Thread by @ericuman

1/ There’s something I wanna say about Mueller Mania.

It’s something that became clear to me working on our Trump Inc episode about Trump’s Moscow Tower.

We may not get clarity on “collusion” —but what’s already clear is *Trump was compromised.*

propublica.org/article/trump-…

2/ Trump was secretly working on getting a tower in Moscow. It had the potential to be *his most profitable project.* To make it happen, he *needed* the Kremlin’s help.

Not in some hypothetical, vague way. In a very concrete way.

Lemme explain...

3/ Michael Cohen and Felix Sater were scouting out sites for Trump. Some were in central Moscow—where there are strict high limits.

To build the big Trump Tower there, they would have needed a variance.

You know who could give one? Putin.

4/ This is not a hypothetical. Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has said he’ll “do everything in his power” to stop skyscrapers in central Moscow.

propublica.org/article/trump-…

5/ Trump wanted the best, & Moscow’s best real estate is right in the center of power. Right where there are the tightest height restrictions

A place explored Cohen explored: the Red October Chocolate Factory. (Really) A lovely stroll from the Kremlin:

google.com/maps/dir/Kreml…

6/ And we know* Cohen spoke w/ the Kremlin & asked for help w/ the land *and financing*:

Here’s Cohen’s plea: “COHEN requested assistance in moving the project forward, both in securing land to build the proposed tower and financing the construction.”

apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/wo…

7/ So Trump’s man Cohen asked the Kremlin for help w/ financing. ALSO: While Cohen was trying to negotiate the deal, his trip to Russia was at the formal invitation of a sanctioned bank that’s part *state-owned*. (AND: co-owned by a convicted criminal.)

buzzfeednews.com/article/anthon…

8/ So let’s remember, regardless of whether or not Mueller finds collusion:

Trump stood to make big $$ from cozying up to the Kremlin. That’s just a fact.

9/ In case you’re wondering, we reached out to all the relevant parties here, as we always do. They didn’t comment.

Listen to our whole episode. It's nuts.

wnycstudios.org/shows/trumpinc