1/ I want to take this new episode of Trump Inc as an opportunity to talk about one of my favorite subjects: First time, often foreign-connected, donors who suddenly get tons of access to Trump and powerful people in his orbit
wnycstudios.org/podcasts/trump…
wnycstudios.org/podcasts/trump…
2/ One thing that Parnas and Fruman have shown a spotlight on is just how easy it is to get access to Trump and his administration by giving large contributions to political groups that support him.
But Parnas and Fruman are far from the only examples.
But Parnas and Fruman are far from the only examples.
3/ For example, before Parnas and Fruman, there was Cheng Gao, the "Buddhist artist" who moved to the US from China in 2015 and suddenly started giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump and the GOP motherjones.com/politics/2019/…
4/ He then moved into Trump Tower and started posting pics from inside Trump's inaugural events, as well as Mar-a-Lago and the White House 
5/ Gao's case is pretty weird, and while it shows how political contributions can buy easy access to the Trump administration, the jury's still out on whether there's anything more nefarious going on there.
But, then there's Simon Kukes....
But, then there's Simon Kukes....
6/ Kukes is a Russian-born American citizen.
In the early 2000s when Putin threw Mikhail Khodorkovsky in jail in one of his first major power grabs, he then put Kukes in charge of the state-owned oil company Yukos.
Kukes is the guy shaking hands with Putin here.
In the early 2000s when Putin threw Mikhail Khodorkovsky in jail in one of his first major power grabs, he then put Kukes in charge of the state-owned oil company Yukos.
Kukes is the guy shaking hands with Putin here.
7/ Kukes has been an American citizen for about 40 years, yet he never gave a single political contribution.....until 2016.
Then, suddenly, he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump and the GOP—nearly all after the Trump Tower meeting opensecrets.org/news/2017/09/r…
Then, suddenly, he gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to Trump and the GOP—nearly all after the Trump Tower meeting opensecrets.org/news/2017/09/r…
8/ We now know that Kukes was in touch with high-ranking Russian officials at the time he was making the contributions, and he boasted on at least one occasion that he was "actively involved in Trump’s election campaign
9/ Kukes sent a picture with Rudy Giuliani from what appears to be a fundraiser in the Hamptons on August 13, 2016, hosted by Woody Johnson, who is now U.S. ambassador to the UK.
"I was at a dinner with Donald Trump," Kukes wrote. "I think his chances are very good."
"I was at a dinner with Donald Trump," Kukes wrote. "I think his chances are very good."
10/ Kukes' then-girlfriend, now-wife Svetlana Stanovkina also got her picture snapped with the running mates at a September 2016 event nbcnews.com/politics/donal…
11/ Another businessman with no history of political donations gave $1 million to the RNC and Trump's inauguration in January of 2017. Soon after, his son showed up at an RNC fundraiser with an Erdoğan-tied businessman, whom he introduced to Trump citizensforethics.org/turkish-busine…
12/ In another instance, a man whose name literally translates to "anonymous" in Turkish and who has no history of making major donations, suddenly starts giving big to the RNC—$250,000 in a single day in September 2018 citizensforethics.org/adsiz-rnc-dono…
13/ Or how about this guy, who gave $100k on December 2, and by December 12, he's at the White House
14/ And this is only the tip of the iceberg. The super PAC that Parnas and Fruman gave to also has a dark money group—run out of the same office by the same people as the super PAC. It has raised upwards of $70 million since 2017, but it doesn't have to disclose its donors.
15/ Another we just published today: Eight members of the House and Senate met with a retired Goldman Sachs partner who, in 2018, suddenly started giving what would amount to $280k to GOP campaigns and committees
citizensforethics.org/members-of-con…
citizensforethics.org/members-of-con…
