Team 10
August 2, 2024 8:47 AM Subscribe
$10M cash withdrawal drove secret probe into whether Trump took money from Egypt by Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig (WaPost gift link)
Surel… oh never mind.
posted by bz at 8:59 AM on August 2 [20 favorites]
posted by bz at 8:59 AM on August 2 [20 favorites]
The guy is covered in dirt. I hope they keep digging.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:09 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 9:09 AM on August 2 [2 favorites]
2020, Trump spokesman Jason Miller: “President Trump has never received a penny from Egypt.”
2024, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung: "“None of the allegations or insinuations being reported on have any basis in fact. The Washington Post is consistently played for suckers by Deep State Trump-haters and bad faith actors peddling hoaxes and shams.”
posted by box at 9:12 AM on August 2 [4 favorites]
2024, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung: "“None of the allegations or insinuations being reported on have any basis in fact. The Washington Post is consistently played for suckers by Deep State Trump-haters and bad faith actors peddling hoaxes and shams.”
posted by box at 9:12 AM on August 2 [4 favorites]
“President Trump has never received a penny from Egypt.”
How about 1 billion pennies?
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:17 AM on August 2 [22 favorites]
How about 1 billion pennies?
posted by Liquidwolf at 9:17 AM on August 2 [22 favorites]
Investigators had also sought to learn if money from Sisi might have factored into Trump’s decision in the final days of his run for the White House to inject his campaign with $10 million of his own money.
Yeah, it’s a stone cold whodunnit, as they say on The Wire.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:27 AM on August 2 [17 favorites]
Yeah, it’s a stone cold whodunnit, as they say on The Wire.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 9:27 AM on August 2 [17 favorites]
Based on the WaPost story, this seems to be the chronology:
posted by pjenks at 9:48 AM on August 2 [44 favorites]
-- TIMELINE --
2015-11: The "Research and Studies Center" (RSC, likely related to Egyptian General Intelligence Agency) opens an account at the Cairo (Heliopolis) branch of the National Bank of Egypt (NBE).
2016-08: The RSC opens a second in the Shanghai branch of NBE. Five days later a company associated to an Egyptian oligarch wired $10 million into the Shanghai account.
2016-09-19: Candidate Trump meets with Egypt's President El-Sisi on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. He says the US would be a "loyal friend" to Egypt and praised Sisi as being a "fantastic guy".
2016-10-28: Trump wires $10 Million to his campaign. The cash infusion was announced as a "contribution" but structured as a loan that could be repayed to Trump.
2017-01-15: A $9,998,000 cash withdrawal (in $100 bills) is made from the RSC account in the Cairo branch of NBE, shortly after the sum was wired there from the Shanghai account. Three days later the Shanghai account was closed and three months later the account in Cairo.
2017-01-20: Trump is sworn in as president.
2017-05-17: Robert Mueller was appointed as a Special Counsel to investigate Donald Trump and potential Russian interference in the 2016 election. Shortly thereafter, Mueller establishes a "Team 10" (for $10 Million) to investigate a tip from a CIA confidential informant ("who had previously provided useful information") that Sisi had sought to send money to Trump.
early 2018: Investigators had obtained records from a handful of Trump's bank accounts for the period of May-November 2016, following Mueller's insistence to keep the investigation narrowly focused on Trump's time prior to becoming president. The records showed no evidence of money from Egypt.
2018-07: Mueller's investigators subpoena the National Bank of Egypt, searching for transactions of approximately $10 million. The bank refused and even appealed to the US Supreme Court but was denied in early January 2019.
2019-01: Still refusing to comply with the subpoena, NBE begins accruing contempt fines of $50,000 per day, imposed by US District Judge Beryl Howell. It is reported in February 2019 that the unnamed "foreign-linked mystery company" had accrued $2.25 million in fines.
2019-02: The NBE relents and delivers 1,000 pages of bank records to US investigators. Of particular interest is a singular handwritten letter dated January 15, 2017 in which the RSC asks the bank to "kindly withdraw a sum of US 9,998,000". This is the first corroborating evidence to the claim of the confidential informant two years prior.
