Thread by @Fahrenthold

NEW: This story touches on one of the biggest mysteries in @realDonaldTrump's finances -- which only gets more mysterious, the more i dig into it.
The mystery is called "Chicago Unit Acquisition, LLC" 1/

Nobody outside Trump Org. had heard of Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC until @realDonaldTrump submitted his financial disclosures as a candidate. They showed he owed more than $50M to an entity with that name. 2/

That's a big loan, even for a real-estate developer like @realDonaldTrump. So what is this entity that the president owes more than $50M? 3/

Well, it's not a bank. Public records in Delaware (where it's registered) don't list any other loans it's made.
It has a pretty thin paper trail, but govt. docs show the company's headquarters is 725 Fifth Avenue, NYC. 4/

...Which is Trump Tower. 5/

In fact, Chicago Unit Acquisition is owned by @realDonaldTrump and managed (now) by Eric Trump. Which means Donald Trump owes more than $50 Million to...himself.
Why?6/

As far as I know, @realDonaldTrump has only talked about this loan once, to the @nytimes in 2016. He said it was a loan on his Chicago tower, which he bought back from the lenders.
“I have the mortgage. That is all there is. Very simple. I am the bank.”7/
nytimes.com/2016/05/24/bus…

But which loan is he talking about? We checked both of the publicly listed loans on the Chicago tower – a $640M loan from Deutsche Bank, and a $130M “mezzanine loan” from other lenders. And...8/

...And neither one appears to have been sold, to @realDonaldTrump or anyone. Both, in fact, appear to have been paid off and cancelled in 2012. 9/

So...I know more about this debt than I used to. But I still don't understand it.
If *you* know something about this loan, or about why @RealDonaldtrump would see an advantage in owing himself $ (as opposed to just paying off the loan)...I'm at [e-mail] END/

Here's the story that mentions Chicago Unit Acquisition today: washingtonpost.com/politics/after…