Over the weekend, Donald Trump Jr. confirmed collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia when he admitted to attending a meeting with a Russian lawyer to discuss damaging information on Hillary Clinton. But lost in this latest bombshell is that this meeting was not an isolated incident. In reality, it’s just the latest in a series of Trump-Russia contacts originating with the President’s son that go back more than a decade, a reality that undermines the White House’s shoddy attempts to brush this incident under the rug.
“The Trump family and White House is full of liars who cannot be trusted in any capacity,” said American Bridge Rapid Response Director Emily Aden. “What the New York Times uncovered this weekend is textbook collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, and everyone involved in this scandal from the top down should be held accountable under the law.”
2002-2011: Donald Trump Jr. And Ivanka Trump Partnered With Bayrock Group, Led By Russian Mob-Tied Felix Sater, On Real Estate Deals. “In that context, a troubling history of Trump’s dealings with Russians exists outside of Russia: in a dormant real-estate development firm, the Bayrock Group, which once operated just two floors beneath the president’s own office in Trump Tower. Bayrock partnered with the future president and his two eldest children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, on a series of real-estate deals between 2002 and about 2011, the most prominent being the troubled Trump Soho hotel and condominium in Manhattan […] One of Bayrock’s principals was a career criminal named Felix Sater who had ties to Russian and American organized crime groups. [Bloomberg View, 6/21/17]
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February 2005: Donald Trump Jr. Wrote Felix Sater That His Father Would Partner With Him On A Hotel In Fort Lauderdale. “2005 FORBES has obtained a letter to Sater, listed as Bayrock’s “managing director,” from Donald Trump Jr., which states that his father would be a partner in a proposed hotel-tower in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The letter is cc’d to the Trump Organization’s VP of development.” [Forbes, 10/3/16]
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2006: Donald Trump Jr. And Ivanka Trump Travel To Moscow With Felix Sater. “Donald Trump Jr. and sister Ivanka travel to Moscow. Sater claims Donald Sr. asked him to show them around the city. “He asked if I wouldn’t mind joining them and looking after them while they were in Moscow.” [Forbes, 10/3/16]
September 2008: Donald Trump Jr. Bragged “We See A Lot Of Money Pouring In From Russia.” “‘And in terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia. There’s indeed a lot of money coming for new-builds and resale reflecting a trend in the Russian economy and, of course, the weak dollar versus the ruble,’ he said.” [eTurboNews, 9/15/08]
May 2016: Donald Trump Jr. Sat With “Close Putin Ally” Alexander Torshin At NRA Conference. “While in Russia, the group attended a conference put on by their domestic host. At the event, a speech was given by honorary The Right To Bear Arms member, Alexander Torshin, a former Russian Senator, NRA Life Member and close Putin ally, who was appointed deputy governor for Russia’s central bank by the Russian leader himself. At the most recent NRA Conference in Louisville, Kentucky, in May of this year, Sheriff Clarke tweeted a picture of himself with Donald Trump Jr., who was sitting at special guest Torshin’s table.” [Daily Beast, 12/5/16]
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Torshin Is A Key Figure In Kremlin’s Outreach To The Conservative Movement In The United States “Torshin, once a leader of Putin’s United Russia Party and a senator in the Duma before being named deputy governor of the Bank of Russia in 2015, is a key figure in the Kremlin’s outreach to the conservative movement in the United States.” [Yahoo News, 4/2/17]
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Torshin And Donald Trump Jr. Met At A Private Dinner At The NRA Conference. “While attending last year’s NRA convention in Louisville, Ky., Torshin was introduced to Donald Trump Jr. at a private dinner at a Louisville restaurant, according to three sources familiar with the encounter.” [Yahoo News, 4/2/17]
June 2016: Donald Trump Jr, Jared Kushner, Paul Manafort Meet with Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin who claimed to have damaging information on Hillary Clinton. President Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., was promised damaging information about Hillary Clinton before agreeing to meet with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer during the 2016 campaign, according to three advisers to the White House briefed on the meeting and two others with knowledge of it. The meeting was also attended by the president’s campaign chairman at the time, Paul J. Manafort, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. [NY Times, 6/9/2017]
October 2016: Donald Trump Jr. Paid $50,000 For Appearance At A Think Tank Founded By Putin Allies Fabien Baussart And Randa Kassis. “President Donald Trump’s eldest son was likely paid at least $50,000 for an appearance late last year before a French think tank whose founder and wife are allies of the Russian government in efforts to end the war in Syria. […] The younger Trump was likely paid at least $50,000 for his Paris appearance by the Center of Political and Foreign Affairs. The Trump Organization didn’t dispute that amount when asked about it by The Wall Street Journal.” [Wall Street Journal, 3/2/17]
Published: Jul 10, 2017