2019-03: Wrapping up his investigation, Mueller hands off the Egypt probe to Trump-appointed US attorney in DC, Jessie Liu. Liu immediately presses NBE for further documentation and pressed the judge to increase contempt fines to $300,000 per day.
2019-04: A statement from an NBE bank manager confirms that the RSC had a "relationship with the Egyptian General Intelligence Agency".
2019-06: Following two months of pressure on the US attorney, FBI investigators convince Liu that the next step should be to subpoena additional Trump bank records, covering the period of early 2017. But, Liu tells investigators she needs to run it by US Attorney General Bob Barr. After meeting with Barr in the Summer of 2019, Liu reverses course and does not approve additional Trump subpoenas worrying about opening a "fishing expedition" and potentially interfereing in a presidential election.
2019-12: Liu is nominated by the Trump to be assistant secretary of the Treasury Department. Bob Barr, in a break with tradition, orders Liu to step down prior to her confirmation.
2020-01-30: US Attorney Bob Barr installs Timothy Shea as Liu's interim replacement as DC US Attorney. Shea puts discussion of the Egypt case on hold.
2020-04: After Shea allows his attorneys to recommend a lengthy prison sentence for Roger Stone, Bob Barr replaces him with Michael Sherwin, an advisor to Barr.
2020-06-07: US District Attorney Michael Sherwin closes the Egypt investigation due to lack of evidence. When interviewed by the Post for this article, Sherwin says, "The case was closed without prejudice. Anyone could have re-opened the case the second I left that office."
2022-01-15: Five years after the cash withdrawal from NBE Cairo, the federal statute of limitations expires for illegal campaign contributions.
Psychopaths. I know we "shouldn't" be armchair psychologists, but if I or any other person I have ever known were to say, suddenly find a paltry 5 million bucks in our bank accounts? We would essentially fuck off and no one except close friends and family would ever hear from us again.
It's all just twisted game playing with these guys, grudges and trying to get one-up on other people and show off. So weird.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:55 AM on August 2 [13 favorites]
It's all just twisted game playing with these guys, grudges and trying to get one-up on other people and show off. So weird.
posted by SoberHighland at 9:55 AM on August 2 [13 favorites]
President Trump has never received a penny from Egypt.
Probably technically correct. Dude’s a mob boss, and he knows enough to make sure money never comes near him. His mountain of shell corps. and affiliated “independent” orgs, though, sure.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:28 AM on August 2 [7 favorites]
Probably technically correct. Dude’s a mob boss, and he knows enough to make sure money never comes near him. His mountain of shell corps. and affiliated “independent” orgs, though, sure.
posted by Thorzdad at 10:28 AM on August 2 [7 favorites]
Trump's bank records would show nothing, because he is smart enough not to deposit $10 million in cash, all at once or broken into batches. Those bags of cash went into storage somewhere, like a Mar A Lago bathroom (same MO as in the Menendez case, where Egyptian gold and cash was delivered and stashed in closets in his house). Trump, or a designee, could easily have spent the $10 million over time in small payments (on, IDK, routine things like suits, jet fuel, and haircuts), and it would have been gone long before the classified records search at Mar A Lago. Some leakage from recipients of cash payments among Trump contractors, vendors, or employees could start to crack this case.
posted by beagle at 10:35 AM on August 2 [4 favorites]
posted by beagle at 10:35 AM on August 2 [4 favorites]
I get that opening the story with the image of guys stuffing bundles of $100s into paper bags is an attention-grabber, but I wish they had set it up like this (all of it info included in the story):
Two months before the 2016 election, the cash-strapped Trump campaign was desperate. Staff felt they needed a last-minute blitz of expensive TV ads but the candidate was refusing to loan funds to the campaign.
