NEW: Ivanka Trump likes to pose as a successful businesswoman.
But in looking through her major projects—in Azerbaijan, Panama, and New York—one thing is clear: She's just as steeped in corruption, fraud, and money laundering concerns as her father.
First, look at what we learned from Trump's tax returns: that Ivanka was apparently in on a con to help Trump scam the IRS (and American taxpayers) by portraying her as a "consultant."
Second, there's the Trump hotel project in Panama, which Trump called Ivanka's "baby."
The signs of trans-national money laundering around Ivanka's "baby" were as obvious as anything associated with any building in the entire Western Hemisphere.
Third: Azerbaijan, where Ivanka oversaw one of the most crooked deals in the Trump Org's history. (“Corruption warning signs are rarely more obvious.”)
When all the money laundering allegations details began coming out, Ivanka promptly scrubbed her website of any involvement.
And fourth, Ivanka looked dead to rights for an indictment involving her lies trying to inflate the Trump SoHo market. (She even discussed her schemes via email.)
But then the investigation into Ivanka stopped—after the DA's office received a large donation from Trump's lawyer.
Ivanka doesn't talk much about her failed buildings these days, but it's clear that all of them—Trump Tower Baku, Panama City, Trump SoHo—were saturated in corruption, drenched in money laundering, and key kleptocratic nodes for so many.
Including her.
All of these details of Ivanka’s history of corruption and money laundering links are one of the major reasons this is a clear, potential future for the U.S.
‘If there is an explanation as to how a business can both cease all operations and still be making her as much as a million dollars a year, [Ivanka] owes that explanation to the American people.‘
What a deeply, deeply stupid piece. Doesn't even bother to mention Aliyev once. Honestly surprised anyone would write "America must have Azerbaijan's back" in public in 2020.
'Ivanka reported almost $4 million in revenue from the Trump Hotel in DC in 2019, slightly less than in her disclosure from last year. This appears to contradict Eric Trump’s claim that 2019 was one of the Trump Organization’s most profitable years.' citizensforethics.org/jared-kushner-…
‘[Trump’s] properties have become bazaars for collecting money directly from lobbyists, foreign officials and others seeking face time, access or favor; the records for the first time put precise dollar figures on those transactions.‘ nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Trump made $73 million from foreign sources in his first two years in the White House, including millions in licensing deals in the Philippines, India, and Turkey:
‘In Azerbaijan, Mr. Trump collected $5 million on a hotel deal and reported $1.1 million in consulting fees’
“Is the [pre-1970s] South really better viewed as a set of enclaves of authoritarian rule somehow allowed to exist within a federal democracy? I think so.”
“The United States was not a fully democratic polity until preparations were well under way for the celebration of the bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence. Instead, it was a federal polity of representative democracy... with durable enclaves of authoritarian rule.”
Want to highlight a couple quotes from extremism researchers about Portland:
—"It’s hard to be optimistic in the near- or medium-term for Portland.”
—"People may have traveled to Portland to get some battle experience, so to speak."
On the killing of the far-right Patriot Prayer member last month: "Just like a foreign fighter would go to Syria or Ukraine—it’s the same experience. You’re on the ground, seeing the deterioration of civil order, and it reinforces your little wet dream of an apocalyptic outcome."
The problem with takes like these is that it sets a precedent without end (why stop at California? why not eight Dakotas? why not 15 Alaskan states?) and that, to that end, there’s a far lower threshold to break Texas up (smithsonianmag.com/history/more-1…).
'"It’s really tough to argue that we would be a blue state,” said Mayra Vélez Serrano, a political science professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras. “The [2020] primary tells you that."' politico.com/news/magazine/…