I have a few stray thoughts on @DeutscheBank and @realDonaldTrump in the wake of yesterday's story about the Chicago debacle.
Warning: This thread raises many more questions than it answers. There is still *so much* we don't know about Trump's finances. nytimes.com/2020/10/27/bus…
1. Why did DB release collateral on a Trump loan the day after the 2016 election?
It might be coincidence.
But recall that DB swung into cleanup mode post-election. It sold a big Russian loan. It banned staff from publicly saying “Trump.” It considered modifying Trump’s loans.
What makes this even weirder: DB on 11/9/16 released more collateral than it had to. Trump had repaid $24M; DB released $56M.
I’m told this was a *clerical error* that DB corrected. But it adds to the impression that this was part of the bank's effort to get distance from Trump.
2. It’s easy to forget that the DOJ has been criminally investigating DB for Russian money-laundering since the Obama era. That case had been close to completion in 2016. It's gone quiet under Trump, to the pleasant surprise of DB execs.
Why?
There's another investigation.
We reported in August that Trump's personal banker, Rosemary Vrablic, bought an apartment in 2013 from a Kushner-linked company.
DB opened an investigation, which I'm told is ongoing after nearly 3 months.
3. Chicago Unit Acquisition LLC. This is a Trump-owned company that in 2012 lent >$50M to Trump at a relatively high interest rate.
Why would Trump lend money to himself? Many reporters (including @russchoma@Fahrenthold@susannecraig) have been puzzling over this for years.
One theory I have is that Trump was using this LLC to acquire units in his Chicago building (as the name implies). But why then would the LLC be lending to Trump?
@MotherJones has written that maybe Trump used it to buy debt and avoid taxes. Not impossible.
It's crazy that 4+ years after Trump first disclosed this loan, we still don’t know the reason for it – or even its size. For all we know, it could be $1B.
Bottom line: Despite best efforts of many reporters and investigators, Trump's finances remain largely impenetrable.
Ugh.
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Trump's lenders forgave or canceled $287M in debt. The vast majority was related to Trump's Chicago skyscraper, which he built using borrowed money.
When Trump defaulted in 2008, creditors could have tried to seize the property. But they decided it wasn’t worth the fight.
Instead, hedge funds and private equity firms threw up their hands and forgave most of what Trump owed.
Two of those firms were run by men who later got roles in the Trump administration: @stevenmnuchin1 and Stephen Feinberg, who leads a White House advisory panel.
Ken Curson was Kushner’s handpicked successor to run the NY @observer. He was also in the running for a job in the Trump admin. He was arrested today on federal cyber-stalking charges.
We reported in 2018 on how Kurson had withdrawn from consideration for the federal job after the FBI began investigating Kurson for allegedly harassing a New York doctor as his marriage unraveled. nytimes.com/2018/07/26/bus…
The board of directors of Leon Black's Apollo is launching an investigation of Black's ties to Epstein in wake of last week's @nytimes story. wsj.com/articles/apoll…
This article describes the Apollo investigation as coming at Black's request. He hopes "to put to rest renewed speculation into the nature of his ties to Mr. Epstein."
[One way to put speculation to rest would be to explain why he paid Epstein >$50M for tax/estate services.]
Goldman's then-CEO, @lloydblankfein, was among the senior execs who were exposed in this scandal.
Yet the bank is getting off with a financial penalty that probably won't dent its quarterly profits (since it's already set aside money for a settlement). nytimes.com/2018/11/22/bus…
But wait – @wsj is reporting that Goldman will admit wrongdoing and an Asian subsidiary will plead guilty.
That is a more severe penalty than I said in my original tweet (but still not likely to have a very significant impact on the bank). wsj.com/articles/goldm…
NEW: It's the world's most expensive "peanut" –– @realDonaldTrump and his companies owe more than $620 million, according to a @nytimes tally from his federal tax returns.
@DeutscheBank found that Epstein's bank accounts received transfers tens of millions of dollars from LLCs controlled by Black – even after the bank's anti-financial crime officers raised questions about the transactions.
We reviewed portions of Deutsche's internal report.
At the same time, Black was socializing with Epstein, joining him for meals, yachting and visits to Harvard.
There is a contrast between what we've found in our reporting and how Black described his relationship to investors last year. (Black's firm, Apollo, is publicly traded.)