Why an unbuilt Moscow Trump tower caught Mueller's attention
Source: Reuters
POLITICS MARCH 18, 2019 / 7:05 AM / UPDATED AN HOUR AGO
Why an unbuilt Moscow Trump tower caught Mueller's attention
Jan Wolfe
7 MIN READ
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An intriguing area of focus in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Kremlin’s role in the 2016 U.S. election is a proposed Moscow real estate deal that Donald Trump pursued while running for president despite denying at the time any links to Russia.
The special counsel has revealed in court filings numerous details about the project, which never came to fruition. Further information has come from Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer who was instrumental in the negotiations, in congressional testimony and in his guilty plea to a charge of lying to Congress about the project.
Mueller’s team said in a December 2018 court filing that “the Moscow Project was a lucrative business opportunity that sought, and likely required, the assistance of the Russian government. If the project was completed, the Company (the Trump Organization) could have received hundreds of millions of dollars from Russian sources in licensing fees and other revenues.”
The project is significant because it shows Trump was chasing a lucrative business deal in Russia at the same time that President Vladimir Putin’s government, according to U.S. intelligence agencies, was conducting a hacking and propaganda campaign to boost his candidacy. The project also coincided with Trump’s positive comments as a candidate about Putin and his questioning of U.S. sanctions against Russia.
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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-tower-explainer/why-an-unbuilt-moscow-trump-tower-caught-muellers-attention-idUSKCN1QZ159