Richard Keebler
2018-05-05 22:16:41 UTC
Active Measures director says Trump's Russian mob ties are his
biggest legal vulnerability
by Brent Bambury
As Donald Trump's legal team changed this week, so did the version
of events relating to the transfer of hush money to a porn star.
The admission made on Wednesday by Rudy Giuliani that Trump knew
about the payment a reversal of Trump's earlier claim took the
White House by surprise.
But on Friday morning Trump put some distance between himself and
Giuliani without clarifying the ever confusing details of the
payment.
Those details matter because the payment could constitute a
violation of campaign finance law.
Trump may be vulnerable on that front, or Robert Mueller may find
evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction that would expose
the president to other charges.
Jack Bryan believes Trump's legal vulnerabilities go back even
further, predating his presidency.
"I think he's got very serious legal problems," Bryan says on Day
6. But they might not be the problems raised by Stormy Daniels.
Bryan's first feature length documentary, Active Measures, takes a
long look at malevolent Russian influence, but it converges on
Trump, his association with Russian mobsters and the Russian money
that kept him in business.
Vanity Fair asks: "Is This the Documentary That Can Take Down
Trump?"
A better question might be: 'How mad will this make Putin?'
Shell companies buy condos
Active Measures shows how foreign investments made by Russian
oligarchs bolster the Kremlin's ambitions to exert influence in
the west. The key is money laundering the export of Russian
wealth with the knowledge and approval of Putin.
The Trump Taj Mahal, now known as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Atlantic City, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (CP Images)
Bryan says mobsters were Trump clients as early as 1985.
"He sells three condos to a man named David Bogatin, who's a
Russian mobster," Bryan says. "This is in Trump Tower. And the
reason they did Trump Tower is that it was the second building in
New York where a shell company could purchase a condominium. And
so it makes it much more easy to launder dirty money."
When Trump's fortunes fall, the Russians smell blood.
"Once he loses out in Atlantic City, once he can't get a loan from
a bank, that's when the Russian mafia says: 'We have an
opportunity here,'" says Bryan.
That's when Trump becomes less of a partner for Russian mobsters
and more of a mark.
Bryan's film alleges that Trump needed Russian mob money to
reinvent himself after his disastrous string of bankruptcies.
Without it, the film alleges, he would never have won the
presidency.
"The Russians saved him. They rescued him. He would not have
gotten back in business without them," journalist Craig Unger says
in the film.
Bayrock Group, Sater and Cohen
After multiple bankruptcies, when most of Trump's investors had
fled, a real estate firm with Russian backing moved into Trump
Tower. Bryan's film sees this as a turning point, an
intensification of Russian interference and a new source of wealth
for Trump.
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, walks
along a sidewalk in New York on April 11, 2018. (Seth
Wenig/Associated Press)
"Bayrock Group is a Russian real estate firm. The manager was this
guy Felix Sater, and he is very connected to the Russian mafia,"
Bryan says.
Sater, a convicted felon, also has ties to Trump's recently fired
attorney, Michael Cohen. Bryan says Cohen entered the Trump
organization at the same time as Bayrock.
"Cohen is childhood friends with Felix Sater. They went on their
first date together," Bryan says. "They did a lot of business
together."
Bayrock operated from offices two floors below Trump's and
partnered with him on a wide variety of real estate deals from
2002 to 2011. Bryan says Bayrock likely didn't see Trump as a
political player or a potential president. They saw him as a
shield.
"I think, at that point, they're seeing him as: he's a really
famous guy and it's great cover because nobody's going to question
a lot of money going into the Trump organization. And they knew
that he needed the money. And also they knew he's really
litigious. And so it would be really hard to go after him. And I
think that he just became this sort of perfect place to stash
money."
Donald Trump and Felix Sater. (Shooting Films)
How money laundering could be exposed
Through this period, Sater remained in contact with his old friend
Michael Cohen. A series of emails between the two, written during
the campaign, appeared last year in the New York Times.
The FBI raided Michael Cohen's office and home on April 9th. Bryan
says it could mark turning point in the investigation of the
president.
FBI Director Robert Mueller. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
"I think Cohen knows just about everything," he says.
He points to the significance of the Cohen case being handled by
the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York,
and recounts Trump's warning to Robert Mueller.
"The early laundering, the real serious laundering you see from
2004 all the way to 2014, that is going to be taken as a separate
case by the Southern District of New York. And I think the reason
for that is that Trump, at one point, said that it will be
crossing a red line if he looked at his personal business
dealings."
Bryan chooses to end Active Measures with images of resistance,
but he warns democracy needs more action to withstand an onslaught
that he describes as the organized, effective and corrupt
influence exported by Russia.
"If we want to deal with this, we have to address the underlying
problems," he says. "And if we do it, really, if people demand
that we do that, I think that in the long run this could have been
a really positive thing. If we don't, then I think we're going
down a really dark path."
biggest legal vulnerability
by Brent Bambury
As Donald Trump's legal team changed this week, so did the version
of events relating to the transfer of hush money to a porn star.