Around that time, Trump was seen at the UN talking with Egypt’s president, where he promised to be an “loyal friend” to Egypt if elected. A few weeks later, Trump relented and put $10 million into his campaign. With a last-minute surge, Trump was elected— and just before his inauguration, a secretive group linked to Egypt’s intelligence agency and president withdrew $10 million from a bank account - in bundles of hundred-dollar bills, stuffed into shopping bags. Then the group and the cash disappeared.
Federal investigators pursued the case for years, only to see their work quashed by Trump’s attorney general William Barr and a prosecutor that Barr appointed to the case.
posted by martin q blank at 10:52 AM on August 2 [36 favorites]
Two months before the 2016 election, the cash-strapped Trump campaign was desperate. Staff felt they needed a last-minute blitz of expensive TV ads but the candidate was refusing to loan funds to the campaign.
Around that time, Trump was seen at the UN talking with Egypt’s president, where he promised to be an “loyal friend” to Egypt if elected. A few weeks later, Trump relented and put $10 million into his campaign. With a last-minute surge, Trump was elected— and just before his inauguration, a secretive group linked to Egypt’s intelligence agency and president withdrew $10 million from a bank account - in bundles of hundred-dollar bills, stuffed into shopping bags. Then the group and the cash disappeared.
Federal investigators pursued the case for years, only to see their work quashed by Trump’s attorney general William Barr and a prosecutor that Barr appointed to the case.
posted by martin q blank at 10:52 AM on August 2 [36 favorites]
2022-01-15: Five years after the cash withdrawal from NBE Cairo, the federal statute of limitations expires for illegal campaign contributions.
So why wasn't the case re-opened?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:01 AM on August 2 [5 favorites]
So why wasn't the case re-opened?
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 11:01 AM on August 2 [5 favorites]
The guy is covered in dirt. I hope they keep digging.
One thing I always had rolling around in my head is, the guy is/was heavily into NY real estate, an industry that we are often reminded is utterly run through with Mafia types. Did Donny never have ANY run-ins with the cosa nostra? Ever?
posted by slater at 11:03 AM on August 2 [7 favorites]
One thing I always had rolling around in my head is, the guy is/was heavily into NY real estate, an industry that we are often reminded is utterly run through with Mafia types. Did Donny never have ANY run-ins with the cosa nostra? Ever?
posted by slater at 11:03 AM on August 2 [7 favorites]
> So why wasn't the case re-opened?
Because Merrick Garland is bad at his job.
This is why Democrats should disavow centrism, abandon silly attempts to appeal to media promotion of bipartisanship, and reorient themselves toward attacking political enemies instead of supporting them.
posted by lewedswiver at 11:44 AM on August 2 [39 favorites]
Because Merrick Garland is bad at his job.
This is why Democrats should disavow centrism, abandon silly attempts to appeal to media promotion of bipartisanship, and reorient themselves toward attacking political enemies instead of supporting them.
posted by lewedswiver at 11:44 AM on August 2 [39 favorites]
Did Donny never have ANY run-ins with the cosa nostra? Ever?
Rumor which I find surprisingly believable is that Rudy Guiliani made his prosecutorial bones in the 80s/90s going after Italian Mafia types basically on behalf of the Russian Mafia in NYC. That's a nice, neat place to start for all sorts of things Rudy and Donald.
posted by tclark at 12:02 PM on August 2 [19 favorites]
Rumor which I find surprisingly believable is that Rudy Guiliani made his prosecutorial bones in the 80s/90s going after Italian Mafia types basically on behalf of the Russian Mafia in NYC. That's a nice, neat place to start for all sorts of things Rudy and Donald.
posted by tclark at 12:02 PM on August 2 [19 favorites]
I don’t have time to look for them now, but I have seen some pretty detailed and convincing Twitter threads, noting the number of intersections between Trump, Giuliani and foreign organized crime.
