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[The Technomancer]

Whoops

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/03/13/donald-trumps-worst-deal

As you approach the city center, a tower at the end of the avenue looms in front of you. Thirty-three stories high and curved to resemble a sail, the building was clearly inspired by the Burj Al Arab Hotel, in Dubai, but it is boxier and less elegant. When I visited Baku, in December, five enormous white letters glowed at the top of the tower: T-R-U-M-P.

The building, a five-star hotel and residence called the Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku, has never opened, though from the road it looks ready to welcome the public. Reaching the property is surprisingly difficult; the tower stands amid a welter of on-ramps, off-ramps, and overpasses. During the nine days I was in town, I went to the site half a dozen times, and on each occasion I had a comical exchange with a taxi-driver who had no idea which combination of turns would lead to the building's entrance.

The more time I spent in the neighborhood, the more I wondered how the hotel could have been imagined as a viable business. The development was conceived, in 2008, as a high-end apartment building. In 2012, after Donald Trump's company, the Trump Organization, signed multiple contracts with the Azerbaijani developers behind the project, plans were made to transform the tower into an ”ultra-luxury property." According to a Trump Organization press release, a hotel with ”expansive guest rooms" would occupy the first thirteen floors; higher stories would feature residences with ”spectacular views of the city and Caspian Sea." For an expensive hotel, the Trump Tower Baku is in an oddly unglamorous location: the underdeveloped eastern end of downtown, which is dominated by train tracks and is miles from the main business district, on the west side of the city. Across the street from the hotel is a discount shopping center; the area is filled with narrow, dingy shops and hookah bars. Other hotels nearby are low-budget options: at the AYF Palace, most rooms are forty-two dollars a night. There are no upscale restaurants or shops. Any guests of the Trump Tower Baku would likely feel marooned.

Ivanka Trump was the most senior Trump Organization official on the Baku project. In October, 2014, she visited the city to tour the site and offer advice. An executive at Mace, the London-based construction firm that oversaw the tower's conversion to a hotel, met with Ivanka in Baku and New York. He told me, ”She had very strong feelings, not just about the design but about the back of the hotel—landscaping, everything." The Azerbaijani lawyer said, ”Ivanka personally approved everything." A subcontractor noted that Ivanka's team was particular about wood panelling: it chose an expensive Macassar ebony, from Indonesia, for the ceiling of the lobby. The ballroom doors were to be made of book-matched panels of walnut. On her Web site, Ivanka posted a photograph of herself wearing a hard hat inside the half-completed hotel. A caption reads, ”Ivanka has overseen the development of Trump International Hotel & Tower Baku since its inception, and she recently returned from a trip to the fascinating city in Azerbaijan to check in on the project's progress." (Ivanka Trump declined requests to discuss the Baku project.)

But the Mammadov family, in addition to its reputation for corruption, has a troubling connection that any proper risk assessment should have unearthed: for years, it has been financially entangled with an Iranian family tied to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the ideologically driven military force. In 2008, the year that the tower was announced, Ziya Mammadov, in his role as Transportation Minister, awarded a series of multimillion-dollar contracts to Azarpassillo, an Iranian construction company. Keyumars Darvishi, its chairman, fought in the Iran-Iraq War. After the war, he became the head of Raman, an Iranian construction firm that is controlled by the Revolutionary Guard. The U.S. government has regularly accused the Guard of criminal activity, including drug trafficking, sponsoring terrorism abroad, and money laundering. Reuters recently reported that the Trump Administration was poised to officially condemn the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization.

Alan Garten, the Trump Organization lawyer, did not deny that there was corruption involved in the project. ”I'm not going to sit here and defend the Mammadovs," he said. But, from a legal standpoint, he argued, the Trump Organization was blameless. In his opinion, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act doesn't apply to the Baku deal, even if corruption occurred. ”We didn't own it," he said of the hotel. ”We had no equity. We didn't control the project. The flow of funds is in the wrong direction." He added, ”We did not pay any money to anyone. Therefore, it could not be a violation of the F.C.P.A."

”No, that's just wrong," Jessica Tillipman, an assistant dean at George Washington University Law School, who specializes in the F.C.P.A., said. ”You can't go into business deals in Azerbaijan assuming that you are immune from the F.C.P.A." She added, ”Nor can you escape liability by looking the other way. The entire Baku deal is a giant red flag—the direct involvement of foreign government officials and their relatives in Azerbaijan with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Corruption warning signs are rarely more obvious."

The link goes into a lot more detail

 

[Herr Schwarz]

There's a reason why he doesn't want his tax.returns shown. It doesn't stop here. Trump sells his name to whoever got money. Whoever.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Someone really needs to shop Trump's head in here.

