One of the weird things about Donald Trump’s impeachment trial – which starts next week – is that I feel like all of the federal and state jurisdictions’ investigations into the Trump family have gone temporarily quiet. My dream was that the indictments would rain down starting on January 21st. But I think people are waiting to see what happens with the Senate trial, and then there will be moves beyond that, no matter what. Interestingly enough, Scotland is taking steps to investigate the Trump family’s shady financial situation right now. Donald Trump has poured a lot of money – none of it his own – into building up his Scottish golf resorts. And now Scotland wants to investigate the finances of those golf clubs, and Eric Trump is throwing a massive tantrum about it.
On the eve of a parliamentary vote on whether an investigation should be ordered into the financing of Donald Trump’s Scottish golf resorts, the former US president’s son has castigated politicians for “advancing their personal agendas”. Eric Trump issued the bulletin as the Scottish parliament prepares to host a debate called by Patrick Harvie, the co-leader of the Scottish Greens. The Trump Organization’s executive vice-president also described Harvie as a “national embarrassment”.
Harvie is urging the first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to seek an unexplained wealth order (UWO) in relation to Trump International, a course in Aberdeenshire, and the famous Turnberry resort in Ayrshire. If granted via courts, a UWO compels businesses or individuals to detail the source of their wealth.
“The Scottish government has tried to avoid the question of investigating Donald Trump’s wealth for far too long,” Harvie told The Scotsman. “There are serious concerns about how he financed the cash purchases of his Scottish golf courses, but no investigation has ever taken place. That’s why I’m bringing this vote to parliament. The government must seek an unexplained wealth order to shine a light on Trump’s shadowy dealings.”
On Tuesday, Eric Trump hit back. “Patrick Harvie is nothing more than a national embarrassment with his pathetic antics that only serve himself and his political agenda,” he said. “If Harvie and the rest of the Scottish government continue to treat overseas investors like this, it will deter future investors from conducting business in Scotland, ultimately crushing their economy, tourism and hospitality industries.”
Harvie is actually an opposition member of the Scottish parliament, with the Greens holding just five seats.
“At a critical time when politicians should be focused on saving lives and reopening businesses in Scotland, they are focused on advancing their personal agendas,” Eric Trump added. “As a company, The Trump Organization has invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the Scottish economy, rescued Turnberry, a Scottish national treasure on the brink of collapse and rebuilt it into one of the finest resorts anywhere in the world. In both Aberdeen and Turnberry, the Trump Organization has created thousands of jobs and has made an overwhelming contribution to the leisure and tourism industry.
US prosecutors are investigating the Trump Organization’s finances and Trump’s tax liabilities, with significant loans to Trump by Deutsche Bank worth about $340m (£249m) that become repayable in 2023 and 2024. The Trump Organization has always been adamant that its Scottish golf courses were bought without any external financing. However, the New York Times reported that in 2016, during the presidential campaign, Trump sought a further loan from Deutsche Bank to fund his refurbishment of Turnberry, using his Doral resort in Miami as collateral.
Despite Eric Trump’s delusional claims, the Trump family’s Scottish golf properties only employ about 625 staffers, some of whom were already let go because of the pandemic. And the Trumps have not paid any corporate tax in Scotland. All Eric Trump did was draw attention to all of this. I’ll admit, of all the Trump scandals, I understand that the financial crimes are probably what will end this family, but I’ve always found so much of it confusing. I don’t get why Deutsche Bank largely propped up Trump, well before his “presidency,” and I don’t understand how overextended Trump really is financially. I mean, the dude is mostly broke and has been for years, but he continued to get these massive loans which he never had to pay back. So yes, there should be an investigation and I applaud the Scottish peeps for getting the ball rolling.
Patrick Harvie's response to Eric Trump's statement tonight: "As entertaining as Eric Trump’s tantrum is, he doesn’t say where his dad got the money to buy his Scottish golf courses, which is exactly why I’m calling on the Scottish Government to seek an Unexplained Wealth Order.” https://t.co/XJRBPMKno3
— Martyn McLaughlin (@MartynMcL) February 2, 2021
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red.
I also have been wondering when all the other shit will hit the fan but came to the same conclusion that all parties agreed to let the impeachment trial play out first.
Once that is over, no matter what the result, THEN they are going to rain hellfire on the Trump family and their cronies with lawsuits and criminal cases from all over the world.
Agree. And it is HIGHLY likely that the charges that will stick will be financial ones. Al Capone could hide a lot of evidence, but not his financial trail.
