies in Azerbaijan.

[FakeNoose]

23. It was done in 2008

... so nobody worried about paper trails then.

I'm sure Ivanka had no clue that her father would become POTUS one day.
Just follow the money, and you'll see Trump grabbing a percentage of it.

[asiliveandbreathe]

16. Read it! - The link in this story - just WOW!

I implore you - read to the end..and yes, it a bombshell story..

and read ALL articles..by Josh Marshall..No wonder we feel knee deep in Russian meddling..

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog

Thank goodness for true patriots..

[drm604]

43. Your link goes to a page with links to a bunch of different stories.

Which one are you imploring us to read?

[asiliveandbreathe]

44. The New Yorker story is here - and the link in this thread

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal

Any story by Josh Marshall is important at TPM -

[lagomorph777]

17. More links

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal

http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trumps-azerbaijan-hotel-linked-with-corruption-iran-2017-3

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/6/14827604/trump-tower-baku

[smirkymonkey]

28. Ivanka approved everything on this deal apparently.

She's as dirty and corrupt as her father, yet she tries to make it look like she is as pure as the driven snow. They are such a sickening bunch of grifters!

[lagomorph777]

29. This will be her "elephant tail" picture.

[edhopper]

19. This is nothing

Congress needs to investigate the alt-right report that Obama ran illegal puppy farms.

[Doreen]

21. Now THAT is important!!

Screw the country, we need to make sure those puppy farms are closed.

[Fast Walker 52]

20. just staggering levels of corruption and weirdness going on

[samnsara]

27. only souless fools..

..would live or even stay in a tRump property. They are saturated in evil.

[randome]

32. I'd rather sleep in a doorway if I had to.

[hr][font color="blue"][center]All things in moderation, including moderation.[/center][/font][hr]

[wordpix]

31. so are we the people gonna protect this Trump hotel, too?

[world wide wally]

33. First opportunity we get, we need to hang Chaffetz for corruption.

Maybe hang him twice!

[lindysalsagal]

34. Unimaginable: What kind of stupid doesn't think this will all be found?

And how could our republicans let this fool run, with all of this in his private life?

[OliverQ]

35. They must have some connection too.

Why else would so many Republicans be trying to cover up these stories and voting against releasing his tax returns?

I really really hope GOP members of Congress are found guilty in these scandals and get removed, but I'm not very confident they'll ever get in trouble.

[SHRED]

36. Which governmental agency enforces this??

[MedusaX]

37. FBI?

FBI / DoJ would be my guess.......

[karynnj]

40. Mentally compare this to even the most overblown view of the White Water, which led to a special

proscecutor. NOTHING in this entire project looks kosher. What could the Trumps have wanted out of this? I could see if they wanted what they consider a luxury hotel in a resort area adding to their international network -- but this falls short in so many ways.

What this suggests is WE REALLY NEED THOSE TAX RETURNS.

I wonder if more is done identifying Ivanka's role in this and connecting her to these people could get the truth out -- as she may be the only person Trump might actually care enough about to try to protect ... and she seems in over her head here.

[ymetca]

41. Interesting that Wikileaks dumps CIA docs

The day after Rachel makes this corruption widely known in the MSM.

The Info-war with the lizard-brain humans who run this world continues...

Also --shocking!-- the CIA can spy on smartphones. Really? Omigosh, gee willikers! Tell me something I don't already know...

[dewsgirl]

42. The brazen corruption is breathtaking. I'm wondering how much bigger this can get.

I can't wait for Rachel tonight. I'm addicted to her show.