 

[Wanda/Wander]

The thing that everyone seems to be missing is even if by some miracle he escapes this Russia thing, Trump's conflicts of interests with his business ties are enough to impeach him today.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

Not sure what this means even reading it is hard to explain what he did wrong

 

[UberTag]

The thing that everyone seems to be missing is even if by some miracle he escapes this Russia thing, Trump's conflicts of interests with his business ties are enough to impeach him today.

Enough to impeach him... IF the Democrats take the house in 2018.
It's not happening otherwise.

 

[bodyofanamerican]

Enough to impeach him... IF the Democrats take the house in 2018.
It's not happening otherwise.

Need a Senate majority to convict, too!

 

[Mr.Shrugglesツ]

Not sure what this means even reading it is hard to explain what he did wrong

US entities aren't supposed to be doing business with Iran sanctioned entities. Basically, they've been like "sanctions? who gives a shit.harrisonford".

Moreover, Garten said, the Trump Organization had signed binding contracts with the Mammadovs and couldn't simply abandon its agreements. But Jessica Tillipman, the law-school assistant dean, told me, ”You can't violate sanctions just because you have a contract with someone." According to Erich Ferrari, the lawyer who specializes in sanctions, companies that learn of a possible sanctions violation typically commission a ”look-back" investigation that ”reviews all payments you received, to make sure they didn't originate with a sanctioned entity." He added, ”All the big four accounting companies do them routinely." The Trump Organization did not commission a look-back.

 

[Zach]

Someone really needs to shop Trump's head in here.

His hair will be sufficient.

 

[mo60]

The thing that everyone seems to be missing is even if by some miracle he escapes this Russia thing, Trump's conflicts of interests with his business ties are enough to impeach him today.

Yeah. There are so many things that can result in an eventual impeachment for trump. The GOP just has to have an incentive to impeach him.

 

[The Technomancer]

EDIT: More succinctly put above

 

[Smiles and Cries]

US entities aren't supposed to be doing business with Iran sanctioned entities. Basically, they've been like "sanctions? who gives a shit.harrisonford".

thanks

this shit ain't gonna sink him, unless Iran wants to screw with him and release a lot of records

 

[Dreams-Visions]

A former top official in Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Tourism says that, when he learned of the Trump hotel project, he asked himself, “Why would someone put a luxury hotel there? Nobody who can afford to stay there would want to be in that neighborhood.”

Damn. You can pay for school, but you can't buy class.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Enough to impeach him... IF the Democrats take the house in 2018.
It's not happening otherwise.

Yeah. There are so many things that can result in an eventual impeachment for trump. The GOP just has to have an incentive to impeach him.

Okay but let's say we take the house and can get him impeached, then what. Is it Pence's time to shine?

 

[Brewmont]

Okay but let's say we take the house and can get him impeached, then what. Is it Pence's time to shine?

How many times is this asked in every Trump thread? Then there's the back and forth about whether or not Pence would be implicated and if Paul Ryan would be president. Someone needs to like....add it to the OP in every Trump thread lol

 

[Surfinn]

Okay but let's say we take the house and can get him impeached, then what. Is it Pence's time to shine?

I'm hoping investigation is done for months and Trump goes down with his administration for the Russia stuff (at least his senior staff or lots of it). That's best case scenario.

 

[Nekofrog]

so what country is trump going to inevitably flee to?

 

[Garlador]

How many times is this asked in every Trump thread? Then there's the back and forth about whether or not Pence would be implicated and if Paul Ryan would be president. Someone needs to like....add it to the OP in every Trump thread lol

If you dream hard enough, someday your dreams may come true.

Seriously, though. I keep expecting to wake up one morning and the headline to be "Trump caught on tape with Russians; Congress takes steps to impeach".

And I wouldn't even be fazed.

 

[sunshine and gasoline]

so what country is trump going to inevitably flee to?

Russia.

 

[Garlador]

Russia.

This could get awkward.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

This could get awkward.

I thought there were reports Russia was going to give Snowden to Trump?

sorry for the OT but just remembered hearing that a few weeks ago

 

[ZealousD]

Not sure what this means even reading it is hard to explain what he did wrong

The Trump Organization could be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by not doing their due diligence in investigating the Azerbaijani company that built the Trump-branded hotel in Baku. The people behind the project were relatives of a ridiculously corrupt Azerbaijani oligarch who has business ties with people within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The Trump Organization was heavily involved in the project beyond just putting their name on the building. For example Ivanka Trump made personal trips to the hotel to approve things like layouts and building materials. Even just the bare minimum of investigation into who Trump was doing business with would have raised tons and tons of red flags. The Trump Organization would basically have had to close their eyes, put their fingers in their ears, and go LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALA in order to not see the signs of terrible corruption.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

The Trump Organization could be in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by not doing their due diligence in investigating the Azerbaijani company that built the Trump-branded hotel in Baku. The people behind the project were relatives of a ridiculously corrupt Azerbaijani oligarch who has business ties with people within the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The Trump Organization was heavily involved in the project beyond just putting their name on the building. For example Ivanka Trump made personal trips to the hotel to approve things like layouts and building materials. Even just the bare minimum of investigation into who Trump was doing business with would have raised tons and tons of red flags. The Trump Organization would basically have had to close their eyes, put their fingers in their ears, and go LALALALALA I CAN'T HEAR YOU LALALALA in order to not see the signs of terrible corruption.

They are just going to say we did not know. Even if they were suppose to investigate.

Trump does not like what ever you call those silly things that get in the way of projects. Regulations?

 

[SkyOdin]

Not sure what this means even reading it is hard to explain what he did wrong

The article explains it in depth, but the gist is that American businesses can't legally do business with foreign companies involved in corruption. In particular, these laws don't accept ignorance as an excuse: they mandate that American businesses must do due diligence researching potential clients first. The laws began to be heavily enforced after 9/11 as a means of limiting the anount of illicit money flowing into the hands of terrorists.

In this case, Trump may have helped a network of corrupt business move money into the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who were using shell companies to buy components for ballistic missiles. There are also allegations that this is a pattern of behavior, and that Trump has developed a reputation for being willing to overlook corruption in his dealings with foreign partners.

 

[ZealousD]

They are just going to say we did not know. Even if they were suppose to investigate.

Trump does not like what ever you call those silly things that get in the way of projects. Regulations?

"The law even made it a crime for an American company to unknowingly benefit from a partner's corruption if it could have discovered illicit activity but avoided doing so. This closed what was known as the ”head in the sand" loophole."

So ignorance is not a valid defense in this case. The bare minimum of due diligence would have revealed the corruption.

 

[commedieu]

Edit: misread.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

The article explains it in depth, but the gist is that American businesses can't legally do business with foreign companies involved in corruption. In particular, these laws don't accept ignorance as an excuse: they mandate that American businesses must do due diligence researching potential clients first. The laws began to be heavily enforced after 9/11 as a means of limiting the anount of illicit money flowing into the hands of terrorists.

In this case, Trump may have helped a network of corrupt business move money into the hands of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who were using shell companies to buy components for ballistic missiles. There are also allegations that this is a pattern of behavior, and that Trump has developed a reputation for being willing to overlook corruption in his dealings with foreign partners.

"The law even made it a crime for an American company to unknowingly benefit from a partner’s corruption if it could have discovered illicit activity but avoided doing so. This closed what was known as the “head in the sand” loophole."

So ignorance is not a valid defense in this case. The bare minimum of due diligence would have revealed the corruption.

Ok I understand this is being reported and clear now. But who is going to do anything about this, not Jeff Sessions?

 

[gutter_trash]

Rachel Maddow is covering this now Live in MSNBC

 

[Hours Left]

Watching this right now on Rachel Maddow's show. This is crazy.

 

[the_firewithin]

Maddow kills it with these stories tying the fuck head to super shady business dealings

 

[Herr Schwarz]

This needs signal boosting cos this is justification for the subpoena of his tax returns

 

[Vixdean]

Welp, Veep is dead, House of Cards is no longer relevant, now Trump is going to kill Homeland.

 

[Hours Left]

This needs signal boosting cos this is justification for the subpoena of his tax returns

The guy who wrote the story said this is just one of multiple foreign business dealings that might collapse under further scrutiny.

 

[Dubbedinenglish]

There's a reason why he doesn't want his tax.returns shown. It doesn't stop here. Trump sells his name to whoever got money. Whoever.

Remember when Ghadaffi literally pitched a tent in Trump's backyard.....

 

[Johnny Cage In The Shower]

Fuck! This shit just makes me so angry, how can this Baffoon get away with all this shit. No business man in the Western world should be involved in this kind of shady, Evil
Operations. Let alone the fuckin president of USA!

 

[Swass]

The thing that everyone seems to be missing is even if by some miracle he escapes this Russia thing, Trump's conflicts of interests with his business ties are enough to impeach him today.

Amazing that the travel ban excludes countries he does business in.. I can't believe he is skating by doing this..

 

[Gattsu25]

Rachel Maddow did a great job of bringing attention to this story today.