I worry that we’re all in for a big letdown, that this clown & his crime family will go uninvestigated & remain free to grift for the rest of their lives.
So sorry but it is looking less and less likely that Palm County is going to seriously object to Trump living at his club. I sincerely hope that I am wrong about this as I would love to see him bounced out on the street.
DB did business w the Trump Org bc it has had a long history of looking the other way with respect to money laundering and other questionable accounts / practices.
Their banker was Supreme Court Justice Kennedy’s son, who stepped down so Trump could fill his seat, probably in a quid pro quo of some sort. The other bankers who handled them have also been let go and hired attorneys. This is just the start of the revelations.
THIS is what I want to know more about- Kennedy’s seat. I think you’re exactly correct, because otherwise it doesn’t make sense that an otherwise healthy more moderate Justice would step down.
For anyone interested in unraveling the Trump money situation please read Sarah Kendzior’s Hiding in Plain Sight or listen to her and Andrea Chalupa’s podcast Gaslit Nation.
The reason Trump exists is the Russian mafia. He has laundered their money for decades. Dirty money and Deutsche Bank go hand in hand. Nobody in the establishment wants to unravel this because so many people (dems too) would be implicated if that thread is picked. But it needs to be and this is a good first step. Props to Scotland.
@MipMip DING! DING! DING!
a MipMip, thanks for the info on Sarah Kendzior!! I am eager to see her insight as I am confused as to the extent of their illegal finances.
@Gabriella Same! And we barely heard a word about it. The corruption is so deep. @MipMip Kendzior is amazing. I have to watch it with taking in too much from her twitter, though, because I know she’s brilliant and right about it all but the truth is so scary especially her predictions that it can give me serious nightmares.
His main banker at DB wasn’t Kennedy’s son…it was a woman named Rosemary Vrablic. Trump actually defaulted on a loan because of the 2008 financial crisis, and he sued DB, because he said the crisis was an act of God. What did DB do? They turned around and loaned him MORE money.
They absolutely are involved in money laundering and Russian oligarchs, and Kennedy’s son might be involved in some fashion, but his history with DB goes back almost 15 years.
The podcast Trump Inc. has done a DEEP dive into Trump finances, and they have some great episodes about his history with this bank and their employees.
v well said, so so much more needs to be done on this re Kavanaugh’s seat, just a travesty…
This has been a long time coming and I applaud Harvie but I thought this was in relation to the investigation(s) into the Trump finances in the US? As in the US authorities may have requested one?
Didn’t the US ethics office find massive discrepancies between the tax filings on the properties in the US and UK? IIRC they wrote off massive debts on the properties in the US filings.
There are so many that you loose track.
I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately but damn, a hit dog will holler, wont it?
Erik Trump’s tantrum (love that he called it that lol) just proves, to me, that there is something major they are hiding. I mean we all “knew” that, but why act all butthurt that you are being investigated (maybe) if everything is above board?
Patrick Harvie’s succinct comment summed up Entitled Cry Baby Jr. and the issue perfectly!
All of this could have been avoided if they just sat there and ate their food in NYC.
If Casino did not run because he was a Nazi.
If Forgotten Child did not run his mouth on Faux News about the Clinton Foundation and their foundation being better, then David Farenholt wouldn’t be out here winning Pultizer’s and his work leading to state investigations.
The list goes on.
Just sit there and eat your food. Just not from Putin.
To paraphrase LeBron, Qusay Trump is MAD MAD!!
lol
Definitely the stupidest Trump.
When I look at his face I immediately think “mouth-breather”.
Which is an incredible feat, actually.
I strongly recommend people with questions about how and why Trump has been able to seemingly skate by without ever paying a bill, to check out Sarah Kendzior and her twitter/podcast/books on the subject.
I genuinely believe some day Sarah’s books will be taught in history and polysci courses when we gain enough distance from this period and want future generations to understand what happened.
I feel like taking on Scotland is kind of like trying to take on Philly – what’s the Scots version of “fuck around and find out”?
YES Grabbyhands! I would NOT want to find out for myself, but I am glad the Trumps are gonna find out.
For the Scottish version of ‘fk around and find out’ imagine Begbie from Trainspotting.
Yikes!
He won out in his effort to build one of those golf courses on the environmentally sensitive land in spite of opposition. Money talks in Scotland too.
True but not always – he lost a legal challenge to stop the Scottish gov building a wind farm off Aberdeen in the North Sea that would have spoiled the view from Turnberry. The Trump Org was also ordered by a judge to pay the Scottish gov’s legal fees over it as well – am sure he hasn’t paid.