Although I think Merrick Garland has been too timid, federal prosecution generally don’t take cases where they’re not very very certain they’re gonna win. Certainly, there’s a lot of smoke here, but like other aspects of the Russia investigation Unless there is a picture of Trump with the smoking gun in his hand, Trump is going to be able to spin it as a partisan which hunt
posted by CostcoCultist at 12:29 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
Although I think Merrick Garland has been too timid, federal prosecution generally don’t take cases where they’re not very very certain they’re gonna win. Certainly, there’s a lot of smoke here, but like other aspects of the Russia investigation Unless there is a picture of Trump with the smoking gun in his hand, Trump is going to be able to spin it as a partisan which hunt
posted by CostcoCultist at 12:29 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
previous reporting by CNN (2020-10-20):
posted by pjenks at 12:33 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
Feds chased suspected foreign link to Trump’s 2016 campaign cash for three yearsThey did not have the information about the $100 million cash withdrawal, claiming based on sources that the subpoena to Cairo was a dead end
posted by pjenks at 12:33 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
One thing I always had rolling around in my head is, the guy is/was heavily into NY real estate, an industry that we are often reminded is utterly run through with Mafia types.
Strangely enough, despite being across the continent and in Canada, I once heard something about that from a source I consider fairly credible. A former neighbour was some kind of prosecutor and one time we were out working in our respective yards, had got to talking, and the subject of Trump maybe running for president came up. He said he had always heard that any New York concrete pour worth $2 million or more meant mob involvement. His implication was obvious.
posted by house-goblin at 2:02 PM on August 2 [5 favorites]
Strangely enough, despite being across the continent and in Canada, I once heard something about that from a source I consider fairly credible. A former neighbour was some kind of prosecutor and one time we were out working in our respective yards, had got to talking, and the subject of Trump maybe running for president came up. He said he had always heard that any New York concrete pour worth $2 million or more meant mob involvement. His implication was obvious.
posted by house-goblin at 2:02 PM on August 2 [5 favorites]
He said he had always heard that any New York concrete pour worth $2 million or more meant mob involvement. His implication was obvious.
This is already well documented in the Trump literature:
posted by verstegan at 2:31 PM on August 2 [15 favorites]
This is already well documented in the Trump literature:
There was something a little peculiar about the construction of Trump Tower, and subsequent Trump projects in New York. Most skyscrapers are steel girder construction, and that was especially true in the 1980s, says John Cross of the American Iron & Steel Institute. Some use pre-cast concrete. Trump chose a costlier and in many ways riskier method: ready-mix concrete.Trump on the New York mafia: “I have met on occasion a few of those people. They happen to be very nice people. You just don’t want to owe them money.”
Salerno, Castellano and other organized crime figures controlled the ready-mix business in New York, and everyone in construction at the time knew it. So did government investigators trying to break up the mob, urged on by major developers such as the LeFrak and Resnick families. Trump ended up not only using ready-mix concrete, but also paying what a federal indictment of Salerno later concluded were inflated prices for it – repeatedly – to S & A Concrete, a firm Salerno and Castellano owned through fronts, and possibly to other mob-controlled firms. As Barrett noted, by choosing to build with ready-mix concrete rather than other materials, Trump put himself “at the mercy of a legion of concrete racketeers.”
posted by verstegan at 2:31 PM on August 2 [15 favorites]
Because Merrick Garland is bad at his job.
Merrick Garland is the Dick Durban of Chris Coons....
Hmmm, commonality?
posted by WatTylerJr at 2:37 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
Merrick Garland is the Dick Durban of Chris Coons....
Hmmm, commonality?
posted by WatTylerJr at 2:37 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
Surel… oh never mind.
posted by bz at 8:59 AM on August 2 [15 favorites +] [⚑]
Along these lines, I would love to know of a single person who read this article and said, "I was totally going to vote for the guy, but this changes everything."
posted by Kibbutz at 3:42 PM on August 2 [3 favorites]
posted by bz at 8:59 AM on August 2 [15 favorites +] [⚑]
Along these lines, I would love to know of a single person who read this article and said, "I was totally going to vote for the guy, but this changes everything."