The admission made on Wednesday by Rudy Giuliani that Trump knew
about the payment a reversal of Trump's earlier claim took the
White House by surprise.
But on Friday morning Trump put some distance between himself and
Giuliani without clarifying the ever confusing details of the
payment.
Those details matter because the payment could constitute a
violation of campaign finance law.
Trump may be vulnerable on that front, or Robert Mueller may find
evidence of collusion with Russia or obstruction that would expose
the president to other charges.
Jack Bryan believes Trump's legal vulnerabilities go back even
further, predating his presidency.
"I think he's got very serious legal problems," Bryan says on Day
6. But they might not be the problems raised by Stormy Daniels.
Bryan's first feature length documentary, Active Measures, takes a
long look at malevolent Russian influence, but it converges on
Trump, his association with Russian mobsters and the Russian money
that kept him in business.
Vanity Fair asks: "Is This the Documentary That Can Take Down
Trump?"
A better question might be: 'How mad will this make Putin?'
Shell companies buy condos
Active Measures shows how foreign investments made by Russian
oligarchs bolster the Kremlin's ambitions to exert influence in
the west. The key is money laundering the export of Russian
wealth with the knowledge and approval of Putin.
The Trump Taj Mahal, now known as Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Atlantic City, in Atlantic City, New Jersey. (CP Images)
Bryan says mobsters were Trump clients as early as 1985.
"He sells three condos to a man named David Bogatin, who's a
Russian mobster," Bryan says. "This is in Trump Tower. And the
reason they did Trump Tower is that it was the second building in
New York where a shell company could purchase a condominium. And
so it makes it much more easy to launder dirty money."
When Trump's fortunes fall, the Russians smell blood.
"Once he loses out in Atlantic City, once he can't get a loan from
a bank, that's when the Russian mafia says: 'We have an
opportunity here,'" says Bryan.
That's when Trump becomes less of a partner for Russian mobsters
and more of a mark.
Bryan's film alleges that Trump needed Russian mob money to
reinvent himself after his disastrous string of bankruptcies.
Without it, the film alleges, he would never have won the
presidency.
"The Russians saved him. They rescued him. He would not have
gotten back in business without them," journalist Craig Unger says
in the film.
Bayrock Group, Sater and Cohen
After multiple bankruptcies, when most of Trump's investors had
fled, a real estate firm with Russian backing moved into Trump
Tower. Bryan's film sees this as a turning point, an
intensification of Russian interference and a new source of wealth
for Trump.
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's personal attorney, walks
along a sidewalk in New York on April 11, 2018. (Seth
Wenig/Associated Press)
"Bayrock Group is a Russian real estate firm. The manager was this
guy Felix Sater, and he is very connected to the Russian mafia,"
Bryan says.
Sater, a convicted felon, also has ties to Trump's recently fired
attorney, Michael Cohen. Bryan says Cohen entered the Trump
organization at the same time as Bayrock.
"Cohen is childhood friends with Felix Sater. They went on their
first date together," Bryan says. "They did a lot of business
together."
Bayrock operated from offices two floors below Trump's and
partnered with him on a wide variety of real estate deals from
2002 to 2011. Bryan says Bayrock likely didn't see Trump as a
political player or a potential president. They saw him as a
shield.
"I think, at that point, they're seeing him as: he's a really
famous guy and it's great cover because nobody's going to question
a lot of money going into the Trump organization. And they knew
that he needed the money. And also they knew he's really
litigious. And so it would be really hard to go after him. And I
think that he just became this sort of perfect place to stash
money."
Donald Trump and Felix Sater. (Shooting Films)
How money laundering could be exposed
Through this period, Sater remained in contact with his old friend
Michael Cohen. A series of emails between the two, written during
the campaign, appeared last year in the New York Times.
The FBI raided Michael Cohen's office and home on April 9th. Bryan
says it could mark turning point in the investigation of the
president.
FBI Director Robert Mueller. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
"I think Cohen knows just about everything," he says.
He points to the significance of the Cohen case being handled by
the US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York,
and recounts Trump's warning to Robert Mueller.
"The early laundering, the real serious laundering you see from
2004 all the way to 2014, that is going to be taken as a separate
case by the Southern District of New York. And I think the reason
for that is that Trump, at one point, said that it will be
crossing a red line if he looked at his personal business
dealings."
Bryan chooses to end Active Measures with images of resistance,
but he warns democracy needs more action to withstand an onslaught
that he describes as the organized, effective and corrupt
influence exported by Russia.
"If we want to deal with this, we have to address the underlying
problems," he says. "And if we do it, really, if people demand
that we do that, I think that in the long run this could have been
a really positive thing. If we don't, then I think we're going
down a really dark path."