This is an interesting article on the golf course in Menie, Aberdeen where the Trump Org wants to build a 2nd golf course on environmentally sensitive sand dunes. It also talks about how former First Minister Alex Salmond was heavily involved in helping Trump get permission to build the first course on the same dunes. They then went on to fall out over wind turbines.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/dec/20/alex-salmond-donald-trump-scotland
Trump v’s Salmond is a celebrity death match I would love to see. They really hate each other.
Thanks for the link digital unicorn. It’s so infuriating and disheartening to read more examples of what a scumbag Trump is — spreading his special brand of sunshine around the world. /s And Salmond walking over the backs of his own constituents.
It reminds me of the situation in Mount Pleasant Wisconsin, where despite protest from residents, the town Council through underhanded means pushed a deal through to have a Chinese company build a high tech factory in the town. People lost their homes and it turned out to be a big scam which the company had pulled many times before. Such a sad story.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/08/wisconsin-foxconn-factory-residents-displaced
It would be “mon’ c***, square go.”
@ Digital Unicorn, thank you for the link!!
As for ET and his ridiculous response, I find his comment about how the Scottish government should focus on the coronavirus instead of investing his family more offensive than his diatribe of political power play. The entire family is corrupt and I look forward to the Drumpf family becoming a parasite that they are. May the investigations continue and may DT receive his justly rewards!!
Though I was extremely pissed when the Supreme Court rejected looking into the dealings of Drumpf and his cronies that benefited substantially from his term.
I was thinking more along the lines of “square go, ya bas” or just simply “come on then ya bas”.
lol love it
Career criminal upset that he’s about to face the consequences of his own actions, and take a bunch of people down with him. Film at 11.
Oh those bad people from Scotchland making my daddy hurt. *goes back to aged 4 and under Legos*
“WE HAVE ALL THE FUNDING WE NEED OUT OF RUSSIA”
– Eric Trump in 2014.
Trump’s loans from Deutche Bank were most likely co-signed by Russian oligarchs who have ties to Putin.
The Russian mafia has been laundering money via Trump properties since at least 1984.
I thought it was Jr who said most of their funding came from Russia? I guess both of them could have each said the variants we remember.
That’s true that Trump’s ties to Russia go way back. I read an article this weekend that said that Russia had been trying to get Trump installed as president for the past 40 years. They said he was particularly susceptible because he was intellectually inferior & fell easily for praise. It may go back even further than that with the Russians. If the Russians wanted to install an intellectually inferior candidate as president, they didn’t need to look further than Ronald Reagan, talk about a Manchurian candidate. Also George W.
I disagree. For all of their faults, both Reagan and Bush had a baseline loyalty to the US. And the last thing Reagan would have done was get into bed with Russia to the detriment of his country.
I agree. In fact, Trump is the only president I can think of who has absolutely no loyalties to the United States. For all their faults the common denominator in the American president have been love of country. It has been this love that has prevented what happened on 1/6 from ever happening before. American has done a excellent job of conditioning Americans to be loyal to America. “I pledge the legions to the flag…” How this country managed to elect a traitor to the presidency, but also have a senate filled with traitors at the same time is an outcome the founders could never have envisioned.
@ BnLurkN4eva: ironically the con has worked so well, that MAGAS believe they are true patriots defending the republic from election fraud, but elected officials who are pandering to them truly are traitors. They are the ones doing the conning, picking up where Trump left off once they saw how much unquestioning support it garnered him.
Its so predictable and transparent, but most of all– REPETITIVE.
Get accused of wrongdoing
Turn around and try to accuse the other of wrongdoing
How dumb does this family take everyone to be…
@ teehee, apparently as dumb as they are!!
Though, I am looking forward to Palm County going after Agent Orange for him setting up camp at Mar-A-Dumpo!!
From what I read today, he promised never to live there but didn’t actually sign a legal contract to that effect, so they probably won’t be able to stop him. He gets away with everything.
I remember reading somewhere also that Trump has vastly overvalued the property and perhaps is laundering money through it
Here, Eric. Let me fix that sentence for you…
“My father is nothing more than a national embarrassment with his pathetic antics that only serve himself and his political agenda,”
To paraphrase Shakespeare, methinks the idiot doth protest too much.
One of these two golf clubs was losing so much money that trump was ordering the military to divert flights to land close by and stay overnight at the club so he could overcharge our own military.
Such a joke. What will he be when his daddy is gone?