posted by Kibbutz at 3:42 PM on August 2 [3 favorites]
Always amazes me who are nice guys to Trump, and who deserves his scorn for daring to question him, or just.... Exist at all
posted by Jacen at 5:04 PM on August 2 [5 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 5:04 PM on August 2 [5 favorites]
...We would essentially fuck off and no one except close friends would ever hear from me again. ftfm
On topic, well, it may not have been an ancient Chinese curse after all but are we all living in interesting times or what?
posted by y2karl at 8:04 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
On topic, well, it may not have been an ancient Chinese curse after all but are we all living in interesting times or what?
posted by y2karl at 8:04 PM on August 2 [1 favorite]
Did Donny never have ANY run-ins with the cosa nostra? Ever?
I've been more or less assuming, since we were first forced to pay attention to that fucker, that he, at some point in the last several decades, served as a confidential informant to at least one (possibly several) law enforcement agencies on the financial doings of some combination of old-school Mafia, Russian mobsters, and other criminal purveyors of dirty money in New York real estate. It's both highly plausible and a good explanation of why the many criminal investigations into Trump have never really cut to the core of his financial shenanigans: presumably a lot of his money and property is badly entangled with seriously shady shit, but entangled in a way which he and/or his organization have received official immunity at some level for and which government investigation has been careful not to get too close to.
posted by jackbishop at 6:55 AM on August 3 [10 favorites]
I've been more or less assuming, since we were first forced to pay attention to that fucker, that he, at some point in the last several decades, served as a confidential informant to at least one (possibly several) law enforcement agencies on the financial doings of some combination of old-school Mafia, Russian mobsters, and other criminal purveyors of dirty money in New York real estate. It's both highly plausible and a good explanation of why the many criminal investigations into Trump have never really cut to the core of his financial shenanigans: presumably a lot of his money and property is badly entangled with seriously shady shit, but entangled in a way which he and/or his organization have received official immunity at some level for and which government investigation has been careful not to get too close to.
posted by jackbishop at 6:55 AM on August 3 [10 favorites]
Trump's role in informing on people to the FBI has become public on at least two occasions.
As BuzzFeed News reported in January 2017, Trump offered to "fully cooperate" with the FBI to monitor potential organized activity in his Atlantic City casinos as far back as 1981.posted by OnceUponATime at 1:06 PM on August 3 [5 favorites]
...
Trump reportedly testified against the employees at Bulgari Jewelry in order to protect himself from criminal prosecution that could have put his real estate license in jeopardy.
Also, from WaPo: Trump’s ties to an informant and FBI agent reveal his mode of operation
During his run for the White House, Trump has maintained that he always operated aboveboard as a real estate developer and casino operator, at a time when corruption and organized crime were rampant in New York and Atlantic City. But the details of Trump’s relationships with [FBI informant Daniel] Sullivan and [FBI agent Walter] Stowe show that he worked with men with underworld connections to further and protect his business interests. In doing so, Trump risked his reputation and his dream of becoming a tycoon.posted by OnceUponATime at 1:17 PM on August 3 [2 favorites]
...
The deal [for his first casino] put Trump in contact with a mob associate, who would later play a central role in a mob scheme to secretly influence Atlantic City’s mayor. It also put him close to an FBI informant whose shady past would imperil Trump’s casino plans.
Is it possible that there is an ancillary crime that has not had its statute of limitations end? Perhaps some action by Barr or the administration. I think the Supreme Court has declared presidents immune from graft, but maybe the person who ran interference for the president.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:30 PM on August 3 [2 favorites]
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 1:30 PM on August 3 [2 favorites]
Everyone knows Trump's favor is always for sale. I'm sure there's a catalog somewhere listing prices and services available. Whether or not you get what you pay for is another thing entirely.
posted by tommasz at 12:25 PM on August 4
posted by tommasz at 12:25 PM on August 4
On The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell the guest pointed out that this is potentially an election interference case similar to the one in which Trump was convicted and that for New York State the statute of limitations has not run out.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:10 PM on August 5
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 8:10 PM on August 5
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posted by pjenks at 8:50 AM on August 2 [10 favorites]