Trump is a political and government novice, and this is not the first time he has put his complete ignorance of governmental laws on show for the world to see via Twitter. It would be in his best interests – and in the best interests of the country – for him to start educating himself on the laws and procedures that apply to the government he now runs. After all, he did audition for the job.
The genesis of the story appears to this Heat St. article , as later developed by the BBC, Guardian and McClatchy, outlining an ongoing counterintelligence (not criminal) investigation into potential improper financial contacts between Russian financial institutions and four Trump associates. NBC had this article about a reported investigation of Trump adviser Paul Manafort, who later resigned from Trump's campaign. I wrote about it here.
Perhaps it's his limited vocabulary and inability to articulately express himself. Perhaps it's his ignorance of the law (and his apparent disinclination to educate himself.) Only two members of Donald Trump's cabinet have law degrees -- Mike Pence and Jefferson Sessions. (A third is awaiting confirmation.)
Whatever the root of his knowledge deficiency, the result is the obvious: He is as glaringly under-informed as his supporters (and advisors, several of whom do have law degrees and should know better.)
For an intriguing twist to the Trump-Russia-Financial ties, check out this Guardian article on Deutsche Bank and Trump. Trump, Ivanka and Jared and Jared's mother's all have accounts there. Recently, it has been the subject of a DOJ investigation for aiding Russian money laundering.
Trump has huge outstanding loans with the bank:
According to an analysis by Bloomberg, Trump now owes Deutsche around $300m. He has four large mortgages, all issued by Deutsche’s private bank. The loans are guaranteed against the president’s properties: a new deluxe hotel in Washington DC’s old Post Office building, just round the corner from the White House; his Chicago tower hotel; and the Trump National Doral Miami resort.
Analysts say the loans to Trump are very surprising considering they were made after he defaulted on $40 million in earlier loans and there was a big lawsuit between the two.
Deutsche has had huge fines imposed on it for its role in Russian money laundering:
In January a US regulator, the New York Department of Financial Services, fined Deutsche Bank $425m for laundering around $10bn of Russian money. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority imposed a £163m fine, its largest ever.
The US Department of Justice is still investigating the Russian scheme. In December Deutsche agreed to pay the department $7.2bn. The fine related to the mis-selling of residential mortgage-backed securities and other activities during 2005-7. The US originally asked Deutsche to pay $14bn.
According to Democratic congressman Bill Pascrell Jr, a member of the House Ways and Means committee:
We know that Deutsche Bank is a major lender to President Trump, and the firm is also currently undergoing scrutiny by the Department of Justice for alleged misconduct. “I think it’s important for the American people to know the extent of the bank’s involvement with the president, and whether there is any Russian involvement in loans made to Mr Trump.”
The more Trump uses fake facts to deflect from his alleged ties to Russia, the more the media will dig in. He may have done nothing wrong, but he's not going to win the media war on this one. He's just digging himself a bigger hole.
