Strongman President Donald Trump has floated the idea of firing Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller if the former FBI director crosses a “red line” and delves into the financial practices of Trump and members of his family. However, the president cannot escape current and reportedly planned investigations of money laundering pursued by non-federal entities, including state attorneys general. Even if Trump pardons members of his family, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for “all past and present crimes,” presidential pardon power only applies to federal criminal charges, not those brought by the states and, definitely, not criminal indictments by foreign legal authorities.
Although many constitutional law experts claim that Trump cannot be federally indicted while president, he can be indicted by the states. There is a growing amount of evidence that the Trump Organization and its numerous limited liability corporations have been involved in “structured” financing and banking. International structured financing, such as that which Trump and Kushner have engaged in so heavily, is so secretive in nature that a task force of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was unable to penetrate many of the covert money conduits. Structured payments to transfer “hush money” to a sexual abuse victim were part of the criminal charges that sent former House Speaker Dennis Hastert away to federal prison.
Deutsche Bank is reportedly turning over documents to special counsel and congressional investigators on Trump Organization “structured” finance contrivances to launder billions of dollars from Russian oligarchs. Much of this money is suspected of being laundered through the purchases of Trump property in New York, Nevada, Florida, and Hawaii.
New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating Trump since he went after Trump University in a highly-publicized civil suit. Trump settled the suit by paying $25 million after Trump’s election last November. Schneiderman’s investigation of Trump University gave him an insight into the inner workings of the Trump Organization, which very much operates like a criminal syndicate. Schneiderman is, according to various press reports, collecting evidence to indict President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and Kushner on state criminal racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering charges. Apparently, Schneiderman has plenty of company, with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., Attorneys General Matthew Denn of Delaware, Karl Racine of the District of Columbia, Xavier Becerra of California, Lisa Madigan of Illinois, and Douglas Chin of Hawaii, all Democrats, as is Schneiderman, conducting varying investigations of Trump and his businesses located in their jurisdictions. Several Trump pass-through companies are incorporated in Delaware.
Trump, Kushner, and their families and associates lord over a complex mesh of limited liability corporations (LLCs) and limited partnerships, including several pass-through corporations, in New York and Delaware. These, coupled with linked foreign shell corporations in places as varied as the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bermuda, Bahamas, the isle of Jersey, Liechtenstein, Vanuatu, Israel, Russia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Latvia, suggest a business model that lends itself more to money laundering, tax evasion, and liability avoidance than to ethical business standards.
For all of Trump’s and his avid supporters’ bellyaching about globalist hedge fund tycoon George Soros, Kushner tried hard to hide as one of his investments a major stake in a real estate venture called “Cadre.” This was because of a solid business link between Kushner, his brother Joshua Kushner, and Soros. Kushner listed the venture on his ethics form as “Quadro Partners, Inc.” In fact, Quadro does business as Cadre. The other two major investors in Cadre are Soros, along with Trump’s openly gay billionaire booster and Palantir Technologies’ deep data miner Peter Thiel.
Along with reports that Mueller’s prosecutors have managed to “flip” former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former national security adviser and Trump campaign adviser Michael Flynn as cooperating witnesses, there is evidence to suggest similar offers have been made by Schneiderman to Manafort and Flynn as part of the New York criminal probe.
Trump also faces a possible criminal indictment by Panama if former President Ricardo Martinelli, a one-time Trump partner in the building of the 70-story Trump International Hotel & Tower in Panama City, Panama, stands trial in Panama. Martineli, who has been called the “Donald Trump of Panama,” is currently being held by federal authorities in Miami pending an extradition request from Panama’s government. Panama’s current president, Juan Carlos Varela, served as Martinelli’s vice president. So far, Martinelli is in a state of legal limbo, with U.S. Judge in Miami Edwin Torres, a George W. Bush nominee, refusing to grant Martinelli’s bail request. A trial of Martinelli and his sons in Panama—both of whom are on the lam and subject to Interpol arrest warrants—and all acquaintances of the Trump family—could prove embarrassing to Trump. Martinelli is suspected of laundering Colombian Medellin drug money into his and his associates’ enterprises, and that reportedly includes the Trump Tower in Panama City. There is a possibility that Trump and members of his family could be indicted by Panama, Colombia, or both for laundering Colombian narcotics money through not only the Panama venture but real estate in south Florida.
Trump and his syndicate, which now occupy the White House, will likely find that the legal power of the president stops at the fence of the White House. Before the final epitaph is written on the Trump presidency, the legal battles involving his suspicious business operations may play out in Albany, Dover, Honolulu, Sacramento, Springfield, and Manhattan long before they see action in Washington.
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).
