RUSSIA/TRUMP BUSINESS/TRUMP TAXES: “The mystery of where Donald Trump found oodles of cash to buy property after property in the nine years before his campaign for president was solved in part this week by the New York Times, whose investigative reporters have for the moment seized from the special counsel the title of most applauded Trump tormentors. Theorists have long speculated—for good reason—that Trump came up with the $400 million he spent thanks to Russia-based money-laundering operations, a conclusion supported by the oft-quoted Donald Trump Jr. line from a decade ago: ‘Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. … We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.’ Indeed, scores of buyers made all-cash purchases, ‘totaling $109 million at 10 Trump-branded properties in South Florida and New York City,’ McClatchy reported, often using shell companies ‘designed to obscure their identities.’ Trump’s own cash purchases came despite his bankruptcies and the downturn in real estate, the Washington Post noted. The Russia money theory helps explain Trump’s inexplicably affable relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin: He dare not bite the hand that pays him off.”
–Jack Shafer, “Week 72: Russia Fixation Fades with Report Trump Dodged Taxes,” Politico, October 6, 2018