Trump directed Treasury, DOJ to address Erdoğan 'concerns' about Turkish bank

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill


President Trump asked multiple federal agencies to address Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's "concerns" that Turkey’s state-owned bank would be under threat of U.S. sanctions, according to a response from the Treasury Department to a senior Democratic senator.

It is the first public U.S. admission of Trump directing Cabinet officials, in this case in Treasury and the Department of Justice, to involve themselves with Erdoğan’s concerns around Halkbank, a Turkish state-owned bank indicted last month by federal prosecutors for allegedly funneling billions of dollars to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions.

It also raises questions about how Trump’s personal relationships and business dealings influence his foreign policy decisions, at a time when his dealings with Ukraine are under scrutiny as part of a formal impeachment inquiry led by House Democrats.

Read more: https://thehill.com/policy/international/471883-trump-directed-treasury-doj-to-address-erdogan-concerns-about-turkish

[5X]

1. Just more treason and bribery.

This for that. "This" is our pullout and abandonment of the Kurds.

[sandensea]

2. "So, Resh. If I get them to back off on your money laundering, you'll back off on mine?"

"Now you're talking turkey!"

[Grasswire2]

3. because he admittedly has 119 "conflicts of interest" in Turkey and two Trump towers there!

Oy.

[gibraltar72]

4. This is why you don't rush the impeachment.

[SergeStorms]

6. The other side of the coin...

for hastening impeachment: How many more crimes will he commit, how many people will possibly die because of his rash decisions - usually decisions that involve his businesses - and how much more of our democracy will die because of not acting quickly?

We're damned if we do and damned if we don't.

[gab13by13]

5. When I see "The Hill"

I won't click on it. "The Hill" should be boycotted.

[riversedge]

7. 'Ukraine playbook" by Trump and his cronies.........

.............Turkish officials, including Erdoğan, have often raised the issue of Halkbank with the president and other U.S. officials. In November 2018, Reuters reported that Erdoğan claimed Trump promised to “instruct the relevant ministers immediately” about concerns surrounding potential U.S. fines on Halkbank because of the trial, and that U.S. officials called Turkey’s treasury and finance minister the following day.

On Oct. 17, Vice President Pence said Turkish officials raised the issue of Halkbank with him following negotiations with Turkey to pause their offensive in northeastern Syria. The vice president said he responded that the issue was a matter for federal prosecutors.

Wyden said the delay in charges against Halkbank bears hallmarks to the impeachment inquiry surrounding the president and the question of whether Trump directed loyalists to hijack foreign policy for his own personal gain.

“Halkbank stands accused of the largest Iranian sanctions evasion scheme in U.S. history,” Wyden said in his statement. “Congress needs to know to what extent Donald Trump and his cronies were carrying water for a state-owned Turkish bank and whether they ran the same Ukraine playbook by roping U.S. government officials into their personal scheme.”

[Hugin]

8. Another piece of Quo leaking through...

I'm sure there's more... Much much more.