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Trump may fire Mueller but he can’t stop state and global investigation of money laundering activities
Posted on July 26, 2017 by Wayne Madsen
Strongman President Donald Trump has floated the idea of firing Department of Justice special counsel Robert Mueller if the former FBI director crosses a “red line” and delves into the financial practices of Trump and members of his family. However, the president cannot escape current and reportedly planned investigations of money laundering pursued by non-federal entities, including state attorneys general. Even if Trump pardons members of his family, including his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for “all past and present crimes,” presidential pardon power only applies to federal criminal charges, not those brought by the states and, definitely, not criminal indictments by foreign legal authorities.
Although many constitutional law experts claim that Trump cannot be federally indicted while president, he can be indicted by the states. There is a growing amount of evidence that the Trump Organization and its numerous limited liability corporations have been involved in “structured” financing and banking. International structured financing, such as that which Trump and Kushner have engaged in so heavily, is so secretive in nature that a task force of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) was unable to penetrate many of the covert money conduits. Structured payments to transfer “hush money” to a sexual abuse victim were part of the criminal charges that sent former House Speaker Dennis Hastert away to federal prison.
Deutsche Bank is reportedly turning over documents to special counsel and congressional investigators on Trump Organization “structured” finance contrivances to launder billions of dollars from Russian oligarchs. Much of this money is suspected of being laundered through the purchases of Trump property in New York, Nevada, Florida, and Hawaii.
New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has been investigating Trump since he went after Trump University in a highly-publicized civil suit. Trump settled the suit by paying $25 million after Trump’s election last November. Schneiderman’s investigation of Trump University gave him an insight into the inner workings of the Trump Organization, which very much operates like a criminal syndicate. Schneiderman is, according to various press reports, collecting evidence to indict President Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., Eric Trump, and Kushner on state criminal racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering charges. Apparently, Schneiderman has plenty of company, with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., Attorneys General Matthew Denn of Delaware, Karl Racine of the District of Columbia, Xavier Becerra of California, Lisa Madigan of Illinois, and Douglas Chin of Hawaii, all Democrats, as is Schneiderman, conducting varying investigations of Trump and his businesses located in their jurisdictions. Several Trump pass-through companies are incorporated in Delaware.
Trump, Kushner, and their families and associates lord over a complex mesh of limited liability corporations (LLCs) and limited partnerships, including several pass-through corporations, in New York and Delaware. These, coupled with linked foreign shell corporations in places as varied as the British Virgin Islands, Panama, Cyprus, Seychelles, Bermuda, Bahamas, the isle of Jersey, Liechtenstein, Vanuatu, Israel, Russia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, and Latvia, suggest a business model that lends itself more to money laundering, tax evasion, and liability avoidance than to ethical business standards.
For all of Trump’s and his avid supporters’ bellyaching about globalist hedge fund tycoon George Soros, Kushner tried hard to hide as one of his investments a major stake in a real estate venture called “Cadre.” This was because of a solid business link between Kushner, his brother Joshua Kushner, and Soros. Kushner listed the venture on his ethics form as “Quadro Partners, Inc.” In fact, Quadro does business as Cadre. The other two major investors in Cadre are Soros, along with Trump’s openly gay billionaire booster and Palantir Technologies’ deep data miner Peter Thiel.
Along with reports that Mueller’s prosecutors have managed to “flip” former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and former national security adviser and Trump campaign adviser Michael Flynn as cooperating witnesses, there is evidence to suggest similar offers have been made by Schneiderman to Manafort and Flynn as part of the New York criminal probe.
Trump also faces a possible criminal indictment by Panama if former President Ricardo Martinelli, a one-time Trump partner in the building of the 70-story Trump International Hotel & Tower in Panama City, Panama, stands trial in Panama. Martineli, who has been called the “Donald Trump of Panama,” is currently being held by federal authorities in Miami pending an extradition request from Panama’s government. Panama’s current president, Juan Carlos Varela, served as Martinelli’s vice president. So far, Martinelli is in a state of legal limbo, with U.S. Judge in Miami Edwin Torres, a George W. Bush nominee, refusing to grant Martinelli’s bail request. A trial of Martinelli and his sons in Panama—both of whom are on the lam and subject to Interpol arrest warrants—and all acquaintances of the Trump family—could prove embarrassing to Trump. Martinelli is suspected of laundering Colombian Medellin drug money into his and his associates’ enterprises, and that reportedly includes the Trump Tower in Panama City. There is a possibility that Trump and members of his family could be indicted by Panama, Colombia, or both for laundering Colombian narcotics money through not only the Panama venture but real estate in south Florida.
Trump and his syndicate, which now occupy the White House, will likely find that the legal power of the president stops at the fence of the White House. Before the final epitaph is written on the Trump presidency, the legal battles involving his suspicious business operations may play out in Albany, Dover, Honolulu, Sacramento, Springfield, and Manhattan long before they see action in Washington.
Previously published in the Wayne Madsen Report.
Copyright © 2017 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report (subscription required).