Thursday, April 18, 2019

Follow the Dirty Money

It is well known that Deutsche Bank has a 'special relationship' with Don Veto.  The bank was lending him money when no one else on Wall Street would bear the "Donald risk".  Now, the House Intelligence and Finance Committees want to know why Deutsche gave such favorable treatment to the bankrupt welsher.  US Person wishes to suggest why the connection exists in two words: money laundering.  When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, billions in formerly state owned assets were ferreted out of the country during the ensuing chaos.  A lot of that money ended up in western banks, especially Deutsche Bank.  The bank had money to burn, so to speak, so why not invest it in Trump-owned real estate and businesses?  The parties sued each other over rotten deals, but already in a co-dependent relationship, they continued to do business.  Trump still owes the bank hundreds of millions, and he keeps substantial millions in Deutsche wealth management accounts.

On Monday, Congressional investigators subpoenaed records from the bank regarding its loyal customer, as well as records from Citicorp and Chase. “The potential use of the U.S. financial system for illicit purposes is a very serious concern,” Representative Maxine Waters, the chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee, said in a statement.  Don Veto may have been a witting enabler of the washing scheme, so his relationship with Deutsche is coming under intense scrutiny.  Russian mobsters were known to frequent Trump's Atlantic City casino, perhaps to keep an eye on their money. If US Person were forced to speculate, Russian money laundering operations may be the source of kompromat, which explains Don Veto's conspicuous policy tilt towards the Kremlin.

Deutsche bank has lent over $2 billion to Individual I, and he is the bank's biggest creditor at $300 million in debt.  According to investigating officials, the bank is cooperating with the committees' record demands.  A joint subpoena has been negotiated for two months; the bank wanted to limit its scope to reduce its compliance costs and speed up production.  The family owned Trump Organization, speaking through son Eric Trump, is understandably unhappy with the probing saying it "sets a horrible precedent for all taxpayers".  The feds are not the only ones interested in Trump-Deutsche dealings.  The state of New York has also issued its subpoena for bank records.  I do not know about you dear reader, but US Person does not owe anybody $300 million.  When you owe that much to a bank, you become a business partner, not just a customer.  As they say in DC, 'the truth will out'; just ask William Barr.