When Donald Trump announced he planned to launch his own social media platform—and eventually his own streaming and web-hosting MAGA-verse—his allies speculated it could launch him into another stratosphere of messaging power and wealth. The idea was to wed the former president’s new venture to a so-called “SPAC” (a Special Purpose Acquisition Company)—a publicly-traded empty […]
Author: Russ Choma
The Trumps Did Business With an Oligarch Linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. They’d Like You to Forget.
As part of the ongoing negotiations to revive the Iran nuclear deal, diplomats have floated the possibility of removing the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps from the United States’ official list of terrorist groups. That would be a controversial step, and the matter is far from settled. But many on the right are enraged by the […]
Trump Won’t Face Charges in New York. That Doesn’t Mean He Did Nothing Wrong.
Former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance pursued Donald Trump for years—methodically wading through ultimately fruitless legal challenges by Trump’s attorneys to block him from accessing the inner workings of the Trump Organization. Analysts assumed that Trump was fighting a defense not so much based on his innocence but on running out the clock on the […]
Saudi-Backed Golf League Plans Tournament at Trump’s New Jersey Course
Donald Trump’s golf business has long been his pride and joy. An obsessive golfer, he owns or operates at least a dozen courses, and long before he became president, he sank hundreds of millions into building or acquiring some of the sport’s most prominent properties. But as his political career turned increasingly toxic, even the […]
Aging Senators’ Zoom With Zelenskyy Went About As Well as You’d Expect
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with members of the US Congress Saturday morning to plead for more military help—he asked for either a no-fly zone over his country to protect it from Russian air attacks, or shipments of planes. While Congressional leadership praised the meeting, it seems to have had all of the hiccups you […]
Russian Oligarchs Are Hurrying Their Jets and Yachts to Safety. America Is Letting Them.
For years, Russian oligarchs have prepared for the possibility that Western governments might try to come after their wealth. Thanks to decades of relatively lax regulations on plane registration and boat ownership, many of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies are now rushing their most valuable assets to safety. It shouldn’t be difficult to seize—or at least […]
After 30 Years of Taking Their Money, It May Be Too Late for the West to Get Putin’s Oligarchs
Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has put the issue of international corruption front and center, sparking conversations and regulatory changes that policymakers in Washington and European capitals had put aside for decades. But unless the Biden administration and its European allies act fast, the chance to punish Russian oligarchs and others close to Putin could slip […]
The Trumps Must Comply With Subpoenas, Judge Rules
A New York judge ruled Thursday afternoon that former President Donald Trump and two of his children—Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.—must comply with subpoenas issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her ongoing civil investigation into whether Trump and his company committed bank and insurance fraud. James has been scrutinizing […]
Trump’s Accounting Firm Says It No Longer Stands Behind His Financial Statements
Former President Donald Trump’s longtime accountant has notified the Trump Organization that the statements of financial condition it prepared for Trump between 2011 and 2020 should no longer be relied upon as accurate. Last week, Mazars USA LLP, an accounting firm that has been used by Trump for years to create these financial statements and […]
NY Attorney General: Evidence Suggests Trump “Fraudulently Valued” His Assets
New York Attorney General Letitia James has escalated her investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business practices, telling a judge that she has evidence that the Trump Organization gave lenders and insurance companies incorrect information about the value of his properties for years and that she now needs the court’s help to force Trump and his […]