Thread by @tomburgis

The @nytimes story on #TrumpTaxReturns says of Russia: "the tax records revealed no previously unknown financial connection — and, for the most part, lack the specificity required to do so". That's no surprise because. Here's why. (1/11)

https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1310398886264135684

When, around the end of last century, banks finally despaired of his endless commercial failures, @realDonaldTrump found a new way to make money. He would use The Apprentice to play the business genius he wasn't, then rent out that brand ... (2/11)

... to developers who would put his name on top of buildings built with money from the kleptocracies that had taken over the former Soviet empire. Trump's cut would run to many millions. He boasted about these projects in a letter to the @WSJ wsj.com/articles/SB119… (3/11)

There was the Trump SoHo, the crowning achievement of his partnership with two characters from the former Soviet Union: Tevfik Arif and Felix Sater (also, as it happens, a spy). Here's an excerpt from my new book KLEPTOPIA that tells that tale. thedailybeast.com/the-kleptocrat… (4/11)

There was the Trump Toronto. The Russian-born developer who paid Trump for his name had made his fortune from a Ukrainian steel mill that he sold through a deal in which he agreed to make a secret $100m payment to representatives of Putin's Kremlin. ft.com/trumptoronto (5/11)

And there was the Trump Panama. That one, @Reuters has reported, became a success with the help of a broker who was in business with a drug-money launderer and a couple of ex-Soviet crooks. reuters.com/investigates/s… (6/11)

Trump's approach was, I've been told, "wilful obliviousness". The paper trails (such as the one in the tax records the @nytimes has found) would show only income from licensing deals with the developer, not where the developer's money came from. (7/11)

In office, it's way simpler for Trump. Kleptocrats can pay him directly by taking rooms at his Washington hotel. washingtonpost.com/local/public-s… (8/11)

Look at his allies. Putin, Mohammed bin Salman, Kim Jon-un, Duterte... They all cultivate the image of the nationalist strongman while presiding over the looting of their nations. This is what I've called Kleptopia: the growing alliance of those who rule through corruption (9/11)

Here's @jentaub explaining it brilliantly in the @washingtonpost washingtonpost.com/outlook/trump-… (10/11)

Because the rule of law is a weapon they wield and which they fear to see in the hands of their enemies, kleptocrats need above all to maintain the immunity from prosecution that comes with high office. Elections? They must be won at all costs.

theguardian.com/commentisfree/… (11/11)

And here I am trying to explain why this all matters on @BBCWorld (from 4 mins 50). Ultimately it's about the bonds that keep democracy going.

bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod…