As tempting as it is to make a batch of popcorn and watch Giuliani and Trump compete to demonstrate who is most addled, the Daniels affair is simply a distraction. The main event is being foretold on the front page of the Washington Post today. It is at least the bump stock of a smoking gun that will prove Trump’s undoing and bring our civil discontent to a head.
The Post details how Trump, a man who literally created his brand around the reckless accumulation of debt, began all cash buying sprees starting in 2008 and running right up to when he announced as a presidential candidate. Suddenly, the guy who never chipped in more than chump change on collaborations that bore his name, was paying top dollar with millions in cash for 100% stakes in properties and golf resorts that showed no hint of profitability. In 2012 and 2014 Trump’s Organization spent over $80 million on projects that would require millions more, while taking full ownership.
Aside from the illogic of the metamorphosis, only reinforced by lame justifications put forth by Eric Trump and toadies – gibberish about the Donald’s emotional attachment to a Scotland resort because his mother was from there, and the epiphany of how full cash purchases provide the “freedom to jump on opportunities” – the real question is where all this disposable cash came from.
The cash purchases began in 2008, when the housing crisis made financing more difficult to obtain. Trump was already persona non grata in every North American financial institution due to a sordid history as a borrower, punctuated by bankruptcies, delinquencies, and a general pattern of outright refusal to live up to his obligations, so the changing macro landscape meant little. Only Deutche Bank in Europe would touch Trump, inexplicably they seemed unfazed by his deadbeat reputation. So he did have some leverage, which makes his sudden preference for paying in full a real head scratcher. But even if we ignore motive, the question of where the money came from seems very hard to answer.
Even in good times Trump revenue claims were met with skepticism. Fact is many of his business properties had a higher than normal vacancy rate, and, needless to say, real estate in general suffered badly during the Great Recession. Yet here is the Trump Organization with fresh millions to spend, and claiming the cash was simply the result of their successful business model. Really?
Of course, Trump goes to extraordinary lengths to keep his books private, but it’s not rocket science, simply analyze revenues versus costs and come up with a number. That’s what the Post is doing, and you can be certain Mueller’s team is way ahead of them. Following the money has always been the key. It is tedious and time consuming, but leads behind the wizard’s curtain. Like most all of the pieces in the collusion puzzle, meticulous uncovering, sorting and proper placement will eventually provide confirmation for anyone paying attention.
Trump has been a business failure from day one, but never let that stop him from living the lifestyle of a sultan, always on the dime of others. Things were eventually going to come unglued, not if but when. Surely the economic trauma of 2008 hit him hard, and his ability to borrow to buy time and pay bills was greatly diminished. Sketchy Deutche Bank connections led to sketchier still Russian oligarchs with Everest like piles of ill gotten gains to launder. Trump, and probably his equally inept and desperate son-in-law were ready to play; and even smart, capable crooks couldn’t bury that paper trail.
Long ago, in an 8500-word telegram from his East European State Department posting, George Kennan changed history by educating the White House on the brutal intrigue of the Kremlin. He made it clear how total their reach into Russian society was, and how nothing took place without their knowledge or promotion. Whoever Trump was working for, however deep and compromising his position was, we can be sure Moscow was well aware of every detail. At some point they figured out how they would exploit his countless vulnerabilities…and here we are.
Today’s Post article should be seen for what it surely is, the first real glimpse at the particulars that will constitute the ruin of Trump. How much chaos and damage he will bring on his way down is anybody’s guess, but things are moving apace, and he knows it. Paying off porn stars is small potatoes compared to treason. Watching Rudy get skewered by George Stephanopoulos might be painful, but it’s the best he’s going to get from now on in, and it won’t get that good again. Mueller